Game Card
The Simpsons (PSP)
- Publisher:
- Electronic Arts
- Developer:
- EA Games
- US Release:
- 01.11.2007
- EU Release:
- n/a
- Number of players:
- n/a
Review
We play The Simpsons...
The Simpsons may be the one of the biggest entertainment franchises of all time with 19 seasons and a blockbuster movie under its belt, but the four fingered funnies’ efforts to break into the interactive entertainment field have largely failed. Of the 21 Simpsons games released so far, most belong in the deepest pits of Hades. EA has hoped to change this with The Simpsons Game by involving the series’ producers in the development of the title. Have they succeeded in breaking the curse on the license?
I, for one, welcome our new EA overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted video game critic I can round up consumers to buy their…wait a minute. Do you really think that one can make a better Simpsons game just by involving the producers of the TV series – we’re talking a show whose glory days occurred some ten years ago.
The Simpsons Game basically involves the family discovering a manual for said game, which just happens to give them special powers. The earlier missions in the game deal with each character’s discovery of their powers and their use for personal enjoyment, while the later part of the game deals with an alien invasion. Along the way, players will see lots of homages to not only classic Simpson’s moments, but also to popular video games throughout the history of the medium. Many parodies of popular video games and their characters are also evenly distributed amongst the game’s 18 levels.
Homer is the first to step up to the plate in The Simpsons Game with a dream sequence that revisits one of the all time best Simpsons moments – Homer’s trip to Chocolate Land. The sequence deviates from the original when a white chocolate rabbit challenges Homer to eat him, thus setting off a fairly basic tutorial level. The early levels are designed in a way to educate players about the abilities of each family member, before setting them loose in more difficult levels later in the game.
Each member of the family has a number of unique abilities that are tied to their personalities. Homer, being a glutton, can turn into a large, flabby boulder or a gummy statue. Bart can morph into his long-unused comic book equivalent Bartman, making use of gliding and climbing abilities, as well as a handy slingshot. Lisa’s sax can stun bad guys, turn them over to her side, or even set her off in a whirlwind of music. Her spiritual connections allow her to use Hands of Buddha. Finally, Marge can summon mobs of citizens with her powers of protecting common decency. These mobs can then be instructed to do her bidding – tearing down signs, cleaning up garbage and building scaffolds. Maggie accompanies Marge in her missions and can be sent down ventilation shafts to hit hidden switches.
Springfield serves as a hub for the various different levels of the game, allowing players to kick back in one of America’s worst cities between missions. The first nine missions are set in and around Springfield (barring a side trip to the Game Engine with Professor Frink), while the rest are set within parodies of other games; Neverquest, Medal of Homer and Super Fun Happy Game are just some of the ‘games within the game’ players will have to complete.
The Simpsons Game presents itself with lovely cel-shaded graphics in each area (though decidedly rougher looking on the PSP version), and many characters from the show make appearances. Of particular note are the many little posters and advertisements that are masterfully conceived and drawn – they’ll have players in stitches. There are some major frame rate issues that players will frequently run into, though. Traditionally animated scenes made specifically for the game will play before and after each level – all of the work on these sequences was done by the usual Simpsons production team, and the regular cast lends their voices to give the authentic experience.
Therein lies the major problem of The Simpsons Game – the production values are fantastic, but the underlying game is simple, clichéd and formulaic. Perhaps this is best summed up by Comic Book Guy’s appearances in the game – the Android’s Dungeon owner shows up with a sarcastic remark every time players trigger one of the Video Game Cliché moments. These serve to make fun of game elements such as double jumps, respawning enemies and lava levels, yet the game’s design does not try to go beyond these clichés.
Each level is painfully straightforward – players are rarely challenged to figure out any of the puzzles for themselves, and the enemies never present a significant threat. There is a bit of extra filler content in collecting icons for each character, but this achieves nothing outside of a few extra posters and trophies inside the Simpsons’ abode. Arguably the worst part of the game is the camera; a problem which is further amplified in the PSP version of the game due to smaller screen size and a trickier camera control system. The player constantly has to babysit the camera to make sure it is in the correct position, but it has a tendency to get caught on the scenery and adjust itself into weird and wonderful positions.
A number of features that appear on the home console version of The Simpsons Game have been cut from the PSP game, namely cooperative play and the invincibility power-ups for each character. When one combines these issues with the lesser graphics and worse camera control, you can safely deem the PSP version of The Simpsons Game as the worst out of the bunch. The two player mode obviously bit the bullet because you can’t effectively have two people playing on the one PSP, and EA wasn’t going to put up the cash for ad-hoc play, but we can’t understand why they cut those power-ups. Fortunately, the game is easy enough without them, but it remains a baffling decision.
We feel that The Simpsons Game could probably have come across better as an episode of the show, rather than a video game; the story is solid, and the traditionally animated scenes are great, but the actual underlying game is too shallow and has far too many minor issues to really be of any real enjoyment to anyone. Chalk this one up as another forgettable Simpson’s title.
Top Game Moment: The game’s many traditionally animated scenes will have players in stitches.
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| Lisa turns her back on environmentalism | Perhaps trees are the root of all evil |
I, for one, welcome our new EA overlords. I’d like to remind them that as a trusted video game critic I can round up consumers to buy their…wait a minute. Do you really think that one can make a better Simpsons game just by involving the producers of the TV series – we’re talking a show whose glory days occurred some ten years ago.
The Simpsons Game basically involves the family discovering a manual for said game, which just happens to give them special powers. The earlier missions in the game deal with each character’s discovery of their powers and their use for personal enjoyment, while the later part of the game deals with an alien invasion. Along the way, players will see lots of homages to not only classic Simpson’s moments, but also to popular video games throughout the history of the medium. Many parodies of popular video games and their characters are also evenly distributed amongst the game’s 18 levels.
Homer is the first to step up to the plate in The Simpsons Game with a dream sequence that revisits one of the all time best Simpsons moments – Homer’s trip to Chocolate Land. The sequence deviates from the original when a white chocolate rabbit challenges Homer to eat him, thus setting off a fairly basic tutorial level. The early levels are designed in a way to educate players about the abilities of each family member, before setting them loose in more difficult levels later in the game.
Each member of the family has a number of unique abilities that are tied to their personalities. Homer, being a glutton, can turn into a large, flabby boulder or a gummy statue. Bart can morph into his long-unused comic book equivalent Bartman, making use of gliding and climbing abilities, as well as a handy slingshot. Lisa’s sax can stun bad guys, turn them over to her side, or even set her off in a whirlwind of music. Her spiritual connections allow her to use Hands of Buddha. Finally, Marge can summon mobs of citizens with her powers of protecting common decency. These mobs can then be instructed to do her bidding – tearing down signs, cleaning up garbage and building scaffolds. Maggie accompanies Marge in her missions and can be sent down ventilation shafts to hit hidden switches.
 |
 |
|
| Do the Batman. No? Okay then | Homer is often confused and disoriented |
Springfield serves as a hub for the various different levels of the game, allowing players to kick back in one of America’s worst cities between missions. The first nine missions are set in and around Springfield (barring a side trip to the Game Engine with Professor Frink), while the rest are set within parodies of other games; Neverquest, Medal of Homer and Super Fun Happy Game are just some of the ‘games within the game’ players will have to complete.
The Simpsons Game presents itself with lovely cel-shaded graphics in each area (though decidedly rougher looking on the PSP version), and many characters from the show make appearances. Of particular note are the many little posters and advertisements that are masterfully conceived and drawn – they’ll have players in stitches. There are some major frame rate issues that players will frequently run into, though. Traditionally animated scenes made specifically for the game will play before and after each level – all of the work on these sequences was done by the usual Simpsons production team, and the regular cast lends their voices to give the authentic experience.
Therein lies the major problem of The Simpsons Game – the production values are fantastic, but the underlying game is simple, clichéd and formulaic. Perhaps this is best summed up by Comic Book Guy’s appearances in the game – the Android’s Dungeon owner shows up with a sarcastic remark every time players trigger one of the Video Game Cliché moments. These serve to make fun of game elements such as double jumps, respawning enemies and lava levels, yet the game’s design does not try to go beyond these clichés.
Each level is painfully straightforward – players are rarely challenged to figure out any of the puzzles for themselves, and the enemies never present a significant threat. There is a bit of extra filler content in collecting icons for each character, but this achieves nothing outside of a few extra posters and trophies inside the Simpsons’ abode. Arguably the worst part of the game is the camera; a problem which is further amplified in the PSP version of the game due to smaller screen size and a trickier camera control system. The player constantly has to babysit the camera to make sure it is in the correct position, but it has a tendency to get caught on the scenery and adjust itself into weird and wonderful positions.
A number of features that appear on the home console version of The Simpsons Game have been cut from the PSP game, namely cooperative play and the invincibility power-ups for each character. When one combines these issues with the lesser graphics and worse camera control, you can safely deem the PSP version of The Simpsons Game as the worst out of the bunch. The two player mode obviously bit the bullet because you can’t effectively have two people playing on the one PSP, and EA wasn’t going to put up the cash for ad-hoc play, but we can’t understand why they cut those power-ups. Fortunately, the game is easy enough without them, but it remains a baffling decision.
 |
 |
|
| Heaven: the high calorie version | There’s no justice like angry mob justice |
We feel that The Simpsons Game could probably have come across better as an episode of the show, rather than a video game; the story is solid, and the traditionally animated scenes are great, but the actual underlying game is too shallow and has far too many minor issues to really be of any real enjoyment to anyone. Chalk this one up as another forgettable Simpson’s title.
Top Game Moment: The game’s many traditionally animated scenes will have players in stitches.
