OK Americans, let me guess … your first question is “Who or what are The Ripping Friends”? Well, lets see if I can give you a brief rundown of the story behind the game, since it’s based on an animated show which is currently out in Canada and heading here to Cartoon Network. Four over-muscled dudes … Rip, Crag, Slab, and Chunk … don tight shirts and underwear to rip into anything which stands in the way of goodness and being manly. The Ripping Friends learn of a fiendish plot by the evil Citracett to destroy R.I.P.C.O.T (Really Impressive Prototype City Of Next Tuesday – The “Next” is silent) by assembling a group of his nasty buddies to do really bad things. Among them are such mega villains as Evil Pooperman (Created by Rip’s shorts), Flathead (I think he’s a big, mutated tapeworm), and Indigestible Wad (Evil wad of chewing gum). The Ripping Friends will have their work cut out for them as they travel to six different areas making the world a safe place once again for life, liberty, and the pursuit of manliness. 

Yes, it’s weird … yes, it’s bizarre … yes, it’s silly … and yes, it’s by the infamous John Kricfalusi who was none other than the creator for Ren and Stimpy, one of my all time favorite shows. The Ripping Friends definitely fit into the same humor style, since the show is chock full of similar nonsensical visual gags, unintelligent heroes, and toilet humor. The game has some in it, but not to the same magnitude, and what’s left is an action game and a somewhat repetitive experience overall. Here’s the breakdown …

The Ripping Friends puts you in control of one of the four heroes, Rip, Slab, Crag, or Chunk, in a mission to fight evil villains through seven massive levels of gameplay. Each Ripping Friend has the ability to punch, heavy punch, flight attack or roll to dodge, and each one has their own manly powers as well to help offensively or defensively. The manly powers are unleashed by filling up the manly gauge, either by holding down the attack button or finding a chili pepper lying about, which comes in handy since this game is all about fighting onslaughts of enemies in pursuit of the big, nasty end boss of the stage.

There are a couple of things that THQ did right in this title which make it enjoyable. The first one is the challenge and size of the levels. Each stage consists of separate parts put together, in which you will fight off zombies, goat ministers, Flathead clones, and a number of other enemies found in the TV series. The goal is to find four keys, each with it’s own color which unlocks a certain door of the same color. Although there are only 7 stages, don’t expect to run through these in the course of a weekend, since there’s a lot to go through and a lot of fighting to be done throughout each level, as well as some backtracking and finding which area to go to next. It’s not impossible, but it is challenging and may take a couple of continues or do overs to get it right.

Secondly, each character can be selected when you start or input the continue code and can help out depending on the stage and what’s going on. For example, if you happen to be losing tons of energy due to level hazards or strong enemies … it’s best to use Chunk since he can whip out his GBA and play it to get health back. If you have a large number of enemies going after you at any given time, use Crag … since he can punch the ground and hurt any enemies nearby. Each one has his own unique talent, and each one can work depending on how you use him most effectively.

Now, for every good, there is a not so good and this one has them as well. Oddly enough, the levels tend to work as a downer as well due to repetition. Each stage and section seems to be the same thing over and over again for the most part. Each stage will have you run in, fight X amount of enemies, get a certain colored key, go to the next area, fight X amount of enemies, get a certain colored key, repeat … repeat. A couple of stages are more platformer style, which breaks the monotony to an extent, but more of them would have been a good thing.

Secondly, the camera tends to be an enemy at times as well. Since the game is kind of a top down perspective, the camera stays directly overhead which is a good thing. The problem comes in with certain level objects like catwalks which can hinder the view of what’s going on and at times meant the difference between losing a life or surviving a fight. Lastly, there are some collision detection and AI issues, and at times I was stuck between a wall and an enemy that fell down which caused me to get popped from the other side. Also, enemies tend to get confused at the bottom of steps or when in large groups, and sort of walk in place or swing at you while you are standing a good foot out of reach.

Overall, The Ripping Friends can be an enjoyable experience for action gamers, and definitely for John K. or Ripping Friends fans, since that’s where the longevity and appreciation will ultimately be found. If somewhat monotonous gameplay is not your thing, you’d be better off looking for another GBA title to help you feel more manly.

Gameplay: 7.4
Overall, this title reeks of monotony. Each character has three attacks … punch, heavy punch, and flying attack, and more combos would have been a little more fun. In addition, repetitive level goals are consistent. The game is challenging enough to be fun and not frustrating though, and the levels are big and provide for some exploration at times.

Graphics: 7.9
Each stage, enemy, and hero looks like it’s cartoon counterpart on television … and you have to love the comical and somewhat abstract art of John K. For the most part, levels were done well … but a little dull at times and a little flat. The enemies could have had more there as well, since it was the same ones over and over again at times.

Sound: 8.7
The background music is the same style older jazzy sounds found in the Ren and Stimpy cartoon from back in the day. They don’t do much to set the overall mood, but they are kinda catchy and silly … like the heroes in the game. Action sounds and character voices were done well. 

Difficulty: Medium
The control layout is pretty simple for just about anyone to pick up and get into, but this game is challenging and may get a little frustrating to the younger gamer. There is no option to set difficulty either.

Concept: 8.2
This is definitely a style of game we’ve seen before (Same camera layout as games like Fester’s Quest on NES), but John K’s outrageous and bizarre ideas in themselves are creative. You definitely won’t see anything else out there like it.

Multiplayer: 8.4
Up to four players can compete in either a co-op style of gameplay through the game levels themselves, or can go head to head in a Deathmatch mode in a free for all battle.  

Overall: 7.0
Everything listed out and looked at, this game really has it’s equal share of potential plusses and minuses for the action gamer out there. It seems like a shame that there weren’t mini games or other modes for single player though, since monotony and repetition were the ultimate downers to this title. But, if you’re OK with that and are a fan … then RIP IT UP!