Remember a few weeks back when Google had the 155th Anniversary of The Pony Express, and had that adorable game involving collecting letters while riding a horse? Were you like: Gee, this sure is a great game. But I wish I was playing as Grunkle Stan mowing over government agents instead of delivering mail.
Well friend, have I got a game for you! The Great Stanmobile Escape is a flash game on the Disney site very, very, VERY loosely based on the last aired episode of “Gravity Falls.” You know, the one with all the mind-blowing twists? You know what I’m talking about, probably. I don’t want to get into it in case, somehow, you haven’t seen the episode, but WOW, are these twists mind-blowing.
This game turns that episode into a roaring good time of Grunkle Stan fleeing government agents in a variety of costumes, cars (One car a Pterodactyl) while avoiding common road hazards like zombies, giant teeth boulders, bounding caterpillar boulders, creatures with fists for faces, and the always troublesome giant space baby arms. You don a variety of costumes (All references to episodes and shorts Anything from Grunkle Stan as ‘Disco Stan’ to Grunkle Stan carrying the eight-legged cow Octavia from one of Mabel’s shorts).
I’ve got to admit, I LOVE the little details with this game. Like when you ride the pterodactyl, Grunkle Stan keeps punching it in the head to make it flap its wings. Who doesn’t love punching dinosaurs in video games? Another lovely detail is that, considering what you’re wearing and what you’re riding, you get unique messages for ‘bending the rules’ (Earning medals that unlock prizes, such as outfits and cars). Below is a collection of some unique dialogue I got.
The gameplay itself is kinda… Well. It is what it is, and what it is is a free flash game. I don’t know — There’s a certain repetitiveness to it, but I guess that’s what gets you in ‘the zone’ with it. You collect little golden icons like the one on Stan’s fez to power up and become temporarily invincible, but the occasional scripted events (i.e., the giant fist monster showing up) can make this power up pretty useless. (Also, I encountered a glitch on my final play-thru where crashing through the costume changing station while invincible, makes it so you never run out of invincibility) The game feels like it was thrown together quickly, but the amount of detail in the art leads me to believe otherwise. Either way, it’s fun to play. Just not something to run screaming to people about.
The music in it is interesting as well. There’s definitely a different tone to each level. The ‘Night’ level music is very intense, and tells you right off this level is going to super duper up the difficulty. The most “Gravity Falls” -ish sounding music, I think, comes from the Sunset level music. Just the right amount of spooky.
The amount of unlockables really adds replay value to the game as well. Until you unlock everything, like I ended up doing, because who needs to study for midterms! Have I mentioned I love the outfits in this game? You can play as Dracula Grunkle Stan. I love the outfits in this game. I really wish there had been a ‘Devil’ Grunkle Stan outfit, like in last season’s finale, but I SUPPOSE I’ll take the giant twitching eight legged cow riding a Pterodactyl.
Anyway, for what it is, The Great Stanmobile Escape is pretty great. Sure, it’s not one hundred percent an incredibly well crafted game, but for what it is it’s not half bad. With interesting character designs, a ridiculous amount of callbacks, and some pretty solid gags, I definitely give this a thumbs up. Check it out. It might not been your speed, but it’s worth it just for the little details if you’re a Gravity Falls fan.