The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots!

"When nostalgia goes bad..."

I grew up on Nickelodeon. I remember a time when there were only three original cartoons on the channel. The Ren & Stimpy Show was my overall favorite of the three original Nick-Toons. Sadly, the Ren & Stimpy Show had themes that catered to more adult audiences, so the show was cut from the Nickelodeon schedule. Now you can find the Ren & Stimpy Show on the Spike channel, dubbed the ''channel for men.'' After some channel surfing, I was face to face with a childhood program that I adored. I remembered I had an old Ren & Stimpy Gameboy game, so I dug it out, put it into my GBA, and started playing. After playing this game for the first time in almost ten years, I can say that Ren & Stimpy: Veediots is the worst game in my video game collection.

Ren & Stimpy: Veediots is based on several episodes from the television show. You can control either Ren or Stimpy and maneuver them through various levels and obstacles. All you have to do is get from one end of the stage to the other. It sounds so simple, but it's so difficult. Why should such a simple concept be so difficult? The controls are horrible. It takes literally two seconds for the game to register that you pushed the jump button. There's a lampshade that you have jump over in the first level. If you don't time the delayed jumps perfectly, you'll never get past it. Also, you're being timed. There's a good chance that you'll still be trying to get over that lampshade when the clock reaches zero.

If the gameplay weren't bad enough, the graphics and sound are even worse. Remember that lampshade I was telling you about? I didn't even know it was a lampshade until now. The character animations are twisted versions of their television counterparts. The color scheme is bland at best. The backgrounds have no detail. The character voices are just digital squawking , opposed to the unique voices of Ren & Stimpy. The only redeeming thing about this game is that the developers chose to include the ''Log Song'' from the television show. But even that classic song is just a digital shadow of its former self.

I'm a fan of the Ren & Stimpy Show. I love nostalgic games. But Ren & Stimpy: Veediots is not worth the plastic casing it's embedded in. If you ever see this game, look the other way. Save your quarter for something else.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 02/22/04