So there were a couple great things to come out of the 1990s.
One, the original Ninja Turtles movie.
Two, Emma Watson.
And three, animation.
In fact, animation had a major renaissance back then, resulting in some of the best cartoons
in half a century.
And I bring it up because, should you like those cartoons, you're gonna love stickin'
it to the man.
Also helps if you...like Maniac Mansion.
So this
thing was just released for the PlayStation 3 and Vita, and it's basically a 2D puzzle
platformer dipped in a little Rocko's Modern Life.
In fact, while there's plenty of animation this game's art style seems to tip its cap
to...Rocko, in particular, seems to be a huge inspiration.
Everything from the slanted buildings to the surreal humor...even the fonts.
This game really takes you back to the ol' days of O-Town.
So if you're not as much of a cartoon nerd...what's Stick It To The Man all about?
Well, it's basically a game of problem solving.
And style and satire, which is where the Rocko comes in.
You play as Ray.
And one day, Ray gets hit in the head.
When he wakes up, he notices some kind of long pink hand coming out of his brain.
Of course, no one seems to notice, and Ray discovers he can actually use it to read people's
minds.
And, like, steal their thoughts.
See, those thoughts...are actually stickers.
In fact, the whole world is this...huge, interactive sticker book.
Each level gives Ray obstacles to navigate and people to help, and he has to do that
by putting the right stickers in the right places.
So for example, early on, Ray meets this poor bastard who's about to kill himself.
So you read his mind, and it turns out...it's over a woman.
She dumped him for some guy with better teeth.
So obviously, we get to get this guy better teeth.
And to do that, we have to solve a series of problems that includes feeding some guy's
arm to a crocodile, changing the outcome of a dance competition and chatting with a kidnapping
victim about obscure NES games.
Then and only then can true love be saved.
Only it's not true love, because...I'm pretty sure she only likes him for his teeth.
And it's not saved, because...I mean, who knows what's canon, at this point?
Every level follows pretty much the same formula.
Explore the scene, talk to everyone, figure out who needs something and then figure out
how you can get it for them.
That usually involves talking to other people, or solving another problem.
At which point, you can grab a sticker with your massive brain hand, and then stick it
somewhere helpful.
Because it's like a book, the stickers actually affect the world.
That's where the puzzle solving comes in.
Figuring out which stickers change which situations.
And it's a lot of fun, but on the other hand...like I said, every level follows the same formula.
So in terms of actual gameplay, things can get stale.
Especially if you get stuck.
That's when things devolve into just randomly trying to stick stickers on every spot that
needs one.
So it does have that stretched adventure game logic sometimes.
That esoteric feel that can often make these games frustrating.
But when it clicks, Stick It To The Man is incredibly entertaining.
And for me, that's all about the presentation.
The dialogue's fantastic, and again, the style and tone really remind me of Rocko's Modern
Life.
Almost to the point where it feels like a tribute.
In a sense, I guess...this is less an awesome game than just an awesome experience.
The gameplay's just a vessel for the dialogue and the art.
That's the real attraction.
So it's basically, like...back around 1991, if Nickelodeon had done a cartoon inspired
by Maniac Mansion.
This would've been the result.
A beautiful and hilarious puzzle-type adventure thing, Stick It To
The Man is a great game that left me thinking one thing.
That was
a hoot!