For years, James “Angry Video Game Nerd” Rolfe has suffered the worst that retro gaming could toss at him for the sake of your amusement. Why does he do it? Is he a masochist? Does the rage that burns inside with every sudden death and game-breaking bug fill him with purpose? Why does the pain give him so much power?
To know the Nerd, you have to become the Nerd. You can’t just film yourself playing any old’ NES game, spout a few curse words, post the poorly edited footage onto YouTube, then call it a day. It’s not that simple. No, we must dive into the deepest corners of his psyche.
There was once a Z-grade movie of sinister renown called MANOS: The Hands of Fate, which was recently translated into by Freak Zone Games. AVGN show partner Screw Attack knew that the only way to do a Nerd game justice would be to assign development to a team with experience making palatable the most unpalatable of media dreck. Only by folding pain over pleasure could we truly begin to understand.
” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Click here to buy Angry Video Game Nerd.
Long-time Nerd fans will note many nods and Easter eggs to the show’s history in everything from the enemies and items to the obstacles and backgrounds. You consume Rolling Rock to refill health and acquire tokens to summon the Glitch Gremlin or Super Macha Death Christ. You fly atop the board from Silver Surfer, go toe-to-toe with Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and find Shit Pickle hiding in various locations. Then there’s the final stage, a foul monument to one of the Nerd’s most despised game companies.
Several classic Nintendo games are also paid tribute. In the introductory level, you get instructed by Maggi, the green-hued cousin of Ocarina of Time ‘s Navi, much to the Nerd’s displeasure. The disappearing blocks from Mega Man and the giant goblin heads from Air Man’s stage in Mega Man 2 feature prominently, as does Doom ‘s Cacodemon, remade out of feces and appropriately dubbed “Cacodemon.” Even Freak Zone’s own MANOS is acknowledged with a boss battle pulled straight from that title.
But what really gives Adventures the AVGN touch is the running commentary. Every so often, the Nerd will make some kind of rant or observation, although the fact that it’s text-based makes it difficult to read during particularly harrowing platforming segments. Whenever you die, the Nerd will spout one of his famous curse-laden analogies (e.g., “This game is rotten fungus coming out of a badger’s sphincter!”) with keywords randomly generated from the game’s Facebook page. The current pool isn’t all that big, thus many phrases are repeated; perhaps Screw Attack will continue to update the game with expanded word banks.
All the references and potty humor in the world wouldn’t be enough if the core game wasn’t compelling. Thankfully, there is a solid quest beneath the surface dressing that even those completely unfamiliar with the Nerd’s exploits would be able to enjoy.
If you happened to have played MANOS, you’ll notice that Adventures feels like an extension of that, with many shared elements and environmental hazards — I wouldn’t consider that a knock against this game, though. There’s a classic “Nintendo hard” degree of challenge, but it’s tempered by very solid controls and enough checkpoints and beer bottles to carry you towards the boss. Oh, and it’s got a pretty banging’ soundtrack to keep your fighting spirit high!
You begin the game as the Nerd with a multi-directional NES Zapper for a weapon, and careful searching will lead you to three additional party members — Guitar Guy, who can run fast and shoot wave beams through walls; Mike, with a super high jump and the ability to spot destructible walls and invisible platforms; and Bullshit Man, who can double jump and lob extra powerful lumps of poo. Only by swapping characters on the fly and using their abilities can you reach formerly inaccessible areas filled with 1-ups, health, and weapon upgrades. You may even spot a few NPC cameos, like betallows, Ego raptor, and our very own Jim Sterling and Mr. Destruction!