| Platform | Nintendo Switch |
| Release Date | 10/25/2022 |
| Cost | $9.99 |
| Publisher | iam8bit |
| ESRB Rating | T |
Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike & the Quest for Stale Gum is a game based on the Garbage Pail Kids, you know, the tradable cards featuring disgusting kids that you have to be at least forty to even remember. I’m thirty-nine, I barely remember them, only because my older brother had a whole bunch. Apparently, there was a GPK game in development back in the day. It was cancelled after a backlash, and lost as a result. Mad Mike & the Quest for Stale Gum is an all new game that can be played on your NES, if you so choose.
Mad Mike & the Quest for Stale Gum is about Mad Mike, a garbage pail kid who wants stale gum, so he goes to a scientist in a fresh gum factory to get it, and the scientist sends him and three other kids back in time to get the ingredients. Why not just leave fresh gum out for two week isn’t entirely explained. So you go through six different time periods to get the ingredients.
You start out as Mike but if you die(and you will) you can switch to another kid. However, only Mike and the snot throwing girl is any good. The puke kid pukes too slowly to be effective, and I’m not sure what the funny face kid does exactly(the game says stuns enemies). Run out of kids, game over. However, there is a trading card system. You trade found Garbage Pail Kids cards for one of 4 powerful cards, one of which revives a kid. Another card kills all enemies on screen, and another allows you to fly.
The game is an NES game, meaning it is punishing. However, if you want to play with ample health(or infinite health) you can. Unlike Yeah Yeah Beebliss, you’re not at the mercy of a random number generator. The best way to show just how well the game apes the NES, I’ll show this video of the level one boss:
In addition to the game, there are numerous bonus features. These includes the short the game is based on, concept art, and a music player.
Garbage Pail Kid’s real problem!
The problem with Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike & the Quest for Stale Gum is who is this for? Only people in their forties are going to be interested in this, because they were around the remember it. I’m thirty-nine, I’m just on the edge of the target demographic, and I don’t particularly care for disgusting little kids anymore. I don’t find toilet humor funny anymore. Is a forty-five year old dad with a full time job, going to know this game exists, let alone play it? The NES edition is eighty dollars, so only older game collectors with a functioning NES are even going to care about it. That’s not a lot of people, relatively.
Essentially, what Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike & the Quest for Stale Gum is, is a game without an audience. It is a well made NES game, I’m not knocking that, what I am knocking it is the idea that anyone really cares that it exists at all. I’m going to give it a YMMV. While it is decent for what it is, you’re probably not going to care for the subject matter, and therefore no real reason to play it. Therefore, this game is a curious relic, nothing more. I would not be shocked if this is a total flop, even though the NES cartridges will probably sell out eventually.
Overall: Garbage Pail Kids: Mad Mike & the Quest for Stale Gum is a decent game made for absolutely no one.
Verdict: YMMV
