A Perfect Strangers Video Game? "Where Do I Come Up With Them!"

By Kim Bellware in Arts & Entertainment on May 3, 2012 3:40PM



The gang's all here! Balki, Cousin Larry, Jennifer, Mary Anne and Dimitri the sheep.

TGIF-loving fans across the internet did a collective Dance Of Joy yesterday when a Perfect Strangers video game surfaced. The Flash-based video game has quickly gone viral—and has probably caused office productivity around the country to take a nosedive—as players chase their dream through scenes from the sitcom.

Players start by telling Balki Bartokomous (aka "Cousin Balki") "the dream you are chasing," before starting on the adventure that lasts for the duration the Jesse Frederick and Bennett Salvay opening theme, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Me Now." The game is pretty simple, kind of resembling the "Special Stage" in Sega's Sonic The Hedgehog. The player's avatar of Cousin Balki runs, jumps (and flies!) to score stars while a creepily realistic Mark Linn-Baker plays the show's tune on harmonica. And while the game is simple, it's still easy to lose. Fail to gather enough stars and the game ends with "Cousin! Don't be ridiculous! You can do better than that. With hard work, you can do anything!"

The game—nay, masterpiece—is the work of Brookyln-based designer Jason Oda who scored his first big viral video game hit with the 2001 Emo Game. While most of Oda's work is for marketing campaigns, the Perfect Strangers game doesn't seem to be promoting anything other than nostalgia for the hit show that ran from 1986-1993.

Though the show was set in late '80s Chicago, the game has few visual references to the city, save a billboard for I-90 to Chicago (as seen in the opening credits when Larry leaves his home in Wisconsin for the Windy City) and the splash page showing the skyline from Oak Street Beach.

Here's a clip of the original extended opening theme that tells more of the back story of the main characters:

And here's the version used in later seasons, showing more scenes from Chicago (including the old Sun-Times building, The Chicago Theatre and Wrigley Field):





No word as to whether Oda plans to make any more games based on beloved TGIF shows, but if he does, we're pulling for a Family Matters game starring Reginald VelJohnson.

Random note if Oda is reading: Family Matters is the next logical step! The show was a spin-off of Perfect Strangers; Harriet Winslow was the elevator operator in Cousin Larry's office building for The Chicago Chronicle. We'd love it if you made this happen.