King of the Hill

• Release Date: November 13, 2000
• Genre: Action
• Style: Multi-Genre Action
• Similar Games: Beavis and Butt-head: Calling All Dorks (IBM PC Compatible), Beavis and Butt-head in Wiener Takes All (Hybrid Windows/Mac), Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time (Macintosh), Daria: Sick, Sad Life Planner (IBM PC Compatible)

Game Description

Join Hank, Peggy, Bobby, Bill, Dale and Boomhauer in a series of activities and competitions that include lawnmower racing, paintball, mini-golf, tic-tac-toss, and a scavenger hunt. It's time to fire up the propane grill for the annual 4th of July block party in Arlen, Texas. You're the new guy on the block and need to worm, that is, earn your way into the neighborly social circle.

Once you've earned the neighbors' trust, it's off to the annual hunting season where Hank gives you a lease map to help you choose your blind location, place decoys, and switch blinds. The Texas Huntin' Weekly provides lease information, tips on gear use, weather conditions, and terrain as well as sightings in East Texas, Hill Country, West Texas and Oklahoma. Be prepared to play by the rules or suffer the consequences of suspension or license revocation.

King of the Hill features the same style of humor introduced by Mike Judge and Greg Daniels in the animated television program. The interface is mouse controlled with keyboard responses required in certain areas. Make a good impression by helping with party chores and you'll soon find yourself with the biggest reward of all: an invitation for a beer in the back alley!

Roots & Influences

This multi-action game is reminiscent of Beavis and Butt-head in Little Thingies; the Beavis and Butt-head animated series was also created by Mike Judge. Both games feature numerous mini-games. Comparisons can also be drawn to virtual hunting titles such as Deer Hunter, since this title contains a hunting game.

Review: Overall

King of the Hill was designed and created with fans of the animated series in mind. Gamers who have never seen the series will likely be lost, while regular series fans will be mildly amused. Basically, there are two games featuring characters from the television series. Hootenany, the simulated block party featuring several mini-games, is time consuming but offers good variety. Texas Huntin' is a hunting game that's not quite on par with contemporary games in that genre. The games were most likely developed independently of each other, evidenced by the separate installation routines on the game's CD-ROM.

Hootenany has promise but getting from one mini-game to the next simply takes too long. You're forced to spend several virtual hours meeting and greeting the people of Arlen, waiting for an event to come up on the block party agenda. Even if you manage to keep an eye on the schedule, it's still possible to miss an invitation to an event if you've wandered off into an area away from the street or are in the middle of a conversation with one of your new neighbors.

The mini-games are short and uninspired. Dale's paintball game is probably the best of them but, even so, is quite weak. Bobby's scavenger hunt and Bill's miniature golf games are difficult and frustrating. Peggy's Tic Tac Toss and Hank's lawnmower races fall somewhere in the middle of this collection of mediocrity.

Texas Huntin' is boring, repetitive and incredibly easy. In fact, novice hunters will have no problem defeating the Arlen gang in their contest to bag the most game. Your hunting buddies will rarely even fire their guns, much less actually shoot any animals. The only way to lose in this uninspired loser is to not even try.

Graphically, both games are faithful to the animation of the television series. Rendered with Shockwave, neither has quite the same fluidity and flow as the TV show but the developers make great use of color and have created a decent number of scenes.

The sound in both games is excellent with all of the actors from the King of the Hill television series reprising their roles in the video game. Although some phrases are repeated, there are plenty of jokes and wisecracks to be heard from everyone in the cast. Texas Huntin' adds a splash of the outdoors to the soundtrack with the sounds of birds, rustling leaves and guns firing.

Despite decent graphics and above average sound, King of the Hill fails to deliver in the area of true gaming enjoyment. Neither of the games is much fun and both can actually be downright tedious. Overall, this is a disappointing title that may provide a few laughs for diehard fans of the television show but serious gamers will dump the game quickly.

Review: Enjoyment

Both games miss the mark in terms of enjoyment. It's quite possible to play everything in one sitting and, after that, there is very little desire or reason to play again.

Review: Graphics

Although the graphics aren't quite as good as the TV show, they faithfully capture the look and feel of the series. There are a decent number of scenes and colors are vibrant.

Review: Sound

All of the cast members from the show reprise their roles in the game. There are plenty of lines from each character, although there is some inevitable repetition.

Review: Replay Value

The game is tough enough to sit through once and will likely be purged from the hard drive very quickly.

Review: Documentation

The jewel case manual offers only rudimentary controls and little advice on playing the games.

Production Credits

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