The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I had heard about the Supermegatopia game on the Supermegatopia website a couple of months ago. There was an offer for free shipping so I figured WTF.

I got my copy last week, and I was fairly happy with what I got. There are a few rough edges, but overall I think its a good book. Let me explain.

The Good Stuff

All of the art was done by the Brothers Grinn (aka Brian and Stuart Burke). This is a key attraction to the product. Fans of the Brothers will really be pleased. And of course, the art is good enough to draw in people that don't know what it is. The stats of the game system are pretty simple, and I was able to figure it all out in a very short time. The book also features two strips that are not on the website, so that was cool.

The game system is covered in just 11 pages, but its pretty complete. I was able to get it all worked out in time for a short game with some of the guys here. We had a couple of questions but nothing that couldn't be figured out with a minor amount of brain sweat. The game plays really quickly, much faster than say Champions. Its not the most detailed system ever, but it's not Marvel Super Heroes either (which I didn't like at all).

The Bad Stuff

The editing is a bit rough. I really get the impression that whoever edited the book was afraid of offending the Brothers. The grammatical errors are extremely reminiscent of the kind of stuff the Brothers seem to drop into every strip, and I'd bet that they wrote most of the problem stuff. It didn't detract so much as amuse, so maybe its intentional? 8)

The adventure material was a little light as well, but we were able to get something together from it. I'd already figured that the best way to run the game was to just take any plot from a comic I'd liked and screw it up beyond recognition. That satisfied my players at least.

The system stuff could be better explained. The material there is workable, it just needs more examples. Okay, maybe *any* examples. Not bad but I want more. And email to the Team Frog/Nightshift/whatever guy gleaned for me the info that the Paradigm Shift system is supposedly going to be a free download soon. That would probably be a helpful supplement for the game. The world won't end for you without it, but it'd be nice.

Oh, and my page 32 looked a little weird. Probably a printer error. Since I could read everything I didn't worry about it.

Oh, and only one naked picture. I was a little disappointed.

Summary

Nice effort on the world, especially since they did all that they did in only 48 pages. It might have benefitted from 64 pages. But I walked away feeling like I got my money's worth.

Supermegatopia the Roleplaying Game
Supermegatopia the Roleplaying Game Playtest Review by Kirk Mitchell on 09/05/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) Based on the website of the same name, this game is a funny look at superheroes and furry animals. Nice layout and simple mechanics make this a nice deal, but the source material could scare some folks away. Product: Supermegatopia the Roleplaying Game Author: The Brothers Grinn with Michael Nunn, Eric Metcalf and Dale Perkins Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Nightshift Games/Team Frog Studios Line: Supermegatopia? Cost: 9.95 Page count: 48 Year published: 2001 ISBN: 1-929332-31-9 SKU: CFE2201 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by Kirk Mitchell on 09/05/01 Genre tags: Modern day Comedy Superhero Other	I had heard about the Supermegatopia game on the Supermegatopia website a couple of months ago. There was an offer for free shipping so I figured WTF. I got my copy last week, and I was fairly happy with what I got. There are a few rough edges, but overall I think its a good book. Let me explain. The Good Stuff All of the art was done by the Brothers Grinn (aka Brian and Stuart Burke). This is a key attraction to the product. Fans of the Brothers will really be pleased. And of course, the art is good enough to draw in people that don't know what it is. The stats of the game system are pretty simple, and I was able to figure it all out in a very short time. The book also features two strips that are not on the website, so that was cool. The game system is covered in just 11 pages, but its pretty complete. I was able to get it all worked out in time for a short game with some of the guys here. We had a couple of questions but nothing that couldn't be figured out with a minor amount of brain sweat. The game plays really quickly, much faster than say Champions. Its not the most detailed system ever, but it's not Marvel Super Heroes either (which I didn't like at all). The Bad Stuff The editing is a bit rough. I really get the impression that whoever edited the book was afraid of offending the Brothers. The grammatical errors are extremely reminiscent of the kind of stuff the Brothers seem to drop into every strip, and I'd bet that they wrote most of the problem stuff. It didn't detract so much as amuse, so maybe its intentional? 8) The adventure material was a little light as well, but we were able to get something together from it. I'd already figured that the best way to run the game was to just take any plot from a comic I'd liked and screw it up beyond recognition. That satisfied my players at least. The system stuff could be better explained. The material there is workable, it just needs more examples. Okay, maybe any examples. Not bad but I want more. And email to the Team Frog/Nightshift/whatever guy gleaned for me the info that the Paradigm Shift system is supposedly going to be a free download soon. That would probably be a helpful supplement for the game. The world won't end for you without it, but it'd be nice. Oh, and my page 32 looked a little weird. Probably a printer error. Since I could read everything I didn't worry about it. Oh, and only one naked picture. I was a little disappointed. Summary Nice effort on the world, especially since they did all that they did in only 48 pages. It might have benefitted from 64 pages. But I walked away feeling like I got my money's worth.

Supermegatopia the Roleplaying Game