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Week in and week out, Family Guy is putting a hurtin' on The Simpsons like Mike Tyson beats up motorists. Say what you want about Peter being a Homer derivative or the fact that most of the jokes come from non-sequiturs, the show has a higher laugh-per-minute ratio than even the best GW Bush speeches. It's about time Family Guy gets its own game.

The MacFarlane Trio

Family Guy follows Peter, Stewie, and Brian on their own individual quests: Peter thinks Mr. Belvedere is out to get him; Brian has a puppy paternity issue; and Stewie journeys to the center of the fat man's scrotum. Along with the storylines comes character-specific gameplay.

Peter's portion plays like an arcade beat-em-up, but instead of battling thugs or monsters, he smacks around little kids and old ladies -- whom he thinks are Belvedere's pawns. Each enemy type can only be damaged by certain attacks, and new combos are introduced throughout. While you take far too much unavoidable damage, the joys of knocking out a dozen children in a pizza parlor never ceases to put a smile on your face.

In Stewie's third of the game, he makes up for his small stature (and football head) with his raygun -- which comes in handy against hospital orderlies and sperm soldiers. His stages also embrace platforming elements that give them an old-school feel, while the mind-control segments offer clever puzzles. Depth perception can be tough for some jumps and a few of the shooter areas are too long, but you definitely won't loathe the Stewie missions by any stretch.

The same can't be said about Brian's levels -- where his main weapon is stealth. Waiting in shadows and under tables for stupid AI characters to run their routes is the game's most annoying element. As you progress, things only get more convoluted, and Brian's stages are usually the least comical to boot.

Freakin' Funny

While the gameplay is average at best, Family Guy offers plenty of laughs. Whether it's Stewie hopping on pregnant ladies' bellies to get offspring to pop out (including the odd alien) or Brian dry-humping innocent females, the designers really let their imaginations wander -- while still providing familiarity within the Family Guy universe. More subtle background jokes include a mime's invisible wall preventing Peter from straying too far, and Meg cuddling up to her corpse "boyfriend" in the morgue.

The game embraces the non-sequitur style of the show by offering spontaneous, Wario Ware-style mini-games. They aren't required to progress, but are merely random diversions to throw you off balance -- such as Stewie playing Marco Polo with Helen Keller and Peter having a sumo match against a can of tuna. These are often closely tied to the show, but still feel fresh enough in game form.

It's interesting to see the same content that makes national primetime TV getting an M rating in video game form, but based on Quagmire's comments alone, it makes sense. However, don't expect to hear Stewie dropping F-bombs; he just swims around in pee.

Fart, Not Art

Family Guy the game doesn't have to struggle too much to emulate the visuals of the cartoon, with its highly simplistic style. For the most part, the graphics look good: Environments and characters are recognizable, and the animation is passable. The confines of the camera system help, giving Family Guy an almost two-dimensional feel. Using polygons for the cutscenes wasn't the best choice, however, and Peter -- the main freakin' character -- really doesn't match his hand-drawn self.

All the voice actors retain their roles in the game, including Adam West as the mayor and Adam Corolla as Death. While mid-play voiceovers are sometimes obscured or cut off, you couldn't ask for tighter spoken dialogue. You could ask for a little less repetition, perhaps. The music matches the show, though subtly hides in the background.

Griffin Goes Game

No one expected Family Guy to be the spiritual successor to Shadow of the Colossus, or to feel Miyamoto-esque in nature. It's no sexy party in the gameplay department, but it's no smoked meat log, either. In the end, it's the laughs that keep you coming back, even as you moan about cheap deaths or crummy stealth mechanics. It won't be the longest or most polished game in your collection, but hardcore fans of the show will feel relatively lucky there's a Family Guy…game.

Article by: Justin Leeper