Great show, not so great game.
Some will recognize Harvey Birdman's style of gameplay right away if they've ever had the chance to play any of the Phoenix Wright games on the DS. Unfortunately, Harvey Birdman is neither as deep or as challenging as any of them.
For those unfamiliar with these "Court Sim Adventures" this is how they work. The game's levels are split up into cases, all of which p´lay out like episodes from the show. There are five levels in total. Each episode has an introduction, some wacky unfurling events with some gameplay in between cutscenes. Interactivity is extremely minimal. It consists of moving a pointer on the screen between options as you search areas.
You can talk to characters on the scene, examine areas for clues and evidence, present evidence in order to trigger events or move to another area. The game is pretty straightforward in that sense. It's basically you triggering in order to mover the linear storyline forwards. You are given the option to make decisions in between cutcenes, each with a different outcome, but they're mostly for laughs.
The closest thing to gameplay here is when in court, where you must use the evidence at your disposal to win the case. Witnesses and suspects get cross examinations, and here you must pay attention for posible contradictions in their testimonies.
You can press them for more information or present evidence that contradicts their statement. As I stated before, this is very similar to Capcom's Phoenix Wright series, only much easier with not so many complex cases. It tends to focus more on making you laugh, which is a relief considering it's the best thing it manages to do right. It's presented well enough to make it worth a playthrough with hardly any replay value, other than for some strangely frequent Street Fighter cameos.
The idea behind this game is actually spectacular. It's funny, very amusing and entertaining. But, there's just so much that could've been done here. Personally, if this had been released as an interactive DVD, I would've never guessed it was originally supposed to be a game, and that saddens me more than just a little bit.