Comic Con 07: Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am

Hold it right there, mister: I know what you're thinking. You're right to be thinking it; this is an absurdly ridiculous idea. An Aqua Teen Hunger Force-themed golf combat and kart racing game for the PS2? What were they smoking, you might be wondering, and will they have enough left over to share?

However...

"It's like an episode of the show mixed with Hot Shots Golf and a heavy dose of Mario Kart, only not as good as either of those," said the refreshingly forthright gentleman who demonstrated the game for Fruit Brute, Lazy Panda and myself at Midway's Comic Con party Friday night. Frylock, you see, having been invited to join the Jersey Pines golf club, has of course incurred the jealous wrath of Master Shake, who - along with Meatwad - um... starts playing golf.

There's a rudimentary golf system in place that involves three clicks and a horizontal meter bar, but the meat(wad) of the game's 12 levels consists of battling enemies and snagging power-ups for each of the three "superheroes" as they make their way to wherever it is you've hit the ball. Well, no, that's not true: the real point of the game is enjoying the comedy. But as far as the combat goes, Frylock makes ranged attacks with his eye beams, Master Shake covers melee action with his golf clubs and various collectible weapons, and Meatwad... Meatwad's pretty much just a wad of meat. Although you can use him as a ball, if you want, and it's cute watching him cling to the back of the golf kart as it careens around the map.

Three of the 12 levels are more purely kart-racing, but the other nine are the kind of golf-ish combat we got to see. All of the levels are, by the designers' own admission, more or less designed around bits and dialogue from the characters, including most of the show's sidekicks, like Carl (a boss with killer crab lice minions) and the Mooninites. Sure to appeal to the stoner set (ie, the show's fan base), ATHF:ZNPA is a friendly bargain at $29 and includes a never-before-seen episode of the show to boot.

With bazillions of lines of original dialogue recorded just for the game,(if you put down the controller and let the game idle, you'll hear even more hilarious lines) and cheeky humor, Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am will be a cute casual pick-up for ATH and Adult Swim fans when it launches on the PS2 this October.