In a nutshell: Don't waste $40 (30?) on this 3 hour flash game.
I finished my torrent at around 3am last night, so I put it on my card (1.4GB!) and went to work. I've never seen an episode of this show, so I wasn't exactly aware of the humor that goes along with it.
There are 5 cases, with the first 4 being locked, just like Phoenix Wright.
You played Phoenix Wright, you know how Harvey Birdman plays, so I'll just skip all that junk.
The first issue with the game is that it's EXTREMELY easy, thanks in part to the fact that you can save whenever you want during the case - and STILL continue! Unlike Phoenix Wright, where the save makes you go back to the title screen, and is only a temporary save, Harvey Birdman lets you reload your game directly where you left off. So if you're at an interrogation, you can just save, and if you fuck up - reload, and poof, no progress lost.
I actually like this is because I'm more interested in how the case pans out, but the second issue is that the cases just make absolutely a lick of sense. It follows a path, but usually - mostly at the end of a case, or end of an interrogation - just up and says "ok, case closed, you win". For example, in the case where Peanut is on trial for copying music (arrested by the RIAA), I have to prove how Harvey Birdman is superior to his clone, and I choose "Blast him!" with my superpowers. The scene plays, and I shoot him dead. Mentok is like "well, we don't have a defense attorney, so... you win! Case closed!" -- what? Is this the humor that plays along with a typical Harvey Birdman episode? In short, maybe the Harvey Birdman "humor" isn't well suited for a game version.
The third issue is that it is EXTREMELY short. You can finish the first case in about 15 minutes, no joke. The cases get a bit longer after that, but even the fifth case, which is usually the longest and neverending on Phoenix Wright, is about 30 minutes long tops, and even then the actual trial is about 5 minutes. The majority of that case is a lot of examining areas for evidence. Every single Phoenix Wright game is easily longer, and has probably twice the content. When I finished the final case, I looked at my clock, and it was about 6am. Roughly 3 hours it took me to finish this game.
The actual Harvey Birdman "episodes" - which is what the game feels like, a UMD version of the show, are pretty funny, I had some laughs. It made me interested in checking out the show on Adult Swim, if it still exists. Each case ends with some credits too, just like the show.
Phoenix Wright > Harvey Birdman - I wouldn't spend full price on this, you are better off revisiting some Birdman episodes. EGM was right on this one. Even the bonus videos you can unlock for finding the capcom characters suck ass. This could have been made in Flash and propped up on Adult Swim's website for everyone to watch.
