I always hate seeing a good idea gone bad. Such was the case with the short-lived TV series, “Game Over.” This was show with so much potential to be hit, but seemed to keep missing the opportunity with every episode. The series itself was a CGI-animated affair, much like “Reboot,” with the setting being that of being inside of a video game ’neighborhood.’ The characters that made up the family and friends were from various fictional video games and that was about it. “Game Over” employed some of the best voice over artist available, in both regular and guest-starring roles. The main cast was made up of Patrick Warburton as Rip Smashenburn, Lucy Liu as the “Lara Croft-like” Raquel, with E.G. Dailey and Rachel Dratch as their kids. Even Artie Lang got involved as the family’s pet… uh… pet. Yet, even with a cast like this, most of the episodes (of which there were six) just didn’t have the comedic writing or timing to turn it into a hit. I think a part of the problem was that instead of putting these characters into the world the belonged in (like “The Incredibles” or “Reboot”), the writers opted to use every day crises that we find in the typical sitcom. It really was an idea that should have worked, but didn’t.

That said, while the series wasn’t especially funny on the surface, there is still something there to make the existing episodes worthwhile to animation and video game fans. The series is littered with a lot of in-jokes, both in the dialogue and in some of the visuals. A lot of these won’t be picked up by mainstream audiences, but the target audience should catch a good portion. For those of you who don’t, the DVD is coming out this week that offers up the entire run, and one of the extra features points out a lot of these in-jokes.

Along with this extra feature, there are some short character bios, crew photos and a ten question quiz that unlocks some previously unreleased footage. You’ll also find a progression reel, which allows you to see the different stages of a CGI created scene.

The DVD is being released by Anchor Bay, which that alone promises high quality in terms of transfer and extra features, but as far as the series goes, it will only appeal to a very limited audience.

Starring (the voices of): Patrick Warburton, Lucy Liu, Rachel Dratch, E.G. Daily
Extras: Character Bios, Trivia Game, Never Before Aired Episode – “Monkey Dearest”, Watch Closely – Production Secrets, Progression Reel – Storyboard to Layout to Animation to Final Picture, Crew Photos
Specifications: Full Screen, Dolby Digital 2.0
Studio: Anchor Bay
Release Date: 6/28/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give Game Over: The Complete Collection a C.