Reviewed: October 19, 2006
Reviewed by: Megan Dyer
Publisher
Midway Games
Developer
High Voltage Software
Released: September 25, 2006
Genre: Fighting
Players: 1-4
ESRB: Everyone
6
8
7
5
6.2
Supported Features:
Screenshots (Click Image for Gallery)
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is a video game based on the Cartoon Network cartoon of the same name. The premise goes something like this: two children, the obnoxious and incredibly dumb Billy and the dark, hateful Mandy, have managed to trick the Grim Reaper into being their friend for all eternity by winning a game of limbo.
Why did Death himself feel compelled to play limbo with a couple of mortal children? Well, other than the obvious fact that the Grim Reaper loves limbo, the two bold kids had actually refused to allow him to take their beloved hamster into the great beyond. So, Grim (as he's referred to in the show) challenges them to a game of limbo. If he had won, not only would he have gotten to take the hamster, but Billy as well (which, I think we can all say, would have been reason enough to cheer Grim on). If he lost (which of course he does), then he had to be Mandy and Billy's friend forever and ever. Grim loses, adapts to normal, mortal life, and hilarity ensues.
I love cartoons. Nothing has to make sense.
So how does this wacky little premise translate into a videogame? Well, this Super Smash Bros. style game can be fun at times, but after a short amount of time, the charm wears off, and it becomes rather repetitious.
Anyone who has seen an episode of the Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy knows that the show is off its rocker. Much like Ren and Stimpy in the nineties, things happen in Billy and Mandy that make little sense, and yet, the show has a certain underlying cohesion to it that makes it even more funny. The game is the same way, only the medium is different, and the game unfortunately falls into the trap of being too simple, and therefore, dull.
The modes of gameplay are pretty standard. There’s story mode, where the characters discover that someone has been stealing from Grim, and has gotten a hold of mojo balls that are tainted with evil. Fights are breaking out all over the town, and the odd threesome, Grim, Billy and Mandy, decide to find the thief who has been stealing from Grim and contaminating the town with evil. How do they do this? By fighting the afflicted, of course. An arena appears, and the button mashing begins!
Each character has a different fighting style, such as range, strength, agility and so on. Fighting stages are filled with interactive objects, such as turret guns, different weapons that inflict different types of damage, mojo balls that fill up a mojo meter that can execute more powerful attacks, and other hazards and whatnot to watch out for. Use the items to your advantage, and beat up your opponent. That’s pretty much it.
Other than story mode there is of course versus mode, which can support of to four players at once, and mission mode, which boasts 45 different missions to play through. Certain battle parameters are used in the different missions, but nothing that differs terribly from the beat 'em up gameplay. For instance, there are missions that require you to beat coins out of your enemy, and they can beat coins out of you. Whoever has the most coins in when the time is up, wins the game.
There’s also the “knock your opponent out as many times as you can without getting knocked out” mission. None of it is terribly inventive nor does it attempt to put a twist on the usual gameplay -- nothing really significant anyway. The main problem with this game is that nothing ever really changes. It takes the same schtick, and runs with it, endlessly. Little challenge and lots of repetition do not make a good video game.
Grim Adventures can be fun at times, especially in versus mode. There is a lot going on on the screen at once, which makes for hectic but fun gameplay. The only problem is, on some levels, things are so hectic that it’s difficult to see what is going on. It doesn’t help that the camera obnoxiously zooms in and out of the fighting arena (for little more reason, I figure, than to annoy me). The camera angles can get really awkward, and actually do hinder gameplay at certain points.
Another problem I had with this game was that the CPU-controlled characters could be very frustrating at times. There are plenty of objects to interact with on the screen in Grim Adventures, but I found myself barely having the chance to use them before the enemy came up and took over the item with little effort, or knocked me back before I could use it. I understand that there should be some challenge to using the more powerful objects, but come on! It shouldn’t be that difficult. It only gets more frustrating from there, when you realize that if you want to win this round, you’re just going to have to mash the buttons repeatedly. Congratulations. You win. Next!
Still, Grim Adventures does possess the same oddball charm as the show does, and it’s important to keep in mind that this is a fan game. That still does not give Midway or the show's developers the right to rip off their loyal fan base by giving them a crappy game. The mode that saves Grim Adventures is really the versus mode. Play with your friends, and you will actually have fun.
Grim Adventures looks pretty good, in that it looks just like the cartoon. Bright, goofy, exaggerated edges and shapes (like Grim's oddly shaped skull and Billy's bulbous, pink nose) make for a distinctive look and style. The graphics are well put together, and if you like the show (which, I'm assuming, is why most people would pick up this game), then you'll be pleased with it's familiar, wacky design.
While the stages are decently designed, there are times when there is too much going on at once to really see what you're trying to do. Stages are relatively small, even though they are multi-layered. For example, when one stage has been adequately destroyed by fighting a hole will form in the ground, as from an explosion, revealing another level of the stage. At one point, during a battle in the underworld on rocks coming out from fiery pits of lava, a large serpent swims by, flooding the area, and the battle takes place on a part of his back coming out from the lava.
This is all very creative, but it does little to deal with the fact that the cluttered and small arenas feel claustrophobic and too hectic to be fun at times. There were too many times where I found my character getting hit by something that I never could quite identify. I appreciate the creativity that went into the stage designs, but the layout could have been put together better and enhanced gameplay instead of hindering it.
Since Grim Adventures is by and large intended for fans of the show, it would be rather silly if the show's voice actors didn't grace the video game with their talents. Of course, characters are given the same voice actors from the show: Grim sounds like his usual silly, slightly Rastafarian self, Mandy's cold, serious and sarcastic as usual, and Billy's grating voice inspires the urge to punch something, just like in the show. Other minor characters also have their usual voice actors.
The music in this game is...fine. Cartoony, zany, the music does fit the bizarre atmosphere, but it's somewhat forgettable. The soundtrack is the rather usual and typical fare when it comes to modern American cartoons aimed at eight to twelve year olds.
Expect plenty of the usual cartoon sounds during battles (you know, the "splats" and "bonks," and various other hard to describe onomatopoeic creations) and characters saying various different things, albeit over and over again. I do realize that there are only so many things that characters in video games such as this say through the course of fighting through various stages, but still. Before every single match, Grim says, "I usually don't like mixing business with pleasure, but I'm gonna enjoy this." Other line that you should expect to hear over and over again include, "check out the pyrotechnics!" and “all right, who wants some of this?” It gets old, fast, just like the gameplay.
While Grim Adventures boasts a story mode, a mission mode with 45 different missions, a four person multi-player mode, and plenty of unlockables, it is still overly simplistic, and a true button masher. It’s relatively easy to play through, and unlocking everything really doesn’t take much time at all. The part that truly shines in this game is the multi-player mode, and the more players, the better. Other than that however, repetitious and easy solo gameplay take a lot away from its overall value.
The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy is a so-so game that fans of the show will probably get a kick out of, for a little while anyway. There’s no denying that similar games like Super Smash Bros. are far superior to it, but if you absolutely love this cartoon, then check it out. If you’re not absolutely in love with the show, then skip it. You’ll get bored quickly, and the game will probably sit on the shelf collecting dust, unless you have a little brother or sister to give it to.