Limited Run Games, the company behind many a retro reissue, had a lot of people scratching their heads yesterday after announcing it was going to rerelease a set of licensed Three Stooges for the NES and Game Boy Advance.
The Three Stooges, in case you've never heard of them, were a vaudeville comedy act that starred in countless shorts for Columbia Pictures in the 20th century. The lineup changed several times throughout its almost 50-year run, with Moe, Howard, and Curly arguably being the most famous Stooges trio.
In 1987, the video game company Cinemaware (known for Defender Of The Crown) developed and published a title based on the iconic trio for the Commodore Amiga, which was focused on the Stooges doing odd jobs to earn money to save an orphanage from an evil banker. The title was then ported to a range of other computers and consoles, including NES (by Beam Software), PlayStation 1 (Flying Tiger), and Game Boy Advance (Crawfish Interactive).
Limited Run Games plans to reissue the Game Boy Advance and NES versions of the game early next month. As detailed on the website, it will sell the Game Boy Advance version for $49.99 and the NES version for $59.99.
What's interesting is the response to this news online hasn't been as enthusiastic as other rereleases from the company. Many have noted that the cartridges for both games are still readily available to buy on reseller sites for less than $10 and aren't particularly that rare. As a result, we kind of wonder who the audience is here, except for those that really really need to have a boxed edition of The Three Stooges and don't mind repros. We have to imagine that's a pretty small market though.
If for some reason, you still fancy picking up these reissues after what we've just said, you can do so on Limited Run Games website from Tuesday, June 2nd at 12pm EDT. They will only be on sale for one month until July 2nd. You can find out more about the games in this amazing video from Stooges expert Joe Ramoni:
[source twitter.com]
Comments 13
I'm baffled by this. This is not a good game. I've only tried the gba version, but its a bad use of a terrible property to make a game out of. Also the original game isn't expensive, so why reprint it?
@Poodlestargenerica because AVGN popularised it and people who grew up watching him now have disposable income.
@Andee Good info
They're really scraping the bottom of the barrel with these latest re-releases.
Both of these games are miserable, ugly cash-grabs, and the world does not need more copies of them floating around…Did LRG just get a bargain on the publishing rights?
Yep. Plumbers Don't Wear Ties was re-released. Jekyl and Hyde for NES will be next. Meanwhile, we are still waiting for Rondo of Blood for PCE CD-ROM. Maybe LRG is waiting for the Analog Duo which can be pre-ordered.
A fool and his money…
@Poodlestargenerica In fairness, I've heard the GBA port might be the worst one of all, I don't think the NES version is a huge step ahead.
I'd guess the original computer versions were better.
But still, it is a minigame collection game (before those were common, I don't think they were then) that definitely would need some familiarity with the original IP to really feel it (especially the trivia minigame).
But maybe that's just the opinion I'm feeling because one of the streamers I watch is a big fan of both the Stooges and terrible games.
LOL That clickbait video title. NES fans do remember The Stooges game.
But there was also an arcade game, too.
@jorel262 The NES barrel goes much deeper. Miracle Ropit's Adventure in 2100 will make you wish you were playing Jeckyll and Hyde. I've heard finishing the first stage in Ropit (I couldn't) is one of its greatest challenges. Time limit, backwards warps, unforgiving inertia physics that punish you if you don't get it right the first time.
And they're still above most bootleg games in technical proficiency.
@KingMike Honestly, I've always thought the three stooges weren't funny, and everyone I ask why they like then say "I laughed because my dad did".
@Poodlestargenerica Maybe it's a case of, what I guess is now known as "The Seinfeld Effect". Something that was copied so much that it seems ordinary now.
That or people had different tastes in the 1930s.
@KingMike Eh, I just think they weren't that funny. The Marx brothers were really funny. I'd rather watch the three stooges than most modern shows, and there's a comfort factor too.
Limited run will scrape the barrel, do the bare minimum and charge the maximum.
Wonderful people.
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