Being one of the 8 people left in the nation without cable, I haven’t seen any episodes of this cartoon. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy started originally as "Grim and Evil" on the Cartoon Network, starring a pair of children, and the Grim Reaper. Obviously a great starting point for a game developed by High Voltage Software and published by Midway – they should know what they’re doing, right?

High Voltage Software isn’t a newcomer, having worked on earlier titles including Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance for the GameCube, and the GC port of Call of Duty 2: Big Red One. Their foray into cartoons seems to be doing them some good as they also are working on the Family Guy game for all of the big consoles. Billy and Mandy are also on all of the big hitters: Gamecube, PS2, PC, GBA – and even scheduled to be a launch title for the Wii.

In the main story mode, the Grim Reaper’s "mojo balls" have been let out of his treasure chest. They contain supernatural powers that apparently make everyone who comes in contact with them mad with rage. "But what kind of sicko would make us fight for their own amusement?", asks Mandy as the characters all look directly at you through the television screen, breaking the infamous "fourth wall".

The game mechanics are similar to the Dreamcast series Powerstone, with smooth cartoony graphics and multi-tiered arenas. The art style isn’t the edgy Jet Set Radio you might hope for, but more like what I assume the show looks like on television. Don’t forget the great Batman-esque "POW"s that come up on the more spectacular hits.

As you progress through the story mode, you are greeted with a variety of cut-scenes that attempt to give you a good reason as to why you’re now fighting a pumpin-headed monster or something of the like. These clips are short and well done, as should be expected from a game based on a cartoon. Around halfway through the initial arena stage, you are transported to another level to continue your fight. Sometimes you are still in an enclosed area, while other levels unfold like a side scroller, holding you back until you have cleared whatever object may be in the way. These multi-tiered stages are a welcome change, since other fighters like the Dead or Alive series only let you move on to another level of the stage after throwing your opponent there.

Since it is an arena style fighter, you are usually against more than one CPU-controlled opponent. All players start with a few lives, and duke it out in a frenzy similar to Super Smash Bros. Melee. Once you have a foe down to their last life, you can put them out of the ring for good with an anime-inspired "the background is flying by at a million miles an hour yet it is so cheap to animate" finishing move borrowed from Shenmue. You press buttons as prompted on the screen, and if you are succesful, your enemy is punted to a far corner of the screen to end their reign.

Moving on to the Mission Mode, this is another single player mode that opens up more parts of the game to you. So far, each time I have completed a mission, it has also unlocked one of the bonuses packed into the game. No micropayments here, just old school patience and hard work. Unlockables include alternate costumes, concept art, and the ability to use other weapons in other modes. The missions span a variety of modes like:

*Capture and hold flags
*Beat up players for coins
*Play a game of "bask-eye-ball"
*Break more dummies than anyone else

…and a bunch more. With 5 tiers of 9 missions each, there is a good amount of playtime in this mode. While some fighting games only offer the main single player and multiplayer modes, this game manages to offer a bit more with the unlockables in these missions and the variety of play mechanics. While it’s no Story Mode from Soul Calibur, it’s a welcome addition to the game. Usually, if you run into a new game mode and beat that mission, you unlock that mode for multiplayer matches. I’m not sure if you get anything insanely special as you get to the higher tiers, but the game seems to offer a variety that will keep me coming back.

I’ve got the game running as I type this review, and I must say that the menu music is a very short loop of music. Very short. Do not let children sit at menu screens for long or you may go insane in a matter of minutes. Keeps me playing the game and off of the menu screens though. Seriously…little over 15 seconds of music. My brain is crying. The sounds during the game are mediocre, with a variety of clips recorded by the voice actors, but you may grow sick of hearing the same (FRED FREDBURGER, FRED FREDBURGER!) clip over and over.

The multiplayer Vs. mode offers a good amount of gameplay, provided that you have unlocked alternate weapon sets and match types. The weapons are a tricky bunch, with most easy to figure out and wield. However, there are a few that are in need of some explanation which had me turning to the manual or in-game menus. There is a nice machine that looks like it has been heavily borrowed from the power loader of Alien fame, but I’ll allow it, since it’s a great weapon.

A minor issue I had was with the amount of enemies on screen, if you all wandered apart in different directions, the camera has to pull out to see everyone at once, making it difficult to see who’s who in some cases. I didn’t run into any other graphical issues, though. I played the GameCube version and it ran smooth with no slowdowns of any kind, and quick loading times all around. All in all, a budget title released for $29.99, it’s a good starting point for a game like this – fans of the show may get into it more, and it could be an interesting party game with more of the multiplayer modes unlocked.

And what other game lets you fight on top of a bus while being chased by a giant chicken?

Gameplay

Graphics

Sound

Overall