Review

Beavis & Butthead

By: Vince Thornburg | April 17, 2006

He-heh heh heh! Cool. Were on TV! Wait, I can move around the screen. *fart* Aww, I just farted! Let me play Butthead! No way Beavis *smack* OWWW! Hey, look, it's Burger World! Hey, shouldn't we be at work? Uh... oh yeah! Hey, what the hell? I just died! Cool! Can I play now? NO! *whap* Crap! I just died again!

Yeah, it's a bit unrealistic, but you hopefully catch the main drift. Beavis & Butthead scared many fans of the show, and probably pissed still many more of them off. When games were announced for SNES and Genesis, countless fans of the dynamic duo were ecstatic. They'd soon be able to play as Beavis and Butthead.

Well, SNES owners got "their" game. Genesis players instead got a moderately-to-hard puzzle game with B&B themes. Many fans felt not only confused, but somewhat betrayed. The game looked great, and it sounded like the show, so why then did it play like almost an RPG?

A possibility could be that the developers decided to make it for the show's main audience: the 17+ crowd. Kids that age and older could play the game a lot better than the majority of those who rented and bought it (pre-teen to 15 year-old crowd), who still made up a considerable part of the show's audience. Beavis & Butthead still sold well, but some undoubtedly still felt cheated.

The game starts off with B&B's new GWAR tickets getting eaten (and subsequently vomited) by Mr. Anderson's poodle and then being eaten again by his lawnmower. The tickets then fly off in the wind. Our heroes set out to look for the ticket pieces, starting out —where else, but on the couch.

The couch is where you pick your level, shown via channels on the TV. Show staples like Burger World and Highland High are featured. Other levels include the street, the mall, and the hospital, and of course, the GWAR concert. Pick your level and start searching. Each one has its pitfalls and enemies, but you can't really call this a straight up platformer. You'll need to actually go through each level in a certain order to retrieve the proper items to finish the game. This alone probably discouraged some players, as some just couldn't figure out what to do. The levels feature a more elevated camera, as if the game were a beat-em-up. There are plenty of traps, so you'll have to be careful of people walking by and slapping you or a random skateboard ramming itself repeatedly into your ankles until you die.

You do get weapons though. You start out with a burp and a fart, but you'll soon find a spit-shooter, which makes the game's enemies easier to fight off while you figure out what you're doing. Eventually, you can upgrade to a baseball bat with a glove on it, and a machine dart gun (!), which not only makes things WAY easier, it's also the game's most awesome weapon. You also get a jump button, so you don't always get hit by skateboards and shopping carts. There's a run button too, which you may find yourself using a lot just to get from point A to point B in speedy fashion.

The game's graphics are near-par with the show's cheaper look. The animation is a bit robotic, but still looks pretty good. Even the colors seem to fit right. Every menu is easy to work and the words are easy to read. You won't be blaming bad text for why you can't beat this game.

Beavis & Butthead's sound is one of the more memorable aspects. It starts out with the shows simple guitar theme, then our "heroes" laughing. In the actual game, some of the music is actually quite catchy, and I still find myself humming them from time to time. Various sounds and effects are done right; going with just what'd you expect everything to sound like. Beavis and Butthead's voices come out quite clear, even if they never really have anything to say.

You have to give it to these developers; they really put their time and energy into making this a unique experience, even if they lose some of the buying audience in the process. All the little tweaks and details in the game, from the graffiti in the bathrooms, to the diseased burger at Burger World make this simply an awesome game, and a must have if you're looking for a fun and challenging game to spend an hour on, which is what it'll take, since there's no saving!

All in all, a great game, if a little bit for the older crowd, if not for content but sheer difficulty.

Reviewer Score: 8.0   |   Avg. Reader Score: 6.9

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