The ever-weird Homestar Runner humor sells this otherwise standard point-and-click adventure game.
Cons: Occasionally illogical or tough-to-spot puzzle solutions; Pathfinding issues
I'll admit, I am a big fan of Homestar Runner and co. I used to watch the online cartoon endlessly and can quote any number of lines on a whim (I frequently do, much to the confusion of my friends, who haven't visited the site). Thus, I was excited when I found out that there would be a full point-and-click adventure game with the Homestar Runner characters, complete with the original writing and voice acting team involved.
Point-and-click adventure games being the strange genre where writing arguably trumps gameplay in importance, it was imperative that Strong Bad's Cool game nail the feel of the series, and this is its greatest triumph. This game is clearly made with the fans in mind, as almost every single character or recurring joke gets a bit of screen time. Everything from the stick, to Charlemagne (the suicidal plant), and even 147 glasses of melonade get a nod.
Don't take that to mean that you have to be a fan to enjoy the humor, though. The sheer absurdity of the humor is typically enough, whether you're participating in the "Race to the End of the Race," or reinstating a military draft that keeps picking random electronic appliances. You won't go two lines without someone saying something that provokes a "what?" response, usually followed by a chuckle. But it's not all random-the last two episodes provide surprisingly smart and subtle satire of action movies and video games respectively.
In the process you do typical point-and-click adventure things: walk around examining everything, solving puzzles, and inevitably getting stuck and clicking on every item in your inventory. While most of the puzzles aren't too bad, and some are even legitimately fun (for instance, figuring out how to annex various countries in episode 2 is often a blast), most episodes have at least one moment where the solution is illogical, or really easy to miss. The game is quite fun until you suddenly have to talk to the same person repeatedly (a task that 99% of the time gets you nowhere), or when you have to find a two-dimensional item hidden from sight. Then the pacing is broken and things cease to be fun.
But none of this should come as a surprise, because it's really all standard point-and-click fare. For the most part, however, the game kept a brisk pace and provided several hearty laughs. It's hard to recommend it on gameplay alone, since it is a standard point-and-click adventure with the usual ups and downs, but If you are looking for a good laugh, and some solid puzzles, you can certainly do far worse than Strong Bad's Cool Game.
Assuming you're an Attractive People of course.