It's kinda like Toasty Oats: Review of Press Start to Play

A classic send-up of those tedious tasks in video games we all hate, from Press Start to Play.

Remember when you were a kid, and every grocery store had it's own generic knockoff brand for practically every food product in the store? And sometimes your parents would decide to buy the knockoff brand, and it just didn't quite taste the same?

I remember when I was a little kid our grocery store had a Cheerios knockoff called "Toasty Oats", and while it certainly wasn't the goodness of Cheerios, it did have a certain charm to it. I remember it was a little more tangy than Cheerios, as if the generic-cereal-making people had left the dough out in the sun and it had sourdoughized a bit. It was really a unique experience.

Of course, then Apple Cinnamon Cheerios came out and all bets were off. But I digress.

Press Start to Play is a Penny Arcade clone. It's two guys, hanging around, making riffs about video games. No storyline, no continuity, a real sense that in any strip, anything could happen. It has the same sort of pacing in the jokes as Penny Arcade. It's pretty clear that Press Start to Play is not trying to be a knock off of Ctrl+Alt+Del or VGCats, because those strips both have a pretty clearly defined sense of style and pacing which differs greatly from Penny Arcade. Heck, the guys even list Penny Arcade as their main influence. From the FAQs: Penny Arcade are the father of webcomics, and we'll always try to listen to the advice they give, and try and hit in on whatever they're using to be so damn funny. I'd like to think our humor isn't too far off that of Penny Arcade.

But you know what? I don't care. Press Start to Play is the Toasty Oats to Penny Arcade's Cheerios. It's basically trying to copy off the success of another product, but at the same time it's got its own unique flavor. Maybe not quite as good, but certainly not bad. Here's the important thing to understand: Press Start to Play is not stealing Penny Arcade's jokes. They're copying their style. This is an important distinction to make. The jokes in Press Start to Play are fresh, they're unique, they cover a different range of video games than Penny Arcade covers. Sure, they look and sound a lot like Penny Arcade comics, but they're not.

So if you like Penny Arcade, be sure to check out Press Start to Play. You may find that if you add it to your list it'll be like having a double-shot of Penny Arcade every week. And that ain't bad.