Inside jokes are irritating unless you are in on them and this is no different. If you haven’t heard of Homestar Runner and The Brothers Chaps you would be wise to take a look. They have created a site full of characters that initially appear to be designed to keep kids staring at the screen but quickly the undercurrent of adult humor kicks in and keeps myself and many others coming back for more. The biggest draw of the site is Strong Bad and his Strong Bad e-mail or sbemail as it is commonly known due to its blatant disregard for what a flash comic is supposed to be. It is funny and often unexpected and gets its inspiration from e-mails sent by fans of the site.
Eventually the sheer weight of the inside jokes and poorly written e-mails became too great for a simple internet to handle so Strong Bad propositioned Telltale Games to recreate his universe for PC and Wii owners around the world. Telltale has some experience in creating episodic games from the days of Sam and Max which made them a very good choice to handle this epic task.
OK, I think that’s enough educating, here’s what you need to know. They made 5 games and they are all nestled comfortably below in detail.
SBCGfAP Ep:1 Homestar Ruiner
Being the first episode of the series this title attempts to familiarize you with the universe and expose you to the strange inhabitants of Free Country, USA. An e-mail has arrived that asks why Strong Bad hasn’t beat the snot out of Homestar. This starts off the thin plot of the game and gives you a reason to step away from the Lappy and go cause some mischief. You meet all the main characters many times throughout the game and get a chance to relive many of the best inside jokes of the site in your journey.
The game is fun for those in on the joke but it does have some faults. For a game of this type it is somewhat difficult to determine if you are making progress at certain points in the game and you will find a time or two that you become frustrated trying to figure out what the game wants from you in order to move forward. This is a game for fans of the site and it doesn’t try to change itself to please the uninitiated. The controls are decent and easy to understand with the Wiimote and the game autosaves every time you visit Strong Bad’s house. The graphics are true to the site although now in a 3-D style and the characters don’t lose anything in the transition.
If you are not in on the joke, go. get. in. on. the. joke. Trust me you will find hours of your life have mysteriously disappeared into the website and will start to check back often to see if there is new stuff.
Bottom line on this game is that fans will love it and everyone else will just keep walking on to the next Mario title which is fine. How do you have an inside joke if everyone gets it?
SBCGfAP Ep:2 Strong Badia the Free
Our second journey into Free Country, USA starts with political upheaval and the creation of many nations which Strong Bad must force under the boot of Strong Badia in order to overthrow the King of Town who has levied a tax on e-mails which gets Strong Bad house arrest. The gameplay is the same as Episode 1 but adds a board game and has a more interesting plotline although it is still quite thin.
The jokes in this one are better than the first but there is slightly less exploration as there are only a few new places to explore and they don’t offer much in the way of scenery. We are treated to a second minigame of Math Kickers featuring the Algebros which is still intentionally bad but more playable than Snake Boxer.
The same problems exist but there are fewer times where you will find yourself running for the internet to figure out what to do next and you will find yourself waiting even more impatiently for the next in the series.
Coming soon….
SBCGfAP Ep:3 Baddest of the Bands
aaand two more episodes in the following months.
Come back for updates as they are released.