
	Platform PC Genre Adventure Publisher Telltale Games Developer Telltale Games ESRB E10+ (Everyone 10+) Released December 15, 2008

‑Another great story that old-school gamers who actually were around when 8-bit graphics were considered amazing will really enjoy ‑Once more changes the setting and adds new nuances to the tried and true point & click gameplay

‑The episodic series is now over (hopefully just for now and not for good) after only five games

Review: Strong Bad Episode 3: Baddest of the Bands (PC) Review: Sam & Max Season One (PC) Review: Sam & Max Season Two (PC)
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Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People Episode 5: 8-Bit Is Enough

Score: 9.0/10

There had to be a reason that there was a Trogdor arcade cabinet in Strong Bad’s basement for all of the previous four episodes of the episodic adventure series, Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People. What was the point of putting a seemingly unplayable arcade cabinet into the point & click adventure game when nearly everything in the game was interactive to some extent?

Well, gamers get the answer to that in the series finale, 8-Bit Is Enough, which features the Trogdor arcade cabinet gets a starring role – or more specifically, the Popeye-armed, fire-breathing dragon Trogdor that’s the star of the arcade game does. It’s up to Strong Bad to bring some old-school – literally – gameplay tactics to save the day and permanently dampen the flames of Trogdor fury in the suddenly burning Homestar Runner world that Strong Bad and his friends (and foes) live in.

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Escaping out of Strong Bad’s basement arcade cabinet in a freak accident, Trogdor is now laying ruin to everything with his blazing breath. Not only is the old-school Trogdor unleashed, but there are other Fun Machine-inspired games that have suddenly become locales that Strong Bad must first infiltrate and then use his old-school, 8-bit gaming skills to assist his effort to vanquish

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Trogdor. Plenty of new 8-bit inspired characters from the Fun Machine games are introduced in co-starring roles, including the “Spirits of ’76” ghosts, Stinkoman, Rather Dashing and the gelatinously creepy Gel-arshie.

Featuring a decidedly overt homage to the golden age of 8-bit gaming (that overlapped the point & click genre heyday that has inspired the entire episodic offerings of Telltale Games), 8-Bit Is Enough is a thoroughly fun romp through the world of Homestar Runner that old-school gamers will love and the younger gamers will appreciate for their nostalgic edge. Once again, there’s enough variation in the gameplay from any previous episodes to refresh the standard point & clicking that gamers must undertake.

As has been consistent throughout the five episodes, the puzzles are sometimes too cryptic for their own good, although 8-Bit Is Enough does thankfully have more “logical” puzzle solutions than most of the preceding episodes (the final Quake-esque battle is a classic). And any problems that do arise with puzzles can be alleviated with a very helpful hint system that gamers can activate (to varying levels of helpfulness) if they find the going too difficult.

With diverse stories and settings, great animations and overall visuals, and strong point & click gameplay along with hilariously smart-ass ribaldry that’s becoming the developer’s trademark, 8-Bit Is Enough is a satisfying series conclusion. Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People’s first season is nothing less than a resounding success that surpasses the excellence of the first Telltale Games episodic foray, Sam & Max. Just like the high-quality Sam & Max, Strong Bad’s Cool Game for Attractive People deserves a second “season” of episodes. That may not come soon enough for fans of the series, however, with Telltale Games next focusing its episodic efforts on Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures.

- Lee Cieniawa

lcieniawa@armchairempire.com

January 25, 2009