Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
System: PC
Minimum requirements: Windows XP/Vista
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Michael Smith

Episodic gaming is very similar to episodic television. Each new story has to build from or add onto what has come before, or the series eventually feels the mortal slice of the executives’ cancellation sword (ask the producers of CBS’ The Ex List how that feels). Into the fray leaps web comic hero Strong Bad and his oddly shaped cartoon compatriots in Episode 3 of developer Telltale’s Cool Game for Attractive People series, The Baddest of the Bands.

As the new story opens, a gray cloud of depression hangs over the House of Strong. The Fun Machine, Strong Bad’s ancient 8-bit game console, has gone up in smoke in a crackling imitation of the Xbox 360’s Red Ring of Death. This not only ruins our hero’s day, but it also endangers the safety of his home, since his monolithic, monosyllabic brother Strong Mad has threatened to “throw stuff, break stuff” if he can’t play his favorite game.

So, it’s off to see Bubs, the town’s concessionaire, Internet service provider, black marketeer and licensed Fun Machine repairman. Bubs tells Strong Bad that he can fix up the console just like new, but it’ll cost him “a big sack of cash.” Not having said sack of cash in his tights (which is odd, since he seems to have everything else stuffed into his waistband), Strong Bad hits upon a bold plan: he decides to host a Battle of the Bands. Bubs agrees to help (he’s had some past experience in the music business), but it’s up to Strong Bad to recruit the acts for the contest, sign up celebrity judges and trick someone into being the security guard for the event.

As it turns out, there seems to be plenty of musical talent in town. Marzipan (she’s the baseball bat wearing a dress) has a group called the Cool Tapes, featuring herself on lead guitar, Pikachu-lookalike The Cheat on drums and Strong Mad on bass. Bubs and local gym teacher Coach Z used to have a successful rap duet known as the Two-O Duo until they had a falling out, and club owner Pom Pom has teamed with Barry White-impersonator Homestar to form the soulful group Pom Star. But if Strong Bad wants the cash he needs to fix his console, he has to create a group good enough to sway the judges and win his own contest, by any means necessary.

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