PRODUCED / DEVELOPED BY: Cinemaware
YEAR OF RELEASING: 1987
PLATFORM(S): Amiga (it was re-relased for Nintendo Entertainment System and Commodore 64 in 1989 by Activision and for Gameboy Advance and PlayStation in 2002 by Metro 3D)
NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 1
GENRE: Well, it's a little bizarre game... I think it is a party game
If there's any person or Koopa who doesn't know who The Three Stooges are, I think it would be nice to explain some aspects of them. The Three Stooges are a trio of comedians from the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. They were formed by Moe Howard, Shemp Howard, and Larry Fine. Some years later, Shemp was replaced by a guy named Curly, but when Curly died, Shemp came back. Shemp also died sometime later, and was replaced by Joe Besser, and Besser was replaced by Joe (nicknamed "Curly-Joe") DeRita. Then, the Three Stooges show was cancelled and everybody died (most of them from illness). In my opinion, The Three Stooges' history is the second most fascinating out of every comedian who passed through the Earth, second only to the Mexican comedian Roberto Gómez Bolaños, nicknamed "Chespirito" (he is still alive). Many toys, books, DVDs, and other Stooges related memorabilia are released every year, and a videogame was planned too. However, it is quite dull, and doesn't honor the Stooges' spirit very much. Now, as Curly would say... "Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!"
STORY – 7.5
The story does represent the Stooges'
spirit very well. While heading to the city of Stoogeville (how dull!),
the Three Stooges watch a banker (named I. Fleecem, as shown in the manual)
threatening an old lady who lives with her three daughters in a dilapidated
orphanage. When the banker leaves, the Stooges head to the orphanage and
ask the lady (called "Ma" in here) what happened. Ma replies that the banker
wants a mortgage of $5,000 to be paid in thirty days. If the mortgage is
not paid, he will take everything. Although they're dumb, the Stooges are
very kind-hearted, and decide to get the money for Ma. So, they head to
Stoogeville to try to get the money in the most bizarre ways.
GAMEPLAY – 6.5
As said before, the money must be acquired
in thirty days, so you can't waste time on the minigames! The days are
counted as the Stooges beat a level. The game focuses as Moe moves his
hand around a map of Stoogeville looking for odd jobs and contests to get
the money. Many of these jobs are as follows:
WAITERS (SERVING PIE AND PIZZA): Working in a classy restaurant, the Stooges get tired of the clients' snobbery and decide to throw the food "of a very delicated form" at them. The clients will start throwing pies (or pizza, depending on the level) at the Stooges, creating a true food fight. The Stooges win $10 for each person they hit.
DOCTORS (OR SUPERMARKET PACKERS): In here, the Stooges must follow an orderly (or the chief packer in the supermarket) through the corridors of a hospital (or supermarket) collecting medial equipment (in the supermarket case, vegetables) while avoiding bumping people. The items collected are worth $5 to $15 a piece.
CRACKER EATING CONTEST: In here, Curly must eat crackers from a bowl of chowder to win the money. Unfortunately, the bowl is full of oysters that try to eat the crackers too... Curly wins $10 for every cracker eaten, and $50 for every bowl he completes.
BOXING MATCH: Curly decides to enter a boxing match to win more money. As he goes extremely crazy and violent when he hears the song "Pop Goes the Weasel", Larry decides to play it on a violin to help Curly to win. BUUUUUUUUUT... The very moment Curly enters the ring, Larry breaks his violin. Then, he must run to a radio shop along a sidewalk full of obstacles. The match is divided into six rounds. If Larry arrives in the fourth match with the radio, the Stooges win $700. If he arrives in the fifth match, they win $600. If he arrives in the sixth match, they win $500.
There are also other things that can help or messup the Stooges:
LUCK SYMBOL: The Stooges will walk through an alley and find a wallet (or another thing) full of money. However, the Stooges are very honest guys, and will give the money back to the owner, for a reward of $200.
RADIO TRIVIA SHOW: Feeling lucky, the Stooges decide to participate in a trivia show on the radio. You must answer a question about the Three Stooges' history or about Cinemaware's past to win cash.
THE BANKER: If you are lucky enough to pass in front of the bank where I. Fleecem works, he will come out, greet the Stooges with his evil laughter, and get 10% of your money "for taxes". However, if you find I. Fleecem more good-humored, he'll only give you a lovely message: "You'll never make it! You only have (number of days missing) days left!"
MOUSETRAP: When Moe moves his hand around the Stoogeville map, his hand shows all five fingers. However, if his hand stops on the mousetrap, one of his fingers will disappear. If all his fingers disappear, the game ends.
POUNDING: As the game proceeds, Moe's hand keeps moving faster over the map. If you feel it needs to slow down, try to stop on the icon where Moe is seen poking Larry's eyes. Then the Stooges will quickly start punching themselves. As Moe pounds Larry and Curly, the hand's velocity will decrease, but as Larry and Curly pound Moe, the velocity will increase.
Also, as a final footnote, the game has four endings:
* If the Stooges don't get enough money,
I. Fleecem can realize his dream of destroying the orphanage.
* With $5,000 collected, the mortgage
can be paid off.
* With $10,000 collected, the orphanage
can be fully restored.
* With $20,000 collected, the orphanage
will be restored and the Stooges can marry Ma's daughters.
GRAPHICS - 5
The graphics are quite dull, mediocre,
and old-fashioned. The best part of them is that some cutscenes were made
with colorized screenshots from the original episodes.
MUSIC - 4,5
The music is so useless! It's dull,
repetitive, and robotic. It would be much better if this game had no music
at all rather than having this cheesy music. Voice-overs of the Stooges
can be heard throughout the whole game. That was interesting!
FUN FACTOR! - 2
Well... The game is quite stupid and
weak. It's not gratifying to play it, as its ending is very unsatisfying,
and the replay factor is dumb (you do the same thing over, and over, and
over).
FINAL NOTE – 4.5
As I said before, this game really
doesn't show to the world the Stooges' spirit. It shouldn't even have beeen
re-released at all! Very, very lame. I only bought it because I'm a fan
of the Three Stooges, but I got very upset with this game. Lame.
BE PREPARED FOR MY NEXT REVIEW:
Super Mario Bros.
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