REBUTTAL TO: Dragon Slave! Make Me Laugh, Damn It!
When I read "Dragon Slave! Make Me Laugh, Damn It!" the other day, I had the distinct feeling that I wouldn't be the only one to have a reaction best summed as: "Either you're forgetting your RPG history, or you really missed out on some classics." I'm always happy to point a fellow Slayers fan in the right direction, and while comedy is admittedly an under-represented genre in gaming, it's not altogether absent--not even in the realm of RPGs.
The most recent example that comes to mind is "Mario and Luigi: Superstars," a.k.a. Super Mario RPG 3. If you haven't been playing this series since day one back on the SNES--or if you skipped its N64 and GBA sequels--you've definitely been missing out. All three Mario RPGs openly parody the RPG genre and Nintendo's own licenses. "M&L:S" still has the New Release sticker on its box at most retailers, and it stands in my mind as one of the funnest and funniest RPGs of this console generation. It's a mad collection of puns, slapstick and poking fun at a range of RPG conventions with some excellent puzzles and timed-button-pressing-based combat.
Another series that isn't exactly comedy-based but downright hilarious all the same would be LUNAR. Both LUNAR games were remade and re-released for the original Playstation by Working Designs. The actual storylines are serious and old-school--the comedy comes in from the character interactions. The first game features three young couples and a tiny dragon who constantly heckle each other and anything else that moves (for example, a village consisting entirely of inbred yokels where the men can't decide whether to hit on the women in the party or their own cousins--disturbing but hilarious). The second game features a similar cast, this time with special appearances from a White Knight in an obvious disguise ("Discipline feels good!") and plenty of pop-culture references. Kudos for the humor goes both to Studio Alex (who made games that were funny to begin with) and Working Designs (who made the humor relevant to Western audiences).
And finally, how about the cream of the crop as far as humorous RPGs go? More of an RPG icon than just a pair of cult classics, the "Mother" series really deserves props in this category. Most RPG lovers from the SNES age are already familiar with "Mother 2," which saw its Western release as "Earthbound." What is "Earthbound" all about? The basic set-up is as follows: One night, in the quiet town of Onett ("We're Onett because we're first!"), a meteorite crash draws out young Ness to meet Buzz-Buzz, former galactic hero turned tiny little bee. Buzz-Buzz wants to guide Ness on a quest to defeat the evil alien overlord Giygas and displays his incredible psychic powers in a battle against said overlord's henchmen... but a neighbor mistakes Buzz-Buzz for a dung beetle and smacks him dead minutes later. Ness sets out and teams up with Paula the psychic kindergarten worker from Twoson ("We're Twoson because we're second!" ...and yes, there's also Threed and Fourside.), Jeff the scientific genius and Prince Poo of the Eastern kingdom of Dalaam. The team uses weapons like cracked baseball bats, holy frying pans and bundles of bottle rockets to fight everything from stray dogs to zombies to aliens to New Age Retro Hippies and angry fire hydrants. Needless to say, it's all completely bizarre and absolutely hilarious. On a side-note, while the original "Mother" wasn't released in the US, it was translated and shelved, and the resulting game is available through "other means," usually under the title "Earthbound Zero." It features battles with psychotic cars, runaway zoo animals and those darn hippies just like the sequel. Both games are supposedly on the way in a GBA compilation cart, and "Earthbound" fans have been praying for years to see a series revival, but we'll have to see what the future holds.
On a wider note, we have seen comedy-based games in all genres in the past. If you like gross-out humor, there's always the "classic" (I use the word loosely) "Boogerman" for SNES and Genesis. The "Earthworm Jim" series was also known for its obvious sense of humor. I would agree that we see less and less of that kind of game as time goes by--chalk it up to the mainstreaming process, where everything has to be "cool." One recent non-RPG that does fit the mold would be "Viewtiful Joe," a great tongue-in-cheek take on the henshin genre of Japanese TV and film.
Do we see as many openly humorous games, let alone RPGs, as we really should? I'd definitely agree that we don't. But a little hunting through the vaults--and even on the current store shelves--will show you that for all the emphasis on thumb dexterity and eye candy most designers aim for, the funny bone hasn't been completely forgotten.
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