GoNintendo Impressions - Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People

I still can’t believe that there is going to be a Strong Bad game for WiiWare. I guess I didn’t realize just how popular the web cartoon was. When I stop to think about it, anyone that is on the net pretty much knows who Strong Bad is. There are people that are familiar with the character, then there are those that visit the site every day. I don’t get to check Strong Bad’s antics out as much as I’d like to, but I more than familiar with the series. As if getting the game wasn’t enough, TellTale is behind the project. If you have a point-and-click adventure, who better to work on it than the masters of the genre? It’s clear that the minds behind Strong Bad and TellTale are out to make a love-letter game to fans of the web series. It’s a niche game inside of a niche cartoon from a niche dev…and I couldn’t be any happier.

It’s hard to say what the most prominent feature of Strong Bad’s Cool Game For Attractive People is. On one hand, gameplay is purely focused on point-and-click. On the other, the Strong Bad humor is what drives the game from start to finish. Which is the more important aspect of gameplay?! I think it’s the mix of the two that will make the ultimate project. One thing’s for sure…the humor is spot on. I think those that have checked out the trailers will definitely agree with that.

Unfortunately, it was really, really hard to take in anymore more of the game’s humor while on the summit floor. The room was filled with a ton of games, making it very hard to focus on the dialog in SBCG4AP. The voicework in the game was just overpowered by all the other games going on. I am not sure whether or not text bubbles will be an option in the final game, but I doubt it. We will all be in an area that is much better suited to a game that uses voicework as its main method of story conveyance.

What I did get to mess around with was the game interface. Everything couldn’t be simpler, and anyone that has played a point-and-click game before should know exactly how this game works. You point where you want to go, you click that location…and your character moves there. You are free to explore Strong Bad’s house on your own, and interact with anything you see. Most items are met with witty responses, and some of them will actually be added to your inventory. Character conversations are handled via the same interface. When a character talks to you, pictures will appear above Strong Bad’s head that will give you some sort of an indication as to what kind of response he will give. Part of the fun is cycling through the different choices to see what jokes are spurted out.

SBCG4AP is an episodic game, with a story that will continue from installment to installment. Each episode will come with a couple of retro-style games as well. Those that visit HomeStarRunner.com are familiar with these titles as well. Retro games that never existed, but are always fun. I am keeping my fingers crossed for some more Trogdor appearances.

It looks like Strong Bad, it sounds like Strong Bad, and it makes you laugh like Strong Bad. I don’t think a Strong Bad game could have worked in any other genre than point-and-click. It’s pretty much like watching an episode of the flash cartoon, expect now you get to control Strong Bad himself. I fully expect Strong Bad fans to embrace this game. I just wonder how many fans are out there!