No More Heroes has more than a couple of rough corners. There are lag issues in fight sequences (we’re talking flicker, dropouts, and Sega Genesis-like slowdown when the screen fills with enemies) and the sandbox-style city scape is a tedious combination of big, and empty.

Cheesy cinematics (made up entirely of conversations involving the game’s protagonist, Travis Touchdown, french flirt Sylvia (pictured left) and Santa Destroy’s finest assassins) are poorly paced and too long. And, given a world built on long and cheesy cinematics, they weren’t that well-executed; many ‘hilarious one-liner’ possibilities were squandered.

Not enough thought and planning went into the game’s money earning/weapons collecting/reward and upgrade systems. The music is too limited. There are plot holes and implausibilities (Now, why would an Assassin’s Association want the country’s top assassins to murder each other, instead of working together?? WHY, Travis??) and, to my chagrin, you can’t redeem in-game collectible trading cards for anything useful.

But in spite of these shortcomings (and perhaps in part because of them) No More Heroes is terrific, totally worth the money, and probably the best Wii title of 2008. It’s going down as one of the most memorable games I’ve ever played.

The fact the game is a little messy and chaotic enhances its effect. It has so much style and cool it’s just ridiculous. With an art house feel and a foreign action flick vibe through and through, it’s quirky and unapologetic and, like a Tarantino movie or Bohachi Busido: Code of the Forgotten Eight, it’s at times perfectly content to just get up in your face and scream “look at me, motherfucker.” This includes those pointless Mexican wrestler trading cards—they’re just kind of there. But it works.

Suda51, the game’s creator, allegedly cites the cultish Mexican film “El Topo” as one of the inspirations for No More Heroes.  This revelation has made me decide to find a copy of El Topo.  But I should note that I can’t help finding the game derivative of Kill Bill, as well). It’s too much but it’s… just the right amount. The ridiculously over-the-top blood spew, the toilet jokes and the boob shots all seemingly have artistic merit. The game just works. Really well. No More Heroes is loud, gruesome, imprecise, funny, unique, and plain satisfying to play through.  The bar has been raised, where uniqueness, humour and satisfaction are concerned; in fact, I’m beginning to wonder why all video game bad guys don’t scream “my spleen!” while in their death throes.

And perhaps best of all, it’s full of homage to us! Gamers from the golden age. The tributes to 80s gaming are everywhere—in the navigation, in the mini games, in little flourishes of sound and sight.

Still with me? No? That’s ok. See for yourself. It’s probably one of those ones you just have to experience.  Score: 5 spleens out of 5.