Review: Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People - Baddest of the Bands (PC)

Mon, Oct 27, 2008

With another episode of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People now released to the world, the series has crossed the halfway mark. The new entry, Baddest of the Bands, is the third of five planned episodic games for the initial run of Telltale Games' take on the Homestar Runner universe. As we mentioned during our review of last month's Strong Badia the Free, once the first episode of a game series has proven successful, it's up to subsequent episodes to keep things fresh, demonstrating to gamers that the same characters and gameplay are worth paying for repeatedly if the stories and puzzles are sufficiently novel. Baddest of the Bands actually returns to the classic adventure game structure we saw in Homestar Ruiner, shifting away from the short vignette-puzzle style of the last game, but the resurgence of the larger meta-puzzle gameplay is by no means a bad thing. The truly inventive puzzle choices, the excellent handling of the characters, and the inclusion of awesome über-band Limozeen come together in such a way that Baddest of the Bands is another excellent entry in the SBCG4AP series -- perhaps even the ideal introductory episode for newcomers to the Homestar Runner universe.

The return to classic form can probably be credited to Mike Stemmle, who makes his SBCG4AP directorial debut in Baddest of the Bands. Stemmle is one of the LucasArts old guard, having co-designed and directed the classic Sam & Max Hit the Road, a personal favorite whose influence can be seen in many ways through the game. The story structure, as mentioned, follows the usual adventure game meta-puzzle routines, including a marked increase in inventory management. Roughly 20 minutes into the game, Strong Bad will have acquired enough items to warrant two rows of inventory space across the screen, and nearly every single puzzle in the game has an item-based solution. The puzzles aren't necessarily easier or harder than in previous games, but they are presented in a much more straightforward manner. At any given time, Strong Bad knows precisely what he needs to do, and will tell you so, keeping the overall goal in plain view while allowing players to work out the details themselves. These details, as one should expect from the classic adventure staples, tend to involve visiting every game location and collecting everything that isn't nailed down, and then re-visiting said locations to deduce their proper use. Thankfully, none of the solutions are terribly obtuse; the game delivers plenty of clues and obvious hints, providing another 3-5 hours of gameplay for the initial playthrough, just like its predecessors.

Baddest of the Bands is divided into two major sections: Strong Bad must organize and get entrants for a cash-making "battle of the bands," and then he must sabotage the other entrants in order to win said battle. The puzzles themselves are still cleverly designed to be very character-oriented, a definite perk of the overall SBCG4AP series. Fans of Homestar Runner will be playing the games to interact with the unique cast of characters, and SBCG4AP continues to deliver an experience that plays out like an extended H*R cartoon. This is actually where Baddest of the Bands shines the brightest, is in its handling of the H*R characters as central to the puzzle solutions. Strong Bad, over the course of the game, needs to cajole, trick, and manipulate the other cast members into doing what he wants, and in order to make these puzzles solvable by players who may not be intimately familiar with the usual character interactions, the dialogue and presentation needs to involve many hints to fill the players in.

Previous games in the series merely hinted at these H*R relationships, or alluded to them in ways that only fans would be able to fully appreciate. Baddest of the Bands, by comparison, puts the H*R characters on full display, presenting all of their quirks and personalities as vital clues to the game's progression, thus making the game a terrific introduction for gamers who may never have watched a Homestar Runner cartoon before. Almost immediately, players will learn about Marzipan's obsessive activism, Strong Sad's desperation to be culturally relevant, and the fact that Coach Z is a terrifying, unintelligible, and disgusting man who should not interact with anyone. Furthermore, players will be subsequently called upon to exploit every one of these traits to further Strong Bad's personal agenda, cementing them in players' minds as part of the characters, helping to define future interaction and deepen one's appreciation of the series. Not everything is explained, mind you; newcomers will still be wondering, "Why does the yellow thing only talk in squeaks?" and "Why can the little blue guy fly?" and "Where the hell are everybody's arms?" Of course, these are all things that none of us know, and H*R newbies will come to appreciate that in their own time. Based on the character exposition that Baddest of the Bands does include, I would heartily recommend it as an excellent starting point to induct curious minds into the Homestar Runner phenomenon.

Credit must be given to Telltale in a few more spots as well: Baddest of the Bands takes care of my biggest complaints from Strong Badia the Free. First and foremost, though the Taranchula Black Metal Detector returns for a third time, it is once again relegated to optional bonus material only, removing the obligation to hunt tediously across every scene in order to advance the game. Thank you. The Videlectrix mini-game is still just a mini-game, and even though it's not even available until the Extended Play section, it's miles beyond Math Kickers. I was a little disappointed to see Teen Girl Squad become non-interactive in this game -- Strong Bad's recurring violence-driven comic is actually used as a puzzle solution in Baddest of the Bands, and while still hilariously rendered, I missed the experimentation and variety that was permitted in the previous titles.

Overall, Baddest of the Bands makes for another solid episode of SBCG4AP. Homestar fans are in for more referential treats and plenty of Matt Chapman's spot-on voice acting; nearly everything said by Limozeen's Larry Palaroncini is comedy gold. The item-based puzzles may tend towards trial-and-error re-visitation at times, but this is more than made up for by the character-driven hints and plot development, and a number of the music-oriented tasks are truly inventive (helping Homestar join Pom Pom's band is an excellent moment). Fans should go ahead and pick up the new episode now, and be sure to bring along a new friend for the experience.

Baddest of the Bands is available now for PC, and for the Nintendo Wii via WiiWare, but still doesn't have Senor Cardgage in it. You have two games left, guys; don't let me down.

Full disclosure: Pantheon Labs, parent company of GameCyte, is owned by Richard Kain, an investor in Telltale Games.