Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People

''Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People'' is an episodic graphic adventure developed by Telltale Games and based on the ''Homestar Runner'' web cartoon, with Strong Bad as the lead character. A total of five episodes were released for Microsoft Windows and WiiWare between August 11, 2008, and December 15, 2008. It was released on the PlayStation 3 in North America on December 21, 2010, and in other regions at a later time. There is also an OS X version.

The game was removed from Steam before June 1, 2023, after LCG Entertainment lost the rights to the intellectual property.

Gameplay

''Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People'' uses point and click mechanics. The player plays as Strong Bad, one of the most popular characters in the ''Homestar Runner'' online Flash animation series, as he goes through his life, interacting with characters. Each game contains a different goal that the player must reach by talking to characters and using items.

Apart from the point and click mechanics, each episode features an arcade-style minigame. For example, the first episode features a top-down boxing game called ''Snake Boxer 5''. Other features include a customizable map, hidden and collectible items such as 3×5 cards used to create ''Teen Girl Squad'' comics, and the ability to take pictures to send to friends through WiiConnect24 or by e-mail (depending on the version used).

Episodes

Development

The ''Homestar Runner'' website included several browser-based Flash games; these simple games were typically developed by ''Homestar'' co-creators Mike and Matt Chapman, collectively known as The Brothers Chaps. Although the brothers had been approached by other game companies in the past, including Sega of America, they had rejected such offers out of concerns that their characters would not be properly understood or represented.

Telltale Games sent an email to the contact address listed on homestarrunner.com, expressing a desire to work together. Familiar with Telltale employees' former work on LucasArts adventure games, and already playing through '' Sam & Max: Season One'', the brothers considered Telltale "a perfect pairing." Additionally, the website's format of short, episodic cartoons could be effectively captured by both the episodic release schedule and the small file size of the WiiWare format. The partnership with Telltale Games was the first time The Brothers Chaps had licensed out ''Homestar Runner''.

The series was first hinted at in a ''Homestar Runner'' short called "Strong Bad Gameways", posted on YouTube and accessible from a hidden link on the site, a parody of pre-flight safety demonstrations with the Wii Remote. The game itself was officially announced on April 10, 2008 in a press release from Telltale Games. The press release presented the game as a collaborative effort between Telltale Games and Videlectrix, a fictional company from ''Homestar Runner''.

As described by the Brothers Chaps and Telltale lead designer Mark Darin, the writing process was highly collaborative. Email correspondence and conference calls were used to brainstorm the plots of the episodes, and scripts were sent to the brothers for approval and to "review, edit and rewrite whatever feels necessary to make the whole thing feel more 'Strong Bad-y'." Even when recording dialog, which was done at the Chaps' office, there was still freedom to rewrite and improvise to maintain the feeling of the cartoons.

Reception

Episode 1 Homestar Ruiner

''Episode 1 '' ''Homestar Ruiner'' received moderately positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Wii version 76.76% and 76/100 and the PC version 73.33% and 73/100. IGN gave the game an 8.1 out of 10, with the authentic presentation, voice work, music and the opening song impressing them the most. They also believed the game to be a must download for fans, but felt that the experience was short-lived and did not break any new ground for the genre. In contrast, GameSpot believed the cartoon's humor did not translate well to an adventure game, and gave it a 5/10. ONM gave it 88%, naming it one of the best WiiWare games so far, but that the humour in it isn't for everyone. It was awarded Best Voice Acting for the Wii by IGN in its 2008 video game awards IGN also made it a nominee for Best Story and Best WiiWare Game., this is the only Episode to be rated T.

Episode 2 Strong Badia the Free

''Episode 2 '' ''Strong Badia the Free'' received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 80.46% and 81/100 and the Wii version 79.36% and 82/100. IGN, which gave the game 8.2/10, echoed their assessment from their ''Homestar Ruiner'' review, noting the game to be slightly longer and more complete than its predecessor, yet still geared very much towards fans. GameSpot, who disliked the first episode, gave ''Strong Badia the Free'' a 7.0/10, believing the game was a marked improvement with a more linear and original plot, and funnier jokes they felt did not need to prop up the weak gameplay noted in its predecessor. ONM gave it 86%, saying that although it was longer and funnier, the strategy at the end is weak resulting in a lower score. However, the episode did garner the best reception out of the five.

Episode 3 Baddest of the Bands

''Episode 3 '' ''Baddest of the Bands'' received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 79.64% and 79/100 and the Wii version 78.82% and 79/100. IGN gave it 8.4/10, claiming it has "the best puzzles our hero has encountered yet" as well as "the best Strong Bad mini-game so far". WiiWare World gave the game 7 out of 10, commenting that while the series continues to appeal to fans of previous episodes, it does not offer anything for new players.

Episode 4 Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective

''Episode 4 '' ''Dangeresque 3: The Criminal Projective'' received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the PC version 82.68% and 81/100 and the Wii version 81.23% and 81/100. Nintendo Life gave the game 8 out of 10. They called the game 'easily the best episode yet' and hoped the series finale would be even better. IGN gave the game an 8.5/10, again praising Matt Chapman's voice work and the music as well, which they stated was "a little more ambitious than the other episodes."

Episode 5 8-Bit is Enough

''Episode 5 '' ''8-Bit is Enough'' received positive reviews. Aggregating review websites GameRankings and Metacritic gave the Wii version 84.62% and 83/100 and the PC version 83.86% and 82/100.

References

External links

*
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
' at Telltale Games from the Internet Archive

{{Telltale Games

2008 video games
Episodic video games
MacOS games
PlayStation 3 games
PlayStation Network games
Point-and-click adventure games
Telltale Games games
Homestar Runner
Video games developed in the United States
Video games scored by Jared Emerson-Johnson
Video games with cel-shaded animation
Wii games
WiiWare games
Windows games
Video games based on animated series
Single-player video games