The Simpsons Game

The world’s most beloved yellow family is back in their greatest interactive adventure so far. While The Simpsons have made appearances on numerous gaming consoles in even more numerous games throughout the past two decades, this latest adventure is, without a doubt, the greatest so far. Of course, I’d be lying to you if I claimed to have played every Simpsons game there has ever been, because there are probably more than one could count – that is, if you want to go all the way back and even include arcade releases as well. Nonetheless, I have played a good number of The Simpsons games across half a dozen platforms, and I can honestly say I had more fun with this one than any before.

Like many people from my generation, I grew up with The Simpsons. At one point, I was such a huge fan that I had seen all of the first 16 seasons some ten or more times, and had nearly half of them memorized as well. I guess you could say, I was a humongous fan. I use the word “was”, because it was around the beginning of the 16th season that I started tuning out of The Simpsons. Let’s face it, after close to 20 years, they were losing it, and it just wasn’t that funny anymore. I have seen no more than one or two episodes from season 17 and have completely steered clear of season 18. Then the movie came along and I knew I’d have to watch it, no matter how disappointed I had been with the latest of the series. Surprisingly it wasn’t near as bad as I had expected, and there were several times I even laughed out loud.

And then the game came along. I downloaded a demo of The Simpsons game from Xbox Live, and my first reaction was complete laughter. I couldn’t help but bust up laughing, seeing Homer roll around as a giant fat blob. The graphics also appealed to me, because the developers did an amazing job at making things look more like a cartoon than polygons. Needless to say, the demo won me and a couple days later I got the game.

Surprisingly, the latest Simpsons game is not only hilarious, but even contains a decent story. Normally, one might expect a pretty cheesy premise and a bunch of unrelated chaotic events mixed together in a blender. Well, I guess, the latest game can be described to an extent like that, but at the same time, the plot is not quite as dry as one might expect from a Simpsons game. In fact, I found the story to not only be entertaining, but didn’t find it boring or overly done either. There are numerous sub-plots, but one of the main basic themes is: video games!

Yup - good ol’ video games. Video games are the primary theme throughout the entire game, with an emphasis on the contemporary moral issue in society regarding violence in games. There are numerous references to popular video games, but the main focus is Grand Theft Auto. When Marge finds out that Bart purchases a copy of the latest would-be hit “Grand Theft Scratchy”, she goes on one of her typical think-as-I-think quests to have the game banned. Somehow aliens are also thrown into the mix and wreck havoc throughout Springfield.

Kodos and Kang are only one of the many references to The Simpsons series. The evil dolphins with their leader Snorky also makes an appearance, as does a brought-to-life version of Lard Lad and the evil Krusty doll. The series references don’t stop with the enemies, as you will encounter Mr. Sparkle and Clobber Girl as well as an uncountable number of other characters and even locations. If I were to make a list of the multiple of references to the series and specific episodes, I would have to compile a list containing hundreds of elements. Heck, even a couple characters from Futurama, whom I will not mention here, make a cameo appearance towards the end of the game! That definitely came as a surprising treat. With that said, the game does a great job at using the series’ license and rebuilding the town and characters we have all grown to know and like or dislike. You will be happy to know that the virtual town of Springfield also contains a large range of the common locations used throughout the series. Of those notable and worth mentioning: Krusty Burger, the retirement home, Springfield Elementary School, Noise Land Arcade, Barney’s Bowlarama, The Kwik-E-Mart, and of course The Simpsons’ home. Even better, the developers of this title did an excellent job at recreating the interior of the house, both upstairs and downstairs. I’ve played a lot of Simpsons games before, but this is definitely the first to portray the living breathing Springfield that we have come to know.

As I was saying earlier, not only are there an uncountable number of references to the series, but there are a myriad of video game references as well. Aside from Grand Theft Auto, the theme of video games is obviously transparent and can be seen and heard everywhere. Among those referenced are Metal Gear Solid, Street Fighter, Diablo, Everquest, Final Fantasy, Pokemon, Megaman, Medal of Honor, Guitar Hero, Super Mario, Sonic, Dance Dance Revolution, and Oblivion. These are just a handful of those which I can recall off the top of my head – there are sure to be a number of other gaming allusions. While most of the references to video games are merely comical in nature and can be nothing more than a simple joke or poster, there are other references which have a much more significant role in the game. For example, in one level you play a Space Invaders mini-game, in which you are shooting aliens with Bart’s slingshot in an overhead view. Another part has you jumping over logs, turtles and alligators in a hilarious homage to frogger. There are even several funny jokes referring to video games, such as when Lisa exclaims to an enemy, “You have worse AI than a frogger log”. Even the almighty is a hardcore gamer, and lets The Simpsons in on a little secret (Earth is all a video game). Interestingly enough, there is even an entire level themed around a game production factory, which not only pokes fun at how games are produced, but makes many amusing stabs at the history of gaming.

Humor is all fine and dandy, but how exact is playing the game, you might ask? Surprisingly, it’s a blast to play for the most part, even if it does begin to feel repetitive and contain its fair share of flaws. Every family member is fully playable and hosts a unique range of “video game super powers”. Bart can turn into Bartman, and climb special walls, glide and grappling hook onto certain targets, and shoot a slingshot. Homer can turn into a giant green gummi, and roll and pounce around as a giant fat blob. There are also special tanks Homer can use to inhale helium and float around like a balloon. Lisa can use her saxophone to stun enemies or have them turn on each other. Occasionally, you will run into a Buddha statue, which can be used to execute Lisa’s “hand of Buddha” skill that allows her to pick up and move large objects. And much like in the series, Marge’s unparalleled nagging ability comes in handy as you can create mobs of people to build and destroy certain structures. Even the mute heroine in a diaper, Maggie, is controllable when playing with Marge. Maggie is capable of climbing through vents that the other Simpsons are unable to access, allowing you to hit certain switches and find certain collectibles.

Each member of the family has a balanced role in the game-play, and because all of the levels are designed for specific characters, you are forced experience a variation of game-play styles. Sometimes navigating your way around a level can be frustrating since you occasionally have a map, but never have a compass. A map without a direction to reference is fairly useless, but then again most stages, and even Springfield, don’t even provide you with a map. Anyhow, there is a pretty even mix between all of the levels that you use each character with, so no one member really plays the role of an unnecessary third (or fourth) wheel. Unfortunately, you cannot use your character’s special abilities as much as you’d like since you have a power meter that you need to let recharge, or you have to collect character-specific power-ups to recharge the meter. Though, if you are adamant about getting all the secrets, then you will eventually reach a point in which you can use your special abilities as much as you like. I took great pride in being able to remain a fat blob and roll around everywhere to get around in style.

While the game does contain variation in level design and variation in what objectives you have to advance in the levels, game-play can still feel repetitive, primarily as a result of a weak combat system. Even though your characters host a selection of power-ups at your disposal, you may find yourself pounding away at only the punch button all too often. Using the blob Homer is quite effective, but most of the other skills feel incomparable in terms of combat. Plus, the lack of being able to use your special moves all you want leaves you naturally resorting to physical punches out of habit. It wouldn't be so tedious if it were not for the fact that physical combat consists of nothing other than repeatedly hitting the, X, punch button. There is a combo move you can pull off as well by throwing in the Y button, but there still doesn't feel to much more skill or challenge involved in disposing of your enemies. While there is a targeting system, it cannot be used for basic combat, but instead only for a few rare abilities, such as Bart’s slingshot or when Marge orders a mob around. Unfortunately, the target system doesn’t work that well either, since the game often refuses to target what you have in mind by instead targeting an enemy. This becomes a problem as you may want to order the mob to attack an enemy spawning vehicle, and instead the targeting system keeps focusing the target on the enemies. Instead of allowing you to eliminate the object that is responsible for creating the enemies in the first place, you are often forced, by poor design, to take down enemies in your way.

Above anything else, there is one issue that stands apart as the most irritating annoyance of all – the camera! It's not downright horrible, but it sure as heck can be at times. It didn't really strike me until replaying the game for achievements just how horrible the camera can be at times. The first time I breezed through the game it only crossed me on a few occasions, but as things heat up and you are under a lot more pressure (for example, if you are doing time trials) then it is a real cause for concern. It always manages to find ways to get caught behind the most obtrusive structures or objects at times which couldn't be worse. Or maybe it just feels that way because it happens frequently enough that you notice so many occasions in which it causes problems. Another hitch is that there are certain areas in levels in which the point of view changes abruptly, which can have you run right off the edge of something. That's not very fun. It is possible to play the game without becoming too upset with the camera, but you have to be pretty forgiving because it is bound to act up on several occasions.

Distorting and hiding what you are supposed to be seeing is not necessarily the only problem with what gets displayed on your screen. Graphically speaking, the latest Simpsons game may yield mixed reactions. I’ve heard many people say the visual style resembled amateur fan art, but I wouldn’t completely agree with that. In fact, I was very fond of the graphics, and felt that it was one of the key issues which got me interested in buying the game. The visual style is generally well done, but does have a few rather severe flaws. If you have ever played a cell-shaded game before, then you have a general idea about what to expect. The style that comes to mind the most for me when playing is Crackdown, although The Simpsons is quite a bit more cartoonish looking. Instead of everything looking like polygons, polygons do not host defined edges and are treated as an overall object of a mass of polygons. Everything contains an outline to create the illusion that you are playing in a cartoon world. For the most part, it works extremely well as the attention to detail with how lines are formed and where they should and shouldn’t be used is very well done. Generally, there is an incredible sense of aesthetics to the style the developers have used, and for that they should be commended on an excellent approach to painting a cartoon world. But, this approach is far from perfect as it hosts two rather irritating side effects. For one, almost all of the outlines and drawn texture lines do not appear to be anti-aliased. This leaves the “drawn lines” appearing to be rather pixilated and not nearly as smooth as they should be. I can understand that they wanted to show you that the lines were supposed to be “drawn” and not rendered to create the cartoonish look, but it still feels like they may have looked better being smoother. For this reason alone, many of the real-time cut scenes look pretty cheesy and can give many people the impression of the style being fan-art. Another visual hitch would makes the settings look worse than they had to be is the lack of outlines on objects in the distance. If you are in Springfield, for example, and look far into the distance at the buildings and structures, you won’t be able to miss noticing how poor looking the objects in the distance appear. Since the game engine doesn’t want to draw outlines everywhere, since it is not-only memory intensive, but can look ugly – instead we are left with shoddy looking long range views. When you are only taking into consideration everything in your vicinity and if you can get over the roughness of the outlines, then you will love the graphics.

Without a doubt, the most pleasant aspect of The Simpsons Game is the sounds. Without humor, The Simpsons would be nowhere, and it is through the incredibly well scripted and spoken dialog that this title is such a huge treat. Don’t get me wrong, a lot of what you are seeing is hilarious as well, but all of the one liners and that characters say are hilarious. Nearly everyone from The Simpsons that you think of is here in all their glory. All of the voice actors are authentic and sound exactly like their non-rendered counterparts on the television. The Simpsons game is littered with laugh-out-loud humor at a constant pace. Even more surprisingly, is that not too many of the quotes you will hear are repeated so many times that your ears begin to bleed, like so many other titles I won’t go into here. Sure, you will hear many of the same things multiple times, but you will also continue hearing lots of fresh dialog even after hours of playing. The humor level in The Simpsons Game is off the scale – I cannot recall a more humorous game to date. There are also some creative and perfectly suiting tunes to fit the variation of levels. Playing the Japanese level accompanies Japanese sounding music, while playing an RPG level hosts the cliché Latin-esque sound that oh-so-many over dramatic role playing and adventure games use. The weakness of the sounds, are the effects. The Simpsons Game doesn't have bad sound effects; they just aren't anything special or worth mentioning.

Like most platform games, this one contains a variety of different collectibles you can try to find in order to increase your health and power meter, while unlocking achievements at the same time. Most of these collectibles are fairly easy to come across, but there are sure to be at least a few that you will need to examine every corner of Springfield to find. I was very pleased to see that each collectible will still appear transparently grayed out once you have obtained it. This is perfect for all you cheaters out there who will use a location guide, allowing you to know for certain you are looking in the right place, but have already obtained the collectible in question.

Another interesting and amusing thing you can “collect” are clichés – that is, the developers know that the game they built is fairly shallow and unoriginal so they decided to poke fun at all of the typical things you come across in so many other games. For example, hanging on ledges indefinitely, double jumping, and not being able to swim in water, to name a few. These were particularly fun to collect, although I found it rather annoying and unfair that each cliché can only be unlocked at predetermined points in the game, even though you can meet the same conditions for acquiring or performing the cliché at a bunch of other portions of the game.

Hunting around Springfield for collectibles may not be your most interesting idea for fun, but it at least helps add a bit more game-play to an otherwise short game. Sadly, you will complete the entire game in roughly 6-8 hours on your first run through. This is also taking into consideration the large amount of included animation, which totals upwards of 45 minutes. It’s great that so much animation is included, but if you factor that into the amount of time it takes you to finish the game, it makes the time you are actually playing look even shorter. Aside from simply following the story mode and searching for collectibles on the side, there isn’t really anything to do other than speed runs.

Besides receiving an achievement for meeting the target time for all the levels in the game, there are also time trial challenges that will earn you a small achievement for each challenge you complete. After completing each level you will unlock the time trial mode for the respective level, although I found that a good number of these time trials have little, if anything, to do with time. For starters, the time trial mode is rarely redoing the same level in under a certain time frame; it instead consists usually of collecting a certain number of things in the same level (or a portion of the level) before time runs out. There are even several “time trials” in which the time limit isn’t even significant or relevant. For example, performing certain tasks like dropping barrels at enemies rushing you in three predetermined waves could completely go without the time limit at the bottom of the screen because all you are doing the whole time is reacting to the rush of enemies, so it’s impossible to run out of time. Some of the time trials are pathetically easy, while there are a couple that are quite frustrating. Either way, you only earn 5 gamer points per trial, so actually performing these challenges may not even seem worth it to a busy gamer.

Striving to obtain every achievement that is available does breathe a little more life into this short adventure, but even this is not the most difficult of tasks. I managed to acquire all 1000 gamer points in less than five days of playing. When it is all said and done, the game can be completed, or should I say “mastered”, in a week for most gamers. With that said, you may want to rent it a couple times instead of purchasing it, since you can do everything there is to do in a pretty short timeframe. If you are a die hard Simpsons fan, than you will definitely want to add it to your collection, but generic platform gamers may not get the same sense of satisfaction from it, other than the incredible volume of humor contained on the disc.

Therein resides the biggest problem with The Simpsons Game. Its strength is in its ability to make you hurt in your stomach from laughing, and with its admirable artistic appeal. As a laugh-machine, it's excellent, but as a platform game, it is just above mediocrity, and is constantly held back from a really angry camera. While definitely true to the series, and successful in translating the powers and personae we would expect each Simpson to host, combat and advancement through levels can become increasingly repetitive. It's a good game, but you can't help but occasionally feel that the game is a bit shallower in its execution than is good for it. Sure the story is funny and amusing, and it does try to convey a message, but the tasks you perform in levels are fairly mundane and don't necessarily have any direct tie to the overall plot. For a Simpsons game it is excellent, but as a game in general it is good, but not great.




Overall Score: 7.5

Gameplay: (7) Play as every Simpson; each with their own special "video game super powers". Camera and targeting issues accompany repetitive combat.

Graphics: (8) An excellent job at simulating a cartoon world, though outlines look rough and buildings in the distance don't look so hot.

Sound: (9) Good music, plus the absolute most hilarious voice overs and dialog *ever*!

Lasting Appeal: (6) It's a shorty; 6-8 hours tops for your first play through. Added time trials and collectibles are nice, but don't add much life.