South Park: 5 episodes that would make great games

In just a few short days, the long-awaited South Park: The Stick of Truth will finally be released into the world in all of its fantasy and fart-attacking glory. The foulmouthed RPG looks like it plays just like an episode of the long-running Comedy Central show, and the characters and questlines are inspired by the classic Season 6 episode “The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers,” among several other later appearances of the boys’ questing attire.

But did you ever think what other South Park episodes would form the basis for some pretty great games? I’m sure it sounds like we’re getting way ahead of ourselves here, especially considering that The Stick of Truth hasn’t even officially been released yet, and you’re probably right about that. But South Park has had so many classic episodes in its 17 season (and counting) run that it’s hard not to imagine what other gaming hilarity could be possible one day.

So here are our picks for 5 great South Park episodes that would each make for one hell of a video game (and of course, it’s also entirely possible that The Stick of Truth might even incorporate certain elements from these specific episodes as well when it’s released on March 4!). Do you agree with our picks? Are there any other South Park episodes that you’d love to see crafted into a video game one day? Be sure to hit the replies and let us know!

1. Good Times with Weapons

The Season 8 opener “Good Times with Weapons” contained every element needed for an outstanding South Park episode: a hysterical satire of anime action segments, Cartman’s topical “wardrobe malfunction” at the time, and of course, Butters with a ninja star in his eye. Now imagine these intense imaginary battles between the boys, but reinvented as a Street Fighter or Marvel vs. Capcom experience! While an anime-inspired ninja game featuring the South Park cast as larger-than-life warriors might not be the first thing people think of when it comes to South Park and gaming, you can’t sit there and tell me that the result would be anything short of amazing.

2. Cartoon Wars

There’s about a 0.0000001% chance that this one will ever materialize due to all the copyright and legal issues surrounding the idea, but hey, I guess I’ve seen stranger things happen. The scathing two-part “Cartoon Wars” saw the town of South Park butt heads with a newly emerging force in the world of cartoons: Family Guy, which according to Matt and Trey, acquires all of their cutaway gags thanks to a tank of manatees selecting balls with random words on them. I’m not sure exactly what kind of a game this would turn out to be, but if there’s one thing I DO know, it’s that the team over in the Family Guy camp could sure use a few pointers: if you played 2012’s Back to the Multiverse at all, then you’ll know what I mean.

3. Imaginationland

If there’s one thing that comes to mind when someone says South Park and “trilogy” in the same sentence, it’s without a doubt the three-part Season 11 epic, “Imaginationland.” Or if you’re more akin to the episodes’ alternate titles, then “Kyle Sucks Cartman’s Balls,” “The Drying of the Balls,” and obviously we can’t forget “Moistening of the Scrotum.” Either way, “Imaginationland” saw Matt and Trey spewing creativity out of every orifice, and I can only IMAGINE what kind of amazing game experience we could get when literally every kind of person, creature, and fairy tale beast gets thrown into the mix.

4. The Coon

Cartman’s superhero alter ego “The Coon” was first introduced in the second episode of Season 13, before getting an epic three-part sequel at the tail-end of Season 14. I could totally see this one as a sidescrolling platformer in the vein of a Metroidvania experience, with The Coon scaling buildings across a cityscape at night and taking on Mysterion and a number of other kid “villains” from this episode arc. It could also be a neat twist to bend the reality of the whole thing and give the kids some actual superpowers, just to make for some more exciting gameplay. At least we got to see a little bit of the Coon already in the XBLA title South Park: Tenorman’s Revenge.

5. Make Love, Not Warcraft

And last but not least, we couldn’t have a South Park video game list without mentioning the classic World of Warcraft-inspired episode, “Make Love, Not Warcraft.” In this epic look at WoW addicts, Matt and Trey actually teamed up with Blizzard Entertainment to help create portions of the episode as if they were actual gameplay segments from a World of Warcraft game itself! And then of course, there was the scene where Cartman’s mom holds a bucket for him to crap in so he doesn’t have to step away from the game. Now imagine a full-fledged WoW experience, but with the actual characters from South Park rendered into the sprawling questlines. I think we might be on to something here!

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