365//365: Day 015 – Boogerman (SNES)

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As a kid, fart jokes, snot, burps and other private oddities made most of us giggle. I guess that’s one reason Beavis & Butthead succeeded as much as it did. But incorporating such things into a video game is not only situational, but for the most part impractical. You’d have to have a strong reason to be belching and flicking boogers at things. Enter Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure – a game that features these things, and doesn’t apologize for it.

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Farting never looked so good. Wait, what?

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With a video game featuring flicking snot, passing gas and other things you shouldn’t do around others, you’d think the gameplay would be as deep as a paper plate filled with water. Well, not entirely. You are limited to how much you can burp and fart on your enemies, and how many boogers you can fling at them (I cannot believe I said that). You have a meter displaying how much gas and snot you have left. You can refill these meters by defeating enemies and uncovering them in garbage piles on the ground. Luckily, you can also stomp your enemies, so you don’t have to feel like you have to blow it all out (sorry).

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I’m surprised at how well Boogerman himself looks and animates. He’s detailed quite well, complete with shadows and holes in his shoes. The number of animations he has, and the way they look puts his character as one of the best looking, well animated characters on the 16 bit platform. Just stand idle for 10 seconds and if you can tolerate watching a character digging for gold and tasting it, you’ll see how impressive the animation is. Boogerman rivals even Earthworm Jim, whom himself has some great animations and looks.

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The enemies don’t look quite as pleasing however. I think it’s because this is a world of gas and snot, so the enemies are reflected as such. They lack color diversity and shading. It’s a tough trade off though, and I’d rather have more diverse looking and color assorted enemies around me than a plethora of animations from my character. Not only that, the stages are somewhat vanilla, though colored enough not to make it seem too drab.

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The number of animations Boogerman has is astounding. The 16 bit era rarely saw such fluidity in its visuals.

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The music sounds competent enough, though it’s nothing memorable whatsoever. Your farts, burps and snot flings all sound the same, which is adequate. Other sound effects are passable, if anything they sound proper, like the cartoon like jumps enemies have. It progresses the feeling that you shouldn’t take this gave too seriously, and you should just enjoy it for what it is.

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That notion extends to the difficulty. The first stages, you’ll have little or no trouble getting through them, aside from navigating from point A to B. As you progress, like a lot of games in the genre, the difficulty is raised thanks to enemy placement and the number of enemies you’ll encounter. With how the game is built and with the options you have on offense, it’s not as bad as it sounds. The bosses are typical pattern based events, though they have a silly look and name to them. Hickboy put a smile on my face, as he was not only a decent challenge, but the character model was fit exactly what his name was – a hick boy, armed with a chicken. Booger Meiser looks great as well, matching the look and feel of the game.

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Hickboy - innovation with boss designs.

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There are no significant issues that come about while playing Boogerman, just a few minor issues. The game isn’t very long, which helps keep the novelty of farting on your enemies from going stale too fast. Hit detection seems too generous. There were numerous times where I could inch up to an enemy, and not be hit. They can jump up and down, and while their arm should be hitting me as they come down, I can stand there with no worries. This carries over during platforming segments. You’ll find yourself jumping into an enemy and be so close to them, you don’t get hit. It’s overly generous, and can sometimes make things a little easier on you. Finally, while the core game is great, there’s no compelling reason to jump in and play this one again right away. It’s a fun first play through, but you won’t want to come back too soon.

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So to all those that think picking this game would result in a nauseating experience, you can blow that notion away. Boogerman is enjoyable enough to play through once, offering a lewd and crude way of dispatching your enemies. If you’re looking for something with longevity, your cheesy grin will be cut short in disappointment.

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Rating: 7.1