For as long as the Wii U has been available, it hasn't received as many adventure games as its contemporaries. It has one in the form of last year's The Cave, but those looking for games from the likes of Telltale, for example, either have to dig through the Wii back catalog or go to another platform. That's slowly changing with the release of Stick It To The Man!, the latest adventure game to hit the system.

From the very beginning, Stick It To The Man! firmly establishes that this is going to be an absurd adventure. You play the role of Ray, a normal guy who works as a tester in a hard hat factory. As he's walking home from work, a freak thunderstorm causes an Air Force plane to lose its alien cargo, which falls on Ray's head. He lives, but he wakes up with a strange alien hand that only he can see. He must find out what's going on while avoiding a sinister shadow group that wants his new power.

Beyond the premise, the rest of the story continues down the path of using humor in any and every way it can. Part of this comes from the large cast of characters, which includes disco dancers, luchadores, mob hitmen, psychiatrists and specters, just to name a few. The characters don't stick around for too long, but they're certainly memorable. The dialogue also keeps things interesting. Some comments play around with the macabre, while others are incidental, such as a balloon vendor advertising her wares by stating that she's trapping a limited resource in a leaky vessel. Then you have the oddities, like the dancer who really enjoys playing Silver Surfer on the NES.

The game is presented as a 2-D side-scroller but places heavier emphasis on adventure game elements rather than platforming elements. For the latter, Ray can jump and climb up ledges, but that's about it. There aren't that many enemies in the game, and those who you do encounter can't be attacked directly since you have no attack moves of your own. Ray is pretty useless until you gain control of the long, ethereal hand on his head. As a platforming tool, the hand is only useful in grabbing pegs that allow Ray to reach higher platforms or catapult him to different areas in the map. Like Ray, the hand has no attack capabilities of its own.

Its usefulness is in solving puzzles, and in this regard, the hand is very versatile. You can use the hand to grab and place stickers in certain spots to trigger an event that usually ends up solving a puzzle. The hand can also be used to peel back a layer in the level to reveal a sticker or more characters. The best trick the hand can perform is the ability to read people's minds. The obvious benefit to this is that you can hear what people are thinking and figure out what kind of sticker you'll need to solve the puzzle. Reading thoughts also helps produce stickers and leads to the only offensive capability the player can perform: using the sticker to cause agents to temporarily fall asleep.

Combining all of these elements leads to long strings of connected puzzles in each stage that make sense but are still quirky. For example, one of the early sets of puzzles starts off with you finding a psychiatrist. Suddenly, you encounter a medium talking to the deceased wife of a bad magician, a triple-headed wrestler, a father-son clown duo, and a gorilla operating a cannon — all in one stage. Each meeting comes with a puzzle that requires sensible solutions, but the situations only get crazier and crazier as the game progresses, so players want to see what comes next.

If there's one thing that holds back Stick It To The Man! from being excellent, it's the length. There are around 10 chapters, and most of them aren't too long, especially the first two chapters, which serve as the introduction and tutorial. Depending on your aptitude with puzzles, the game should take an average of six hours to complete. There aren't any side-quests, and unlike the other SKUs, there are no Achievements or Trophies, either. The way the story is played out is tight enough, so there aren't any spots where you feel the story drags on, but you do wish you could spend just a little more time in the world.

The Wii U iteration uses the GamePad in some interesting ways. There is the standard off-screen play, and that can be switched on the fly with no pausing. If you're using the TV, the GamePad screen gives you a map of the area, complete with locations of characters whose minds can be read. The functionality doesn't seem to carry over to the TV if you play on the GamePad screen instead, though. The touch-screen can also be used in lieu of the right analog stick for hand movement, but one method doesn't have a large advantage over the other. One of the more fascinating uses of the GamePad is in your mind-reading capabilities. You can use the ZL button to toggle mind-reading mode and use the right analog stick to aim for the mind you want to read. You can also point at the screen with the GamePad and physically move the device until you center on the mind and have it read by the pad's speakers, including the ambient vocal noise that plays in this mode, even if you haven't aimed at anyone. They're fun, even if you intend to stick with the traditional controls.

Graphically, the game oozes style. Everything is presented in paper and cardboard-style cutouts, where characters are flat but exhibit some 3-D movement to show them walking instead of shuffling anywhere. The backgrounds have some depth as a result of this style, and there are some neat tricks, like depth blur to emphasize the 2-D/3-D blend. The art style mimics games like Psychonauts but in a slightly flatter view. The mouth movements also exhibit that sort of styling, with dialogue results in head and jaw movements similar to South Park's Terrence & Phillip. The game's use of a film grain filter is rather odd because it doesn't add anything to the game's style. (The filer is absent on the GamePad screen.)

Like the graphics, the sound is rich. The aforementioned humorous dialogue is delivered by a vocal cast that is close to perfect in both inflection and delivery. While there are no standouts in this area, everyone fits their roles well, and they're a joy to hear as an ensemble. Meanwhile, the music is dominated by a jazz style that fits the adventure and transitions nicely between the calmer puzzle segments and the higher-tempo chase sequences. Spliced in between all of this are other genres, like disco and '60s rock, which complement each other nicely and make for a pleasant-sounding title.

Stick It To The Man! is a great adventure game whose only crime is that it's over before you know it. While the adventure may be short, the experience is worthwhile thanks to the puzzles and game mechanics. The odd humor also plays a big part in making the game enjoyable, and it is done with a presentation that blends style with quality. Genre fans and those who enjoy lighthearted games would do well to check out this title.

Score: 8.0/10