If you were into independent comics back around 1991, you'll probably remember Jeff Smith's Bone as one of those books well worth picking up whenever new issues hit your favorite comic shop. Taking place in a rich fantasy world with a slightly dark undercurrent (and plenty of humor), the series continues to have a loyal following, thanks to the combination of great illustration and writing inspired by the great artist/writer Walt Kelly, with a dash of Al Capp and Tolkien added for seasoning. Although the book ended with issue 55 in 2004, thankfully Smith hasn't vanished off the map these days. In fact, he's expanded his creative horizons with a great website and has worked on two games based on his early Bone adventures. Telltale Games has just released the wonderful Bone: The Great Cow Race, which retells that particular story from the books as a point & click PC adventure, with a few interesting changes made here and there. The game is simple enough for any fan of the genre to play, while retaining the familiar characters and situations. If you're new to the series, there's a back-story you can read on Smith's Cartoon Books website that should get you up to speed.

Once you install the game, you'll get some neat character bios that are concise yet detailed enough to give interesting information about the cast that really makes you want to dive into the game and play. In a nutshell, the three Bone cousins, Fone, Phoney and Smiley, get booted out of Boneville and, after a long trip through an uncharted desert, they discover a map that leads them to a hidden forest. It's here where they meet new friends (Gran'Ma Ben and Thorn) and some rather dangerous enemies. There's a lot more, but go visit the site, as Smith's artwork and dialog are well worth your time. The Great Cow Race drops you immediately into the story, as Phoney Bone strolls into a village tavern for a beer and discovers his cousin, Smiley Bone, acting as barkeep. When Smiley tries to pay his tab with real money, the tavern owner tears the bill in half and accuses him of trying to scam some free drinks. It turns out that eggs are the only accepted currency, so Phoney gets put to work in the bar to pay off his debt. He soon finds out that there's a cow race set for the Spring Fair and, always the scammer, he plans to take the villagers for all their eggs, with Smiley entering the race in a cow suit. Meanwhile, Fone Bone is having problems expressing his feelings to Thorn, Gran'Ma Ben is training hard for the big race and there's a creepy guy in a hooded robe with some shaggy demons lurking in the background. There's a lot more, but I don't want to spoil everything here!

The controls are standard point and click goodness, with a few mini-games added in certain sections to spice things up. Phoney, for example, gets to do a bit of creative floor mopping before his initial chapter is done and the game switches to Fone's part of the story. Speaking of switching, soon after Fone Bone becomes playable, you'll be able to swap cousins at any time by clicking on their portraits on the upper right side of the screen. You'll be sent to wherever Smiley or Phoney happens to be, then play as them to advance the plot through dialog and a bit of logical puzzle solving. Swapping characters is absolutely necessary, thanks to the way the game is cleverly structured; for example, you'll need to talk to certain characters in one part of the map with Phoney in order to get them to head into the area where Fone is. The game has a hint system that uses pop-up menus in certain spots to fill you in with clues when you run out of things to do in an area, so it's impossible to get stymied for too long. Talking to everyone and clicking on everything interactive in the game is highly recommended though, as each Bone cousin will collect important items, while some of the dialog sequences are absolutely hilarious.

One of the funniest parts of the game is Phoney Bone's exchange with a cow and then burly tavern owner, Lucius, after Phoney steps outside to see about fitting a small cow shoe on an oversized cow's hoof. Phoney is wearing a big poofy chef's hat that makes him look like he's got a mushroom cloud coming out of his head, a hilarious visual touch. Combine this with his always ticked-off expression and smart-aleck attitude, it's a wonder that Lucius doesn't twist him into a pretzel just on general principal. However, as he's outside as part of the puzzle Phoney's working on, that doesn't happen, fortunately. Another amusing sequence has Fone Bone meeting a gigantic bee and trying to negotiate with him to get some honey to impress Thorn. The game throws a really hysterical monkey wrench at you after you've finally worked out a solution to get rid of the insect, who boots Fone out of the tree and back down to the ground. Pretty much anything Smiley Bone does is laugh out loud funny, since he goes through the game blissfully ignorant but all too eager to lend a hand. There are loads of other scenes worth talking about, but as I said above, I'm trying not to spoil the plot or reveal the excellent dialog.

The Great Cow Race has a very well-written story, although if this is the first game of the two you're picking up, you'll feel as if you've missed part of the action. You'll be wondering about how the Bones got separated, who the rat creatures are and what's up with this Dragon people are talking about - which is why you're best advised to play the games in order, beginning with Out From Boneville. Fone Bone ends up making a few friends and a rival at the fair through solving puzzles and playing mini-games, but the game never feels like busywork at all. In another amusing touch, there's actually one mini-game that's intentionally tricky to control, which should make some players want to stomp all over their precision mice until they find out that's how the game is rigged!

In terms of presentation, Bone: The Great Cow Race does a super job of translating Jeff Smith's characters into 3D, improving a bit more over the first game, Out From Boneville. You'll see solid character models throughout and a nicely rustic color palette that do a great job of bringing the game world to vivid life. I'm actually surprised that Telltale didn't go the cel-shaded/hand-painted backgrounds route, but what's here works just fine. If you're picky, you'll notice that the characters still don't cast shadows, but the game certainly has some very expressive animation that more than makes up for this little omission. I love the floating eyebrows on the different Bones brothers, as well as the assorted mannerisms that brings each of them to life.

Along with this excellent animation comes superb voice acting for everyone. This is one case where each character in the game sounds exactly as you'd expect; Fone is the thinker, emotional and inquisitive, trying to impress Thorn on one hand while dealing with his recent membership into a tough guys club. Phoney's eternal scowl and hunched over gait is great for laughs each time he's playable - he's got every angle figured out, but his plans always seem to blow up in his face. Smiley's happy-go-lucky personality is a cross between Art Carney's Ed Norton character from The Honeymooners and Disney's Goofy. Both Thorn and Gran'Ma Ben are well-defined characters, and there's a mysterious playable dream sequence early on that holds an intriguing clue about the pair that's bound to be followed up later. Gran'Ma is good for some comic relief, with her training regimen and the fact that she's never lost the cow race since she's entered. Phoney gets in a few jokes at her expense while he's trying to scam the villagers, but not everyone is buying what he's selling.

The different environments are nicely rendered, with a locked camera that pans with the characters as they move. There are some occasionally long load times when transitioning to new areas, and the game camera has a tendency to flip out in areas with multiple pathways if you stop the character exactly where the camera is supposed to shift in a certain direction, but other than that, things are fine. There's a mighty fine musical score too, which is by turns light and bouncy, then moody and dramatic where it needs to be. If you download or buy the game from the Telltale site, be sure to get the soundtrack as well. In terms of longevity, you can finish the game in about five of six hours, which may seem short, but given that it's part of a longer tale, and considering that the quality is absolutely stellar, the thirteen bucks you're paying for the download (or $18 for the CD version) makes for a real gaming bargain for adventure fans. If you're into having an actual game CD, Telltale is releasing a double pack with both Bone games for a mere thirty bucks, which includes a manual and a neat illustrated case.

When I got heavily into gaming and started writing about nine years ago, I actually sold off the majority of my comic collection, including all the issues of Bone I'd bought. Now, I'm hooked all over again thanks to Telltale's retelling and I plan to pick up the new editions of the Scholastic Bone reprints soon. As for the game, I'll close with this: Perfect for adventure fans of all ages, Bone: The Great Cow Race is a great change of pace from the usual murder mystery or historically themed adventure games that currently populate the market. The game is consistently funny throughout, easy to play and will absolutely make you a Bone fan before you're done. If Telltale plans to do the entire series as a set of games, it'll be a project well worth following with each installment, and one you'll go back to over and over, just for the entertainment they provide. In the meantime, definitely bet on The Great Cow Race for a few top hours of enchanting family entertainment.

Reviewed by Greg Wilcox for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).