Hot on the heels of Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People - Episode 1 comes Episode 2: Strong Badia the Free. This time around, when the King of Town implements an uncharacteristically oppressive, retroactive e-mail tax, Strong Bad is placed under house arrest. Once you as the player figure out how to enable him to escape, the boxing-glove-wearing, Mexican-wrestler-masked anti-hero declares his own land, Strong Badia, a sovereign nation. His impassioned, Patton-like speech inspires all the other residents of Free Country, U.S.A. - unfortunately, it inspires all of them to create their own sovereign nations instead of joining Strong Badia. So now you must help Strong Bad figure out how to win all the leaders of these newly-founded countries over to his side in the battle against the King of Town.
If you've already read my review of Episode 1: Homestar Ruiner (and you should), I detail the basics about the characters and gameplay in this PC and WiiWare series there. Not a whole lot is fundamentally different in Episode 2 as the point-and-click-style of gameplay is the same as what it was in the first installment. The game still has a profoundly intuitive menu system and loads of humor. There are still a few instances of jerky animation, though the animation in Episode 2 seemed more fluid on the whole than in Episode 1.
There are still little side games that are amusing within the larger game as well. You can still check Strong Bad's e-mails with comedic results and create your own Teen Girl Squad comics (though in Episode 2 you'll do it in an unlikely place in the game). Instead of Snake Boxer 5 there's now and old-school-style game Strong Bad can play called Math Kickers, which is just as confusing as it is hilarious. Strong Bad can still use his "Heavy Metal" Detector to find treasure items scattered about, though in Strong Badia the Free, the items he uncovers play a more vital role in the game than they did in Homestar Ruiner.
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