	Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People Collection
	Developer: Telltale Games Publisher: Telltale Games Release Date: Out Now Players: 1	Words By:
Many of you may trawl the internet for humorous clips of women driving into lakes by accident, or the fat Star Wars kid. But you may have completely missed Strong Bad and his troupe of crazy characters: trusty sidekick the Cheat, armless idiot Homestar Runner and guitar-wielding hippy Marzipan to name but a few. The flash cartoon shorts have been going since 2001; where Strong Bad writes condescending replies to poorly-written emails, with the surreal imagination of a child that's eaten a few too many blue smarties. If you haven't seen them yet I recommend you check them out at: homestarrunner.com. Over the years creators Mike and Matt Chapman have gotten pretty good at creating surreal situations - so good in fact that they've released a five-part series of point-and-click adventure games based on the cartoon. The style is very close to the series of web cartoons and the game transports the flash visuals into 3D and it works fairly well - this is not a game where stunning graphics are expected and the basic graphics are the basis for many jokes throughout the game. The story and the characters are where the fun in this game lies, and for fans of the series there are in-jokes crammed into every orifice of the game; Trogdor the dragon with a beefy arm sprouting from its back makes an appearance, as do the 'teen girl squad', Limozeen are in there and in episode four Strong Bad's detective blockbuster 'Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective' is finally released. For the first time I've played a labour of love that feels like it's been made just for the fans. If you haven't watched the cartoons then you will miss out on many of the game's nuances and find yourself wondering quite frequently where the game is actually going. However the humour is still accessible, provided you can switch into 'Strong Bad mode' and appreciate the jokes for what they are - silly and immature but completely bizarre and hilarious. The series has you in control of Strong Bad, who is answering an email at the beginning of each episode which sets up the events to follow. The first episode takes a while to warm up and essentially plays like a big tutorial. Things play like a simplified ‘point & click’ game but focuses much more on the dialogue between other characters than item and puzzle-based gameplay. Where there are puzzles there are usually logical (for the SB world at least) solutions. A highlight was in episode two where you had to fight a two-head spider 'monster', actually a cardboard cut-out with your simple-minded brother Strong Mad moving it about from behind. Upon vanquishing said beast you're rewarded with Tony Stony - Strong Mad's pet rock who has a cheeky smile drawn on his face in marker pen. It makes no sense whatsoever but the way in which the content is delivered is so perfect that it had me laughing aloud throughout the whole section. Thinking about it now still makes me chuckle. None of the puzzles or quests are particularly challenging and it feels like the game wants you to get through to the next area, rather than to have you sitting at a puzzle for hours trying every combination of items until something works. None of the episodes is particularly long but the pace of the game is fairly rapid, meaning you get condensed content, and with five separate games in this package it'll keep you busy for hours. Strong Bad's CG4AP feels less like a game and more like a series of extended cartoons with interactive mini-games thrown in. But the comedy is there in buckets and as long as you realise you're not going to have your gaming muscles put to the test then you'll thoroughly enjoy it. The humour is a bit “marmite” so I'd advise seeing if the cartoons tickle your funny bone before splashing out on this, but if it does then you get a great package for your money here.

Best Bits
- Stacks of humour;
- Great for fans and non-fans alike;
- Simple game mechanics;
- Five games in one!

Worst Bits
- May be a little too easy for some;
- The humour won't appeal to everyone.


by: Crazypunk