For over two decades, South Park has been an unlikely staple of pop culture.
Although the show’s peak period of relevance has passed, the adventures of Cartman, Kyle,
Stan and Kenny continue to entertain audiences year after year. Since video games were rising in
prominence when the show first premiered, South Park has had several gaming-related episodes.
Here are our favorite videogame themed South Park episodes. From Good to Best.
Freemium Isn’t Free.
Season eight’s “Freemium Isn’t Free” fixates the spotlight on addiction while still maintaining
witty humor and goofiness throughout the episode. It’s funny to watch Stan’s dad,
Randy trying to win an argument that he isn’t addicted to alcohol while he continues to drink
loads of beer and wine at the same time. Randy also tries denying his gambling addiction,
but fails miserably. The episode mainly focuses on Stan getting addicted to a Freemium software,
which is basically the new Terrance and Philip mobile game. He’s then confronted by Kyle,
Cartman and Kenny when they realize he desperately needs help. Later on, when Stan is trying to
sleep, the Terrance and Philip game keeps taunting him and he eventually gives in to his temptation,
before spending $26, 000 on the game. To overcome his addiction, Stan goes to Kyle’s house for help,
and later, even prays to a higher power. That’s when Satan appears to talk to him about how the
release of Dopamine in his brain is linked to addiction. Towards the end of the episode,
Stan and Marvin are shown playing board games in order to keep themselves clean.
Towelie.
In this season five episode, the boys get their hands on a brand-new video game system
known as an “Okama GameSphere'' that's given to them by Stan’s mother. They’re so excited that
they plan to play it for the next thirty-eight hours. However, their game session is interrupted
when they discover ‘Towelie’, a government secret, genetically-engineered towel. The government takes
the GamesSphere from the boys and asks them to bring Towelie to them. The boys get caught in
the crosshairs of government espionage, but all they wish to do is return home quickly and get
back to playing their new video game. The brand new 2001 “Okama GameSphere'' mentioned in this
South Park episode is a reference to the Nintendo GameCube which was introduced during the same time
as the episode aired. The popular home video game console was Nintendo 64’s successor and was
praised for its controller, extensive software library and high-quality video games. Nintendo
sold 21.74 million GameCube units worldwide before the console was discontinued in 2007.
Sexual Healing.
In spite of this episode’s title, it does deserve a place on this list. This season
fourteen episode begins with Cartman and Kenny playing the latest Tiger Woods golf-game called
‘Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11’, which is actually more of a domestic fighting game showing Tiger
Woods and his wife ruthlessly beating each other up because of his numerous extra marital
affairs. While most of the episode focuses on eradicating a disturbing addiction among boys,
in the closing scene Cartman and Stan are shown playing a new Tiger Woods game. This one’s clearly
a lot better for them since it’s just a regular golf game instead of a simulator involving intense
domestic fights. However, the simple nature of the game frustrates Cartman who says, “Where’s all the
fighting?”. Eventually, he and Stan declare golf boring, after dropping their game controllers.
Informative Murder P*rn.
This season seventeen episode features an off-the-wall narrative where the South Park
children find out their parents are watching disturbingly violent TV shows about murder
and betrayal. These graphic crime stories followed couples in bed who ended up dead.
This shocking incident causes the boys to become deeply concerned so they set out to teach their
parents a thing or two about morals and internet safety. The boys come up with a plan where they
use the game of “Minecraft” as a distraction to stop their parents from watching homicide
television. Later, at the community center, the kids once again meet to discuss their dilemma
and are even more frustrated than before, because their parents not only continue to
watch graphic murder shows but also ruin their online experiences in “Minecraft” as well.
Chinpokomon.
When this season three episode was aired in 1999, the Japanese media franchise ‘Pokemon’ was
becoming increasingly popular, so it makes sense that South Park made a reference to this trend
and was quite successful in doing so. The episode shows Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny
getting caught up and insanely fascinated with the latest fad called ‘Chinpokomon’,
which is a fictional Japanese anime series, or in other words, a parody of the Pokemon franchise.
Not long after the show ends, they become obsessed with its related products too, such as
video games and collectible toys. While Cartman forces his mom to take him to the toy store,
Kyle can’t help stop himself from going to the Chinpokomon Camp. Needless to say,
this episode is a must-watch for all anime fans and avid gamers.
Best Friends Forever.
Season nine’s “Best Friends Forever” won a 2005 Emmy Award, allowing the show to beat
other nominees such as ‘The Simpsons’ and ‘Family Guy’ for the first time. What makes this episode
so special, you may ask? Well, there’s a lot to appreciate here, from a creative plot to
intelligent humor and of course, the impressive setting. The episode shows how Kenny becomes
inseparable from his new golden PSP video game that no one else in town has. He later dies and
enters into a coma, before he finds himself in Heaven. That’s when he learns that God created
the PSP to search for “Keanu Reeves”, a person who would command his legions against the forces of
Hell similar to the way it’s done in the video game. The episode interestingly narrates an actual
battle between Heaven and Hell, and although it isn’t shown fully, it’s described as “more epic
than the final Lord of the Rings battle!” The battle ends with a few weak, surviving angels
mildly cheering and dancing while Kenny receives a golden statue of Keanu Reeves as his reward.
Go God Go/XII.
South Park is no stranger to making excellent Nintendo references. In the season ten
episode twelve titled “Go God Go/ XII”, Cartman finds it undeniably hard to wait for Nintendo’s
infamous Wii console. In fact, he’s so impatient that he makes an attempt to freeze himself just to
avoid waiting for the Wii for three more weeks. But things don’t go as planned when a freak
accident lands him over five hundred years in the future, after which he finds himself stuck in a
Godless world on the brink of war with no Nintendo Wii. Cartman later discovers the Crank Prank Time
Phone, and plans to use it to call himself in the past and stop him from making the stupid
mistake of freezing himself. The episode is truly enjoyable with clever humor and multiple sci-fi
references. Not to mention the story going full circle with Cartman ending up where he started,
and even starting back on the path he first took, which is a genius take on the character.
Black Friday.
Black Friday, which is the first of a three-episode story,
can easily be considered among the best South Park episodes in season seventeen.
It cleverly fuses elements of the Next-Gen Console War with Game of Thrones, which makes
this episode amusing and insanely fun to watch. ‘Black Friday’ follows the boys as they prepare
themselves to battle the crowds already lining up at the South Park Mall for the angriest day of
holiday shopping. While the episode showcases the horrors of Black Friday shopping, it also makes a
ton of nerd-related references while nailing the Game of Thrones parody at the same time.
Guitar Queer-O.
In this cleverly funny episode from season eleven, Stan and Kyle are hooked on the
computer game ‘Guitar Hero’ and their skills are so exceptional that they manage to reach 100,
000 points. This is sufficient for them to consider themselves rockstars,
and their belief becomes even stronger when Charles from the Kincade Talent agency
asks to become their manager. Later, however, the same manager convinces Stan that Kyle is
holding him back with his superior skills on the video game, and their friendship is tested.
Make Love, Not Warcraft
As the title indicates, the massively multiplayer online game ‘World of Warcraft’
is front and center in this season ten episode. Thanks to the amazing
collaboration between South Park creators and Blizzard Entertainment, “Make Love,
Not Warcraft” received praise for being one of the funniest episodes ever produced and even
won an Emmy Award in 2007. It takes viewers on a gripping journey with the boys as they go all-in
to defeat a high-level player and save the ‘World of Warcraft’. While this episode will
especially be enjoyable for ‘World of Warcraft’ fans, it’s just as captivating for other viewers.
But let us know in the comment section: WHICH SOUTH PARK VIDEO GAME EPISODE DID
YOU ENJOY THE MOST? And tell us what we should cover next. Remember to hit that
notification bell and binge more of our videos. But most importantly, stay wicked.