It is with no hyperbole that I say the original Bad Dudes has one of the best endings for a game ever. I mean seriously: The president invites you to dine on cheeseburgers with him. It’s the perfect payoff for all your hard work; an acknowledgment that you were, in fact, a Bad enough Dude. It’s been about 25 years since the game’s release, so I have to ask: Think you’re up for it again?
It is with no hyperbole that I say the original Bad Dudes has one of the best endings for a game ever. I mean seriously: The president invites you to dine on cheeseburgers with him. It’s the perfect payoff for all your hard work; an acknowledgment that you were, in fact, a Bad enough Dude. It’s been about 25 years since the game’s release, so I have to ask: Think you’re up for it again?
But wait, I’m not the one you need to tell! Instead, you should go have a chat with the folks running the Kickstarter to fund the game’s sequel. Trust me, it’s worth checking out. Like the first paragraph of this article (and possibly later ones – not making any promises), it’s written in a very tongue-in-cheek manner, promising players an extension of “the greatest story ever told.”
Despite all this joking, the original Bad Dudes wasn’t meant to be taken as a joke. It didn’t even really stand out that much in the sea of silly, threadbare plots in games at that time. But time has rendered it hilarious, and the opening screen evolved into one of the most recognizable memes in recent years.
So why a sequel? Because this time around, both the creators and the players can be in on the joke. Also because the president has been kidnapped again, which strikes me as a pretty valid reason.
The creators are asking for a total of $80,000 to make the sequel, a humble amount given the rising costs of game development these days. This is the ideal Kickstarter in my opinion, in that it’s a game that would likely be a hard sell to publishers or potential investors, but that will likely have a lot of people (myself included) ready and willing to open their wallets to it.
For $10, you can be the proud owner of the game when it’s released in December of this year. In Kickstarter fashion, paying more will grant you access to even radder (Badder?) rewards. If you pitch in $500, an in-game character will be modeled after you; at $1,000, you’ll receive things like a Bad Dudes-emblazoned sleeveless shirt and a bandanna. Finally, a stylish way to prove to the world that you’re a tough guy/girl.
As amped as I am that Bad Dudes could be returning, there is one thing I’m bummed about: At no reward tier are you offered the chance to have a cheeseburger with the President. But I’m willing to forgive, so long as the sequel enables me to do so in glorious, pixelated graphics.
Project Name: Bad Dudes 2
Platforms: PC, Mac
Funds Needed: $80,000
Funding Acquired (as of this writing): $2,033
Days Left: 22
Kickstarter Picks is a series of features on Gamezebo that will profile Kickstarter projects in the world of video games. We’re doing this in the hopes of calling attention to interesting projects in need of funding, so please, if a game looks like something you’d want to play, don’t hesitate to lend it your support!
