PC Game Skewers Politicians Evenhandedly
By TRAVIS REED
Associated Press Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. - If you're tired of watching Mitt and Mike, Hilary and Rudy, and Colbert and Coulter limit their swipes to words, pick one and go for it in the new video game "DC Smackdown."

Featuring signature moves like the "Intern Trample," "Mormon Conversion" and "Barack Your World," the 17-character game skewers bipartisanly. A pantsless Bill Clinton chases a herd of Monica Lewinskys, Jesse Jackson hurls Hasidic Jews and Anne Coulter has a special "verbal diarrhea" attack.

"It's a real simple game — we're talking Street Fighter, circa 1994," said Dave Holbrook, a freelance producer and former Disney animator who made it, with help from friends, in his spare time. "It's nothing crazy, but it's a fun little commentary on what's going on. And everybody's special move has to do with their political stance or what they've said."

Now available just for PCs, the game costs $4.99 to download. Holbrook said he initially wanted to charge an extra buck for donation to the customer's political campaign of choice, but changed his mind because of regulatory paperwork.

If it sells, Holbrook wants to expand to the Xbox or Wii and include historic politicians and pundits.

Holbrook said he and the other creators tried hard to poke evenhanded fun on a cast narrowed from 30 choices.

"Glen Beck started becoming more popular, so we switched him with Sean Hannity," he said. "We almost had Stephen Colbert in there, but we chose (Jon) Stewart. (Colbert) is in the game, though — he's actually Jon Stewart's attack. He throws Stephen Colbert."

The game has eight levels — the first six randomly generated from the list of characters and the last two involving combat between former Vice President Al Gore and President George W. Bush.

Bush's special attack is "nuclear" — with his signature pronunciation — while Gore's is global warming. Gore has a "CO2 fart attack," while Bush has a Karl Rove attack. Dressed like the grim reaper, Rove passes through and steals the opponent's soul.

Find the game here: http://www.dcsmackdown.com/