Nyuk! Nyuk! Nyuk!
Can THREE Stooges save ONE orphanage from FOREclosure?
There were two The Three Stooges video games based on the comedy team of the same name. The arcade game was made by Mylstar Electronics and there was the home video game by Cinemaware. The arcade game was called "The Three Stooges in Brides is Brides" and it's a puzzle game. The home console and PC game were composed of minigames played to earn money in order to save an orphanage and put an end to the nasty banker I. Fleecum. The NES version was published by Activision, while budget ports for the Playstation and Game Boy Advance were published by Metro3D in 2004.
Tropes for the arcade game
- Bonus Stage: Throw pies at the opera singer. Do not touch the music note. Touching the note will kill you.
Tropes for the home console game
- Be Careful What You Wish For:Guests: We want our pie, and we want it now!
Moe: You heard 'em, fellas! Let 'em have it! - Bonus Space: There are 2 bonus spaces
- Landing on the money space adds money to your score without having to do anything.
- If you land on the SAFE! space, it will fall onto Curly's head, but you get $500!
- Canon Immigrant: The evil banker I. Fleecum previously appeared in the short "Heavenly Daze," but this was after Curly had been replaced by Shemp.
- Fake-Out Opening: When the game loads, it starts with the Defender of the Crown title card (another game by Cinemaware). As the Stooges arrive, the title music will stop with the record scratch and a speech balloon reads "HEY, YOU KNUCKLEHEADS! WE'RE IN THE WRONG GAME!"Larry: Hey, This looks like a kid's game!
Moe: YOU IMBECILE! (Smacks Curly as the Defender of the Crown title shakes)- In the NES version, Defender of the Crown is replaced with Ghostbusters II and a clip of Curly saying "Hey fellas! We're in the wrong game!" is added.
- Minigame: It wouldn't be a Cinemaware game without 'em. Six are featured:
- Orderlies: Based on "Men in Black". The Stooges must recover dropped medical supplies while dodging patients in a hospital.
- Boxing: Based on "Punch Drunks". The Stooges have signed Curly up to a boxing match and are trying to get him to win by playing "Pop Goes The Weasel", which makes Curly angry, but Larry's violin breaks and Moe sends him to find something to replace it. Larry must avoid obstacles and retrieve a radio playing the song against a time limit.
- Crackers: Based on "Dutiful but Dumb". Curly must recover as many oyster crackers from his soup as possible before the lurking oyster eats them.
- Pies: Based on every short that had a pie fight, but especially "In The Sweet Pie and Pie". The Stooges have gotten a job serving pies, and this can only lead to one outcome- a pie fight! The Stooges must hit three upper class twits with as many cream pies as possible while avoiding being hit themselves.
- Trivia: Answer multiple-choice questions to win extra dough. Focuses mainly on trivia related to the real-life comedy trio more than their famous short films, so this is where a diehard Stooges fan's knowledge really pays off.
- Slapstick: Just your usual Stooges slap, poke & bonkfest. No money for this one, but how well you can get Moe to smack around Larry and Curly determines how fast or slow the minigame cursor moves.
- Multiple Endings: The ending depends of how much money you have earned at the end of 30 days.
- $0-$5,000 = Ma loses the orphanage.
- $5,000-$10,000 = Ma saves the orphanage.
- $10,000-$15,000 ($20,000 in NES version) = Ma saves and restores the orphanage.
- $15,000 ($20,000 in NES version)-Beyond = Ma saves and restores the orphanage, and the Stooges marry Ma's three daughters.
- Old-Timey Cinema Countdown: After the Stooges see they're in a Ghostbusters II game, the screen cuts to a circle with a number that goes from 5 to 3 and a moving line. It's simplistic due to the NES's limitations.
- Pie in the Face: The dinner mini-game is basically a pie fight. The more hits you get, the more cash you get.
- Pop Quiz: The radio station mini-game is a quiz featuring trivia about the Stooges and their shorts.
- Saving the Orphanage: They have 30 days and need $5,000 to save the orphanage and put the end of I. Fleecum.
- Take That!: Whether intentional or not, the box art uses a picture of Ted Healy for the evil banker, a (possible) reference to the Stooges' real life rocky relationship with Healy.
- Taxman Takes the Winnings: Sometimes, landing on A Visit With I. Fleecum will have I. Fleecum take 10% of your current money as "taxes."
- Whammy: There are 2 whammies in the game:
- The Mousetrap, which injures Moe's finger. Land on it 4 times and the game is over.
- A Visit with I. Fleecum, where The Stooges get a nasty message from I. Fleecum. Even worse, it could cost the Stooges 10% of their money.
- Timed Mission: The Stooges have 30 days to make enough money to save the orphanage. In addition, both the Boxing and Orderlies mini-games are timed - the former pays a flat sum if the time limit is beaten, while the latter pays $15 per second remaining when you reach the operating room.
- Whole-Plot Reference: Some of the mini games are references to Three Stooges shorts.
- The Hospital minigame refers to "Men In Black", complete with the "Calling Doctor Howard, Doctor Fine, Doctor Howard!" line.
- The Boxing minigame where Larry has to retrieve a radio playing "Pop Goes The Weasel" refers to "Punch Drunks".
- The Clam Bowl minigame refers to "Dutiful But Dumb".
