Telltale Games’ Strong Bad series is going strong now (no pun intended); after a good opening episode and a truly stellar sophomore effort, I began to worry that the next adventure wouldn’t be able to keep up that level of quality. Thankfully, my fears were unnecessary, as the new episode, Baddest of the Bands, serves up another helping of top-of-the-line comedy/adventure gaming.

Things kick off when Strong Bad brings home a new game for his Fun Machine: Limozeen’s Hot Babelian Odyssey, starring everybody’s (or at least Strong Bad’s) favorite hair-metal group, Limozeen. It’s a really clever opening, because as you (yes, you) are playing the game, it glitches out big time, and the Fun Machine is fried. Bubs can fix it, but he’s going to need a huge sack of cash first. And what better way is there for Strong Bad to come up with a huge sack of cash than by organizing, then winning, a Battle of the Bands competition? Episode 3’s plot is an extended parody of music in general — most musical genres are referenced or mocked, along with a slew of other music industry mainstays (Strong Sad is a self-proclaimed “snooty rock journalist”, for example). The writing’s as good as ever, and the sense of humor hasn’t changed, so fans of the Strong Bad style of comedy will find plenty to laugh about here.

 
Could Strong Bad’s long-lived dream of being a heavy metal singer finally come true?

Gameplay remains largely unchanged from the previous episodes: click on the various objects/people/items in each area to make Strong Bad mock and/or interact with them. There’s plenty to do in this game—in addition to organizing the Battle of the Bands itself, you’ll have to compose an awesome photo to act as cover art for Limozeen’s new album, help Homestar remember all the words to his R&B ballad, and re-unite the legendary hip-hop group the Two-O Duo (made up of Coach Z and Bubs). It’s a good thing there’s plenty to keep you busy over the course of the game’s storyline, because many of the optional distractions present in the previous episodes are missing here — the Fun Machine is broken throughout the story (although you do get to play the Limozeen game after you’ve beaten Episode 3, and it’s a great retro shooter that pays homage to everything from Defender to the Journey game for the Atari 2600), and while the Teen Girl Squad does make an appearance, the comic is pre-written and presented as part of the storyline, not interactive like in episodes past. Still, there’s always a ton of fun stuff to do and explore, and the few side quests that are included (like searching for secrets with Strong Bad’s Black Metal Detector) keep things from getting boring.

One of the great strengths of the episodic format is the familiarity the player develops with the world of the game. Each episode gives players new areas to explore, to be sure (in this episode we finally get to see Strong Mad’s room and the inside of Marzipan’s house), but you also get to return to many of the locations from previous episodes, like the House of Strong and Club Technochocolate. Some players might think this sort of environment reuse would dilute the gameplay, but it actually does the opposite — since there’s new stuff to do in every returning area, it pays to explore each location again, and it’s always fun to find little changes and new bits of dialogue that play off what has happened in episodes past. Areas that were present but unimportant in previous episodes (like The Stick, or the Make-Out Car) are crucial to your progress here, so you really get the feeling that this is a complete world that these characters live in, instead of just a series of locations for the gameplay to unfold in.

 
For the first time, players can enter Marzipan’s house, and even play with her answering machine.

Like the gameplay, the visuals remain unchanged from previous episodes, so the simplistic, cartoony graphics still look just like the cartoons these games are based on. Is it an impressive game to look at? No, not usually (though the final area, the Battle of the Bands itself, is pretty flashy and exciting), but it looks like the world of Homestar Runner, and that’s the important thing. Because of the game’s plot, music has a much larger role than in episodes past, and it’s all extremely well done. Pretty much any musical genre you can think of gets parodied here, from indie rock to old-school hip-hop to death metal, so no matter your musical tastes you’ll get a kick out of the hilarious and accurate send-ups in the game.

You may be surprised at some of the characters’ musical talents, like Strong Mad’s bass skills.

Telltale Games continues to prove that they are the modern masters of the adventure game, and the world of Homestar Runner continues to provide excellent source material for hilarious adventure gaming. If you haven’t been a fan thus far, there’s nothing here that’s going to change your mind, but Baddest of the Bands is another rock-solid entry in the series, and will keep anyone with a good sense of humor and a couple of hours to kill entertained.

Gameplay: 8.5
Intuitive point-and-click action is the name of the game here, so genre newcomers should have no trouble grasping the gameplay. The writing continues to be top-notch, and clicking on pretty much anything leads to a joke, so there’s plenty to keep you entertained.

Graphics: 7.6
The episodes continue to look exactly like the source material, so simple, cartoony graphics are the order of the day. Still, this episode does showcase some visual creativity, like when they use the classic music video “camera attached to the guitar neck” technique.

Sound: 8.7
There’s a much stronger focus on music in this episode, and all of the songs showcased do a hilarious job of replicating/making fun of the musical style in question. Homestar’s Boyz-II-Men-style ballad is a memorable stand-out, and ranks up there with my favorite moments from this series thus far.

Difficulty: Easy
The puzzles here are clever without being arbitrary, so while there are a couple that might give you pause, anybody who stops and thinks a little can make their way through the game in an afternoon. (Alternately, you can always fall back on that point-and-click standard, “using every item in your inventory on every interactive element until you stumble on the solution.”)

Concept: 8.8
It was only a matter of time before this series tackled Strong Bad’s love of all things cheesy and 80s, and this episode delivers on that concept beautifully. While the story’s structure doesn’t lend itself to a video game quite as well as the last episode did, it’s still a rocking adventure that fits perfectly in this world and this series.

Overall: 8.8
Telltale Games keeps the series strong with Baddest of the Bands — it’s a rockin’ adventure that is bound to keep fans of both Strong Bad and point-and-click games happy.