A playthrough of THQ's 1993 licensebased platformer for the NES, The Ren & Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$!

Stimpy has just invented the Gametron 5000 Moneymaker, a video game console that rewards players with real cash prizes, and his buddy Ren is all too happy to exploit the opportunity.

Released at the tail end of 1993, Buckaroo$ for the NES was Imagineering and THQ's third Ren & Stimpy game, following behind Space Cadet Adventures (   • The Ren & Stimpy Show: Space Cadet Ad...  ) and Veediots! (   • The Ren & Stimpy Show: Veediots! (SNE...  ).

Buckaroo$' sixteen stages represent several popular episodes from the TV show's first two seasons. In the Space Madness sections that make up the lion's share of the game, Stimpy has to guide Ren safely to the exit by using whatever items can be found nearby (think Rocko's Modern Life or Eek! The Cat on the SNES) while occasionally taking breaks to pilot the rocket through a debris field, shoot 'em up style. The Robin Hoodthemed stages task Ren with platforming his way through a medieval town in a bid to rescue the lovely Maid Moron, and the stages based on the old west see the duo tagteam their way through small towns and a saloon in their search for Mr. Horse.

For the most part, the controls and the flow of the gameplay mirror Imagineering's other 8bit platformers games like Bart vs. the Space Mutants (   • The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Muta...  ) though somewhat less refined due to the verticality of the stage designs, the characters' tendency to fall through ledges, and the inconsistent jumping controls. Sometimes you'll hit the jump button and hear the jump sound, only for your character to remain standing still or, in the worst case, slide off a platform and plummet to his death. It doesn't happen often, thankfully, but it doesn't do any favors for the otherwise bland gameplay.

It doesn't look as good as Space Cadet Adventures did on the Game Boy, but the graphics do a nice job of capturing the feel of the show. Ren and Stimpy look the part with their slapstick animations, and the stages are full of fun references, my favorite being the way Ren has to climb a nose hair in order to rescue Maid Moron from her window. The music is adapted from the show and it sounds fine, though a few digitized sound bites would've gone a long way to liven things up.

The Ren & Stimpy Show: Buckaroo$! is neither as fun nor as memorable as Bart vs. the Space Mutants it's pretty mediocre, overall but it is much better than I would've ever expected from a THQpublished NES game based on a TV license.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.

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