Homestar Runner Dot Net! "It's Dot Com!"

The Dot Com Bubble had burst at the tail end of the millennium, and The Brothers Chaps launched their site on New Years Day of 2000, inadvertently marking a new era of internet. With their brand of absurdly goofy, word playdoh humor, the Brothers imprinted onto my tiny adolescent mind a gift: an irreversible alteration to the vocabulary I speak at the expense of everyone around me. Homestar Runner is one of the most quotable series in existence, and those quotes would flood into my circle's sense of humor like a storm drain.

Everybody! Everybody!

The Welcome video to Homestarrunner.com features the titular Homestar Runner messing up his very simple introductory lines in front of a camera crew, followed by the grand entrance of Strong Bad. Strong Bad says the line "you don't know it yet, but I'm the reason that you're here". Growing up, I never realized just how true this is. While Homestar Runner as a character is ever so charasmatic — with his incessant misunderstanding and butcherization of the English language, his complete and utter bafoonery and his lipsy little lisp — he simply doesn't have the versatility and interest that a character like Strong Bad holds.

—> Hey! A Good Person!

Strong Bad is an antihero similar to the likes of another one of my favorite characters, The Monarch from The Venture Bros. Both hold a sort of estranged softness towards their supposed enemies. The Monarch has a hatred for Rusty Venture, but he understands that Rusty's pathetic life is the result of Jonas Venture being a royal douchebag, so whenever he's face to face with Rusty, he can't help but let his hate slip up a little due to just how bafflingly pathetic Rusty is to him.

Strong Bad on the other hand is more on the smaller scale of petty hate. Strong Bad gets into hair brained schemes in which he either ends up inconviencing Homestar in absurd, abhorrently stupid ways or ends up with his plan blown across his masked face. Strong Bad may find Homestar annoying, but he's never a constant antagonist to Homestar, also baffled by his existence. Rather than an arch super villian, Strong Bad is a rather laid back dude, cruising sofas and dreaming about Super Nintendo games, taking care of his older brother, chilling out with his... pet? Friend? Baby? Whatever The Cheat is.

On the occasional episodes, both Homestar and Strong Bad get into their own set of shenanigans, and the same goes for the many denizens of Free Country, USA. Strong Bad has a chemistry with everyone, and there's a banter between him and all the cast members that's rarely if ever malicious. Strong Bad is not a bad guy, (except maybe to Strong Sad, but almost everyone in the toons are), but rather a jerk with a heart. Homestar, due to his slightly annoying nature, can't have the same reach as the muscle man himself.

Save the last email for Strong Bad

In a sense, giving a platform for Strong Bad was a no brainer. Strong Bad was the most popular character on the site, and fans clamoured for more of the luchadore. So, the Brothers set up a way to speak to Strong Bad directly through a new segment: Strong Bad Emails. Fans could write in an email for Strong Bad, and he'd respond to it!

This ended up becoming a winning formula on multiple levels. The Brothers could use this weekly, less labor intensive format to expand on Strong Bad and the many characters on the site, while also having a surrogate to speak to their audience directly in a fun, new, exciting way. Sticking Strong Bad at the center of everything allowed Mike and Matt to bounce off both the audience and the scenario set up by the premise of the email in a rapid free flow state, allowing Strong Bad as a character to poke fun of anything and everything thrown at him... You know, despite the boxing gloves being on.

Due in part to SBemail, the Brothers developed a running gag of Strong Bad making a parody of 80's buddy cop b-movies, taking on the persona of "Dangeresque", a loose cannon cop who doesn't play by the rules, announces he has to jump out of windows at any given moment, and looking handsome while doing so. "Renaldo", played by my beloved pathetic 30 something year old Coach Z, would often be his more level headed, pathetic side kick, and "Dangeresque, too", played by Homestar, would act as his rival cop. This gag translated into a few different formats: toons of course, but also live action puppet thrillers using charmingly shitty practical effects, and more importantly for this review, video games.

Sounds like YOU need to play more video games, galpal.

Within the same year, Dangeresque appeared in two separate games. The first was in Telltale's now delisted "Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People.", the second was a flash version of the first scenario that would eventually be found in Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triunglate. The Brothers worked on this flash game themselves along with a programmer, and had ideas to expand the concept, but eventually all production fell to the wayside. Now, years later, Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate picks up the pieces of those old ideas and expands upon them with a new Unity coat of paint.

Their experience making an interactive website chalk full of secret easter eggs ends up translating nicely towards the world of video games. The point-and-click is probably the best vehicle for the Homestar Runner universe, perfectly fitting the website's design like a boxing glove. You click on something and Strong Bad opens his mouth words to be talk heard, just like the toons!

Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate is your standard point'n'click affair — collect every item you can get your green mittens onto and place said item in you pants-ventory. Then you apply the item to what appears to be a logical use in a puzzle-like fashion. I typically find myself on a rocky spectrum with point-and-click'emups — Adventure Game logic can be rather hit or miss in the wrong hands — but with D:TRT, there's a logical throughline that meshes well against my brain.

You're given 3 main scenario episodes along with a bonus episode featuring Dangeresque, Too on a solo mission. Each scenario places Dangeresque in a single framed box of which you're tasked with solving a way out of. Your first room is literal: you're trapped in your office with your boss breathing down your neck to solve a case, and your goal is to stuff a case file full of forged evidence to get him off your back. The second scenario has Dangeresque and Renaldo attempting to defuse a bomb in the engine of their car, the third has you dealing with the mafia and protecting Don Perducci (played by the King of Town) and his body guard Killing-you-guy (played by Strong Mad) from assassins attempting to assassinate Perducci. The bonus episode involves Dangeresque, Too in the midsts of an elevator barreling down an elevator shaft, only for assassins to be waiting for him at the bottom as he manages to save himself.

Getting into details about the puzzles would spoil an already short game, but I will state that the bonus scenario was my favorite of all the scenarios. The complexity of having to search multiple floors of this hotel in order to find a disguise to sneak past the assassins was a clever iteration of what's been built up thus far. The Brother made really great use of what is mostly a single screen in every scenario given, making the "roomisode" part of the title shine from it's simplicity.

Each scenario has a score count that counts up every unique action you take, tallying up to eventually conclude with a final score. This system is designed to encourage the player to find every unique option available, which I find to be simple yet efficient. Of course, this system is aided by the fact that I actually love the dialogue that comes out of every character, but it's an easy little touch of care that helps guide the player into exploring every option.

While none of what's here in D:TRT is particularly groundbreaking, there's a finesse to the game design that I think a lesser designer would fail to realize. Puzzles feel well realized and logical, there's rarely a moment besides maybe in the first scenario where I was left completely scratching my head confused at what I could be missing. Even with the minigame they added post launch by the name of RigRug, there's a sense of clarity to the mini game's push and pull that I just never expected going in. For what's really just a gag game about a guy who pulls carpets, the tile based movement mixed with the imminent danger brought upon by the randomness of the laser and the strike at random tiles progressively scales with each level into an engaging experience. You don't always get that in these types of games.

Oh the Ugly One, you look so make-y out-y tonight

The visuals are reminiscent of the toons found in the show, but are drawn and shaded more akin to the pixel based 90's adventure games that inspired The Brothers. I can only assume those LucasArts and Sierra point-and-click'a'ma'jigs are in part the inspiration for the website's core design, so I find the circular inspirational loop to be fascinating.

Character's animations are also a little more in tune with their inspirations than the toons, still having their jerky movements but in their own separately adventure game-y ways. I feel like I'm playing some interactable toon, which is exactly the point. My favorite animations are the 3D animations, which delightfully use 3D models with a pixelized filter. Surprisingly, the mix of the 2D in contrast to the large 3D cutscenes creates not only a sense of higher production value, but also a big bow tying the aesthetics of a 90's adventure title. The marriage of the 90's and 2000's!

The S is for sucks!

If there were any complaints I could draw towards D:TRT, it'd be a bit of a backwards complaint-ament: I wish there was more! The toons have the same "problem": they're effective as shorts, where characters just mosey about in a slice of life, but there's no real substantial plot other than a premise to jump off of. Each scenario technically connects to one another, but there's never really an overarching plot to engage with.

For a game about being a vehicle for Strong Bad to say funny things, the game works perfectly, but I think if you're not familiar with Homestar Runner's meandering humor and crave more of a structure, this might not do much for someone who's not already a fan. Still, you're getting exactly what you pay for: The ever charming Homestar Runner (dot) Com experience. Tm. Copyright'd. Rights reserved.

I Miss Video Games. I Miss My Mom

Homestar Runner was on hiatus for many years up until the release of Fish Eye Lens in 2014. There was a genuine excitement felt from this, during a time when I was at my most miserable. This was a time where I felt the need to forget the past. Banish it all from memory. The past no longer was relevant. Most likely because looking back meant reflecting on my childhood again. Breaking through the cracks of myself, there was a gleaming joy brought upon by seeing Homestar Runner again. Many other people have said this about Homestar Runner, and it's always true: it truly feels like seeing an old friend again. Even for a moment, it felt good to remember how Homestar Runner was one of my favorite pieces of media growing up, and what that meant to me.

Even now though because of the passage of time, I had forgot just how much Homestar Runner meant to me. Playing Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate unlocked that memory once again. For this review, I binge watched multiple toons, giggling to myself from their near timeless goofy humor. Nothing makes me laugh like Homestar Runner does. Nothing makes smile like Homestar Runner does. I didn't realize just how much I've missed these characters.

It's been too long since we had a number one jam.

Computer over?! Virus equals very yes?!

Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate is a testament to the endless creative juices that the Brother Chaps appear to have. Years and years later, they can still kick us in the head with a new toon or a new game that makes me laugh as hard as I did when I was 8 years old. Whatever they make next in the video gaming sphere, I will 100% be all there for.

If there's but one anecdote I wish to share with you to close off this review, it is of my one regret. I was at the Penny Arcade Expo for 2018 in Boston when The Brothers Chaps showcased their Trogdor Board Game. I did not meet them. My group decided to skip out on the day they were speaking, and I simply never had the chance. I've looked back at that moment, and I've consistently thought to myself what I would have said to them if I did meet them.

If I were to have met them, I would have thanked The Brothers for the many years of entertainment that they provided me. I would have thanked them for encouraging me to go out and make something with my own. I would have thanked them for shaping my humor and the words in which I speak.

And lastly, I would have thanked them for making me smile the most I ever have in my life.

It was fun to revisit Homestar Runner! I remember playing the first of the three episodes back when it was a flash game. I'm glad these were made available elsewhere in a more accessible format. I kind of hope that one day they put out a Videlectrix Collection that is a PC port of all of the various flash games made for the site over the decades.

The game itself is fine! It's a pretty standard point-and-click in the vein of 80s Sierra games with some decent jokes and a lot of "this didn't make me laugh, but I'm glad you're here, Strongbad" jokes.