If you had to be attractive to play
the previous four episodes, you need to be really attractive to play this
one. 8-bit simply won’t cut it, whatever the title might say. High res to
the max with extended memory management might just suffice, but be
prepared to throw in a power-up or two.
Tron might have pioneered the whole “sucked into a
video game” scenario, but Strong Bad and his homestar homies take it to a
whole new level. When the Trogdor video game goes poof because of nothing
that Strong Bad did, some freaky world meld brought on by too many rads
from the metal detector leads to Trogdor running rampant in the real
world, and Strong Bad on a quest to restore the balance between what’s
real and what isn’t. In the best traditions of questing, pixelly
companions and “use pie with cat” will help and sometimes hinder the
goings-on.
Episode 5 is without a doubt the highpoint of the
Strong Bad series. It will likely appeal to those who enjoyed any or all
of the first four episodes, but its particular audience is those of us who
profess to be adventure game addicts. What’s more, if you remember being
excited by EGA and daughterboards, be prepared to giggle your way through
a worthy homage to the adventure game genre.
The Strong Bad world will be familiar to many. For
those who haven’t had the pleasure, it’s a bizarre cartoon environment,
populated by oddly drawn characters with equally odd personas. Strong Bad
is numero uno, resplendent in Mexican wrestling mask and boxing gloves.
Brash as ever, he packs as big a wallop with his cutting remarks as he
does with his fists.
"Laugh loud"
Humour, more than anything in games, is a matter of
personal taste. What I find funny, you may well find lame. But calling it
as I see it, this game is funny, and much of the humour is aimed at you,
the player. That is, it does an excellent job of dissecting and poking fun
at various aspects of adventure game playing and those who participate.
It’s clever and it’s witty.
It isn’t just adventure games. Those with a fondness
for the GameBoomers’ Dark Side will find much to amuse them as well. Ye
olde worlde of Peasant’s Quest will conjure up an RPG memory or
three, and Stinkoman’s platform challenge to obtain the Sword of Trogdor
will have side-scrolling aficionados recollecting all manner of jumping
and leaping. And when you eventually get to Trogdor’s lair, the first
person HUD (heads-up display) leading to the boss battle is a fitting
finale.
It really is a hoot.
The game revolves around Strong Bad, but Trogdor is
a worthy adversary and helps carry the load. Many other familiar
characters are present – Homestar, Marzipan, Bubs and Coach Z to name just
a few – but the supporting cast includes a variety of occupants from the
various video game worlds into which Strong Bad is transported. I had
taken ten companions questing with me by the time I reached the end, each
with his own little something to add to the mix. A Trogdor sword might
sound all good and sufficient when it comes to vanquishing Trogdors, but
woe betide he or she who neglects the special talents of Space Circus Bear
or Gel Arshie. And who knows when you might meet an evil algebraic
equation that defies all your best efforts, but which cannot compete with
the fiendishly mathematical AlgeBros.
For fans of the stick, it too is present. Ditto the
blue whale. And Limozeen make a brief partying reappearance as well. Teen
Girl Squad though were not featured.
Strongbadia is as colourful as ever, even on fire,
and it’s a third person point and click sort of place. You get to go a few
more places this time, serenaded by suitably jaunty midi snippets and
accompanied by a sound palette that works well.
"Hit dragon"
Puzzling consists predominantly of using the correct
item in the correct way -- once you have found it of course. There are
some mild actiony sequences, which are terribly forgiving and seem to stop
fighting back after a few attempts. So don’t panic when you have to clear
Strong Bad’s house of the ghosts of America past, or bash and belt your
way to Trogdor’s lair. Just have at it, and all will reasonably quickly
turn out well, one way or the other.
Some puzzles are not so simply constructed, and
lateral thinking is involved in some of the situational conundrums.
Putting the alleged princess in peril so that she can be rescued is a case
in point, and acquiring said peril was particularly well designed.
As with earlier games, the hint system works
extremely well. Crank it up or turn it down as you like, but spend too
long seeming to be stuck, and a comment or observation may well provide an
insight as to what to do next. On the two occasions I was scratching my
head, it provided the necessary prod to move on.
Again, there are plenty of things to find just for
the sake of it, and things to do simply to add to your final level of
Awesomeness (in keeping with the video homage, I finished on Flight
Stimulator 2009).
Extended play is unlocked once Trogdor is
vanquished, which enables you to find the rest of the items not yet
accounted for. I had 8 out of 13 collectibles still to find, 4 ghosts
awaiting their freedom, and had only burninated 6 out of 7 peasants. You
also get to play as a few other characters, including as Trogdor in a
peasant fire fight to the death (for the peasants anyway).
There was a lot less random metal detecting and item
revealing antics in this game though, which I liked, and the treasure
hunting aspects did seem to be much more in the background. This was
probably due to the strength of the story, which in the end is the jewel
in this game. However, telling much more would risk spoiling it too much;
the one-liners and observational game-based humour deserve to be
discovered unannounced.
Which is not to say the Strong Bad wisecrack is
missing, or that there aren’t other aspects to chortle about. Some popular
culture gets an airing, and the snakes this time are not on a plane.
It didn’t take me long, about four glitch-free hours
or so, but 8-Bit is Enough packed far more than 64KBs of fun into
its address space. I can’t imagine any adventure gamer having other than a
mighty fine time.
A
Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People –
Episode 5: 8-bit is Enough
(PC version) can be purchased via download at
Telltale Games.
P.S. If you like the look of the video
games within the episode, you can play many of them at the
Homestar Runner website.
December 2008
design copyright ©
2008
GameBoomers
Group
