Rock over London, InkSplat! Rock on, Chicago.

One of my favourite multimedia franchises ever is the hilarious yet sincere Homestar Runner. The main character is the the "terrific [yet dim-witted] athlete" Homestar Runner, but the character who steals the show is Homestar's former rival, the masked wrestler known only as Strong Bad. He's known for answering emails with a sharp wit and sense of humour. He is also well known for his incredible craftiness and creativity, so what better game to cast him as the star than a point-and-click adventure where, using the right tools creatively, you can make things happen?

That game is the multi-episode Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People.

"I'm pointing, I'm clicking, it's like an adventure."

(Disclaimer: literally the only way you can play this game in 2024 is streaming it on PlayStation Plus. This is how Finley played the game. Also, spoilers.)

You are Strong Bad!

In the beginning of the game, our favourite wrestleman Strong Bad (that's you) is about to play a video game on his trusty video game console, the Videlectrix FunMachine. Suddenly, it malfunctions and breaks! To get money for repairs, local concession-stand owner Bubs suggests that you should be a paid foot-rubber for him. You digress and suggest your way better idea: organise a battle of the bands and use the money given by each of the bands to fund repairs. And so...

Bubs decides to help organise the event, but only if you get celebrity judges. Thanks to some clever photography, you create what you believe to be the "best album cover of all time" and send it to an album-cover design competition. First prize: a day with your favourite band, glam metal group Limozeen! That's our celebrity judges!

After that, you fool your younger brother Strong Sad, who (during the course of this game) wants to be a music journalist, into being your security guard by making him think that "Security" is a hot new band. You then solve a few puzzles involving bats, rocks, toilet paper and more, then BOOM! 3 bands, either newly-created or brought back together. Rock group Cool Tapes (consisting of Homestar's hippie girlfriend Marzipan, your companion The Cheat and your tough but dim-witted older brother Strong Mad), hip-hop duo the Two-O Duo (Homestar's sports coach Coach Z and Bubs) and R&B/soul unit PomStar (Homestar's tech-savvy sporting partner Pom-Pom and Homestar himself).

Then you have an idea. Participating in the battle yourself to make twice the profit! He forms a metal band named DÖI with yourself, the gluttonous yet noble King of Town and Homestar's goofy yet mysterious doppelganger Homsar. Just a shame that DÖI's the least popular band in the competition! So, in a move that would impress the Beastie Boys, you turn to betrayal and sabotage...

You sabotage the three groups! You make Homestar sing absolute nonsense, you offend Marzipan into writing a song that's anti-Limozeen and you make Coach Z "accidentally" hurt Bubs, causing Cool Tapes, PomStar and the Two-O Duo to split up respectively. DÖI is the only one standing. So you give 'em a show!

You have an amazing idea, showing off an amazing stage centerpiece, but the switch to open the curtains to reveal it is broken. You must work with the rest of DÖI to help flip the backup switch! This eventually happens, but you accidentally make the King of Town popular instead. Oh well. At least you can play your video game on your FunMachine now.

This point-and-click game has an amazing story mixed with loads of Easter eggs and some really creative puzzles. Take the puzzle where you help Pom-Pom hire Homestar and form PomStar. You're in the local club, Club Technochocolate (named after Strong Bad mispronounces the sender of one email's location as "techno chocolate land."). You have to help Homestar think up freestyle lyrics to one of Pom-Pom's instrumental compositions, "Food-Related Love." You do this by selecting food that rhymes with what Homestar sings. Really creative. Also, you hurt Bubs by ordering records in a box to make Coach Z do specific dance moves. It's like Lightbot, but fun!

Amazing game, tainted only by the fact that item selection is smoother and easier on Wii and PC. It's playable without any of those, but still...

9/10! I love this!

Written by Finley Farrah