The Ren & Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$!

"Happy Happy Joy Joy? Not Really"

Ren & Stimpy license games have always been rather weak. When the BEST game in the series is Veediots, a very average platformer, you know you're in trouble. But some of them, like Buckeroo$, are so horrible that you wonder if the games ever got tested for quality control.

1) Graphics. Bland. Backgrounds are cartoony but are possess little creativity, and are recycled ad nauseum throughout the whole game. Animations are extremely weak; most movements consist of two or three frames, all of which are ugly. I'm amazed John K., a guy who favors full animation, allowed such limited and stiff movements.

2) Sound. TURN THE VOLUME DOWN! I swear, this game has some of the most pathetic sound design I've ever heard in any game. It has less than a half dozen melodies TOTAL, all of which are not only repeated for multiple levels but which are extremely short and begin looping after about 15 seconds. Oh, so you like "Happy Happy Joy Joy"? Not after you hear it for the 29 billionth time. And the choice of musical instruments is appalling as well. Everything sounds empty and seems to use the same irritating trumpets over and over. Voice bytes sound NOTHING like the show, especially Stimpy's voice.

3) Controls. They're bad, plain and simple. Ren & Stimpy both walk by default, which is agonizingly slow and lethargic. There IS a run button, but the programmers stupidly placed it on the X Button, making for some unnatural reaching.

4) Gameplay. Here's the gameplay in a nutshell: Go from left to right, slap some bad guys (or in Stimpy's case, belch hairballs), hop from platform to platform here and there, rinse, repeat. Nothing even remotely original or enthralling exists here, especially since the pace of the game is tortuously SLOW and boring. And the A.I. is cheap, because it takes a ton of hits to kill some of them (such as the sheriff of Dodge City), all while they beat you to nearly dead.

As if the game engine wasn't bad enough, there are only three variations of level themes in the game: Western, medieval, and space. And the space levels are awful; it tries to pull a Lemmings, wherein your protect Ren while he wanders aimlessly around the ship. But after about a minute of this, you'll want the suffering to stop.

5) Overall. This game is a sad, sad "effort" that puts the Ren & Stimpy name to shame. It reeks of executives trying to cash in on a popular craze without taking any time to work on it, and the uber repetitive backgrounds/level design, snail-speed gameplay pace, uninspired, ridiculously repeated enemies, and never-ending music will all make you want to pull your hair out. Even if you find this game for $1 at a bargain bin, don't even think about picking it up.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 12/09/05