Strong Bad�s Cool Game for Attractive People: Episode 5: 8-Bit Is Enough Review for PC

Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People: Episode 5: 8-Bit Is Enough box art

System: PC, Wii (WiiWare)	Review Rating Legend
Dev: Telltale Games	1.0 - 1.9 = Avoid	4.0 - 4.4 = Great
Pub: Telltale Games	2.0 - 2.4 = Poor	4.5 - 4.9 = Must Buy
Release: Dec. 15, 2008	2.5 - 2.9 = Average	5.0 = The Best
Players: 1	3.0 - 3.4 = Fair
ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+	3.5 - 3.9 = Good

The copious amount of humor found in 8-Bit Is Enough pays homage to classic, old school games, while taking every possible opportunity to make fun of them at the same time. Genres like first-person dungeon hacks, 2D RPGs, platformers, side-scrolling shooters, 3D brawlers, anime, and sports games all serve as the butt of numerous gags. You’ll find plenty of nods to specific games as well.

Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People: Episode 5: 8-Bit Is Enough screenshot

Other gaming tenets and mechanics also factor into the humor. For example, age-old gaming concepts like item fetch quests, checkpoints, med-kits, password wheels, and weak level-1 monsters are among the many staples used for a quick laugh. SBCG4AP has traditionally contained tons of inside jokes and fan-service from the popular Homestar Runner web cartoon it’s based-on. While that’s still very much the case in the season finale, the gaming-related wisecracks should double the enjoyment for players well acquainted with video games of days long past.

SBCG4AP’s cartoonish visual quality is greatly enhanced by an entirely random smattering of different retro video game styles. Some characters and elements you’ll encounter are very pixelated, while others are worked into N64-style 3D. Aside from an obvious nostalgia factor, the array of unique gaming visual designs incorporated into the episode adds to its enjoyability and humor. The awesome, heavy-metal Trogdor theme from Guitar Hero II makes a few brief appearances, but much of the music in the game incorporates the blips and bleeps of 8-bit audio chips.

So far, each episode has provided a Videlectrix-produced, retro-style bonus game. 8-Bits Is Enough’s offering, Gel-Arshie Pro Fruitboarder, tasks players with riding a fruitboard while snatching up an onslaught of red fruit and avoiding dangerous yellow pineapples. Like the others before it, the gameplay isn’t as fun as the novelty. Gel-Arshie Pro Fruitboarder is also worked directly into the gameplay, so there’s no avoiding it. Fortunately, after making it through the full episode, players will be treated to another special bonus surprise.

After five months of digging into each episode of the highly amusing series, it’s disappointing to see it drawing to a close. Still, 8-Bits Is Enough offers a satisfying conclusion rife with gaming nostalgia and Strong Bad’s trademark ridiculousness. While it’s hard to say whether Telltale and the Chapman bros will eventually cook up another batch of gaming episodes, surely there are plenty more absurd adventures worth exploring.

By Nathan Meunier
CCC Staff Contributor

RATING OUT OF 5

RATING DESCRIPTION

4.3

Graphics
The cartoonish foundation is enhanced by side-splitting retro gaming graphics.

4.0

Control
A typical point-and-click formula gets a few fun additions this time around

4.5

Music / Sound FX / Voice Acting
Excellent voice work, as always, and a slick 8-bit audio style to match

3.6

Play Value
Though slightly less cohesive as some previous episodes, the finale aims to please.

4.2

Overall Rating - Great
Not an average. See Rating legend above for a final score breakdown.

Game Features:

Slick 3D cartoonish style.

Simple point-and-click gameplay.

Tons of humorous voiceovers and ridiculous sound effects.

A squat guy in a lucha libre mask! Hell yeah!