Thanksgiving Is the Perfect Time to Play the Original South Park Game
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to avoid annoying relatives by playing video games. If you're looking for a game, try South Park on PS1. | Credit: Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images/AFP
- South Park on PS1/N64 is the perfect Thanksgiving title.
- It features killer turkeys to murder.
- While not the best game going, it’s certainly nostalgic for the holidays.
Thanksgiving is here. A time for family gatherings and stuffing yourself full of turkey and alcohol. With so many people getting together, it’s also the perfect time to avoid annoying relatives by playing video games. Although you might struggle to find a game that is appropriately Thanksgiving themed.
If you’re journeying back to your family home, then you might be able to dig out your old PS1 or N64. If so, then the perfect Thanksgiving game does exist out there. Look no further than South Park .
A Very South Park Thanksgiving
South Park might seem like an odd choice as a Thanksgiving game, but trust me – it makes sense. The plot of South Park basically revolves around a meteorite which is causing some strange goings-on in the small mountain town. One of the things the meteorite is doing is making the local turkey population hyper-aggressive. You and the other South Park boys have to take them on and save your town.
In truth, turkeys are only the first type of enemy that you come across. In later levels of the game, you have to face off against evil clones, aliens, and the like. That hardly matters though since South Park sort of has this ‘so bad it’s good’ thing going on , meaning you probably won’t want to play once you’ve killed all those turkeys.
Those Turkeys Are Coming Straight for Us!
The weirdest thing about South Park is that it’s actually an FPS game. Because it was made pre-Halo, the controls are a little awkward. Aiming can be a bit of a pain, but you barely need to do it. Just move backward and shoot and you’ll come out on top.
You have a variety of weapons to choose from. Snowballs, plunger guns, and dodge balls all have different damage and uses. The snowballs are the most basic, useful against basic enemies but not up to much otherwise. Dodgeballs not only do decent damage but can bounce around a bit, potentially hitting multiple enemies.
Overall, the gameplay is repetitive. All of your time is spent running around spamming attacks at things. It really doesn’t do much to distinguish itself from other first-person shooters of the era. The only thing going for the game is that it is based on South Park from the 90s , so if you liked the show back then you’ll probably enjoy some of the jokes and references.
It Doesn’t Look Great
If you’ve ever been nostalgic for late-90s graphics, then you’re in for a treat here. Even for the time, South Park didn’t look good. It is fun to see the show re-created so faithfully in 3D, but stare at it too long and it’ll make your eyes bleed. It is at least bright and colorful though, which is nice.
One bonus of the way the show South Park is designed is that all of the characters are still recognizable in the game. You can tell who is supposed to be who, and the voices are the same as the show too. Honestly, it’s just fun to run around South Park shooting people and animals with snowballs and plungers.
While South Park might not be the best game out there, it is perfect for Thanksgiving. Kill a bunch of turkeys, have a nostalgic giggle, and then go and eat your sweet potato pie. Just make sure to turn off the game beforehand or your family will wonder what those aggressive-sounding ‘gobble gobble’ noises are.
