iPhone Game Review: Happy Tree Friends: Slap Happy (Publisher X) ~ BrooklynRocks: NYC Music Blog

Monday, January 18, 2010

iPhone Game Review: Happy Tree Friends: Slap Happy (Publisher X)

The Wikipedia entry for the Happy Tree Friends cartoon series says "[d]espite its childish appearance, the show is extremely violent, with every episode featuring graphic deaths and/or pain. While the violence of these deaths is comparable to that of The Itchy & Scratchy Show (the short cartoon featured on The Simpsons), the portrayal of death in Happy Tree Friends is usually more graphic and anatomically correct, depicting bloodshed and dismemberment in more vivid and often exaggerated detail."

Happy Tree Friends: Slap Happy iPhone Game ReviewHappy Tree Friends: Slap Happy iPhone Game ReviewThe game starts with a smiling doe-eyed rabbit that waves at you. You can take the nice approach and tickle the rabbit who then makes happy baby-like cooing noises or, staying true to the Happy Tree Friends series, you can abuse the rabbit in a variety of progressively destructive ways.

For starters, you can flick your finger across the screen to slap the rabbit. You can also shake your iPod/iPhone to bounce the rabbit off the walls, leaving him battered and bloody with each shake. After about half-a-dozen or so shakes, the rabbit falls down dead with an eyeball hanging out of one socket. At this point, you have to perform CPR or electro-shock to bring the rabbit back to life.

If bouncing the rabbit off the walls is too tame for you, you have three 'toys' which you can use to maim, mutilate and dismember the rabbit. You can use the saw to cut the rabbit in half, you can drop the pipe through the rabbit's head and, lastly, you can use the pair of spiked walls to crush the rabbit. In each of these cases, electro-shock brings the rabbit back to life and full health.

This game is definitely not for everyone but those with an off-beat/black sense of humor should enjoy this. It would be nice to see additional characters added in future versions of the game.