Harvey Birdman is short, but well worth it for the fans of the show.
We need a Harvey Birdman game with this same engine!!!!
Ok. So maybe only a few of us actually thought of that, but fortuneately, one of those proud few was from Capcom, who bought the licensing rights and went right to work. The result? Harvey Birdman, a hilarious, if somewhat short, game that any fan of the show would enjoy.
If you don't know who Harvey Birdman is, you'd first have to go back to the sixties. He was the star of a Hanna Barbarra cartoon. Well, to be more accurate, his show was the five minute filler in between the main event shows. But in any case, Adult Swim brought him back him back and made him a lawywer! The show is funny, and I wholeheartedly suggest anyone who grew up watching old school cartoons on cartoon network to give the show a chance.
Each case in the game runs like and episode of the show. First an absurd situation rises up that requires Harvey's "unique" legal skill. Then he does a bit of digging and finds some pieces to the puzzle. Then finally, it all comes out in court and the hilarity rises to whole new levels.
You don't get to really control much. Unlike Phoenix, there is almost no text to read, as all conversations have speech and animations to go with them. This is great, because the voice acting is superb. Almost all of the original voice actors are on board, and each do a splendid job of reprising thier roles. The music is taken right from the show.
The only problem is the length of each case. None of them will take you more than an hour to complete, which means this game is over real fast. Most of this stems from cut scenes instead of long dialogue trees, but also becasue there isn't much to do. You rarely have to go searching far to find the last piece of evidence to proceed or witness to locate. Its almost always clear exactly what you have to do. In fact, you'll be hard pressed to one of your five crests that count as a sort of life total. Present the wrong evdidence and you lose a crest, but its usually pretty clear where to go. You won't be needing a trip to gamefaqs for this game.
All in all though, this is a great companion piece to the series, as it hits its tone perfectly. The story is written by the same writers, voiced by the same actors, and the graphics match it frame for frame. Its only thrity bucks, (except for the wii version) which for me makes it well worth it.