The Simpsons (arcade game)
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| The Simpsons | |
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 Screenshot of The Simpsons |
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| Developer(s) | Konami |
| Publisher(s) | Konami |
| Release date(s) | 1991 |
| Genre(s) | Beat 'em up |
| Mode(s) | Up to four players, simultaneous |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Commodore C64, PC DOS |
| Input | 8-way joystick, 2 buttons |
| Arcade cabinet | Standard |
| Arcade CPU(s) | KONAMI (@ 3 Mhz) |
| Arcade sound system(s) | Sound Chips: YM2151 (@ 3.579545 Mhz), K053260 (@ 4 Mhz) |
| Arcade display | Raster, 288 x 224 pixels (Horizontal), 2048 colors |
The Simpsons is an arcade game produced by Konami in 1991. It is a beat 'em up based on the cartoon series of the same name. The voice actors of the immediate family (Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, and Yeardley Smith) provide their talents for their respective characters. It uses the same engine and therefore has similar overall gameplay as the very popular 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game, also made by Konami.
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[edit] Plot
The plot, like that of many similar arcade games, is simple. After stealing a giant diamond from Springfield Jewelers, Waylon Smithers bumps into Homer Simpson, whose family was conveniently walking down the street. The encounter knocks the diamond out of Smithers' hand, and Maggie Simpson snatches it in her mouth (in place of her pacifier), prompting Smithers to grab Maggie and run off. The Simpsons must give chase, but hundreds of goons in matching suits stand in their way.
[edit] Gameplay
The player chooses from one of the remaining four Simpsons: Homer, who punches and kicks; Marge, who swings her vacuum cleaner; Bart, who wields his skateboard; and Lisa, who uses a jump rope like a whip. They must fight through the employees and chase Smithers as he escapes through various Springfield landscapes. The game's levels are based on the streets of Springfield, Krustylu Studios, Moe's Tavern, Springfield Gorge, a graveyard, a dream world, the Channel 6 studio, and the Power Plant. Each level ended with a boss whose speed and strength would increase after taking a set amount of damage.
Bosses included Professor Werner von Brawn (a professional wrestler from the episode "Bart the Daredevil". Oddly, many people mistook him for Barney Gumble), a hot air balloon shaped like Krusty the Clown, a crowd of zombies, a pair of bouncers, a drunk at Moe's Tavern, a bear from the episode "The Call of the Simpsons", an imaginary gigantic bowling ball and a martial arts sensei dressed like a kabuki actor. After each boss was defeated, Smithers would briefly appear with Maggie and narrowly escape. Smithers wears a cape through the entirety of the game, which he had not done at any point in the cartoon. In addition to using the cape as a shield and a makeshift weapon, in the final battle, he also draws handheld bombs from beneath it, which ultimately backfire on him. The game eventually leads to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, where Smithers battles to protect Burns and ultimately Montgomery Burns awaits to defend his prize.
Although the game is one of many beat 'em up produced after Final Fight, it contained many innovations, including the option for two players to team up and attack enemies in tandem, with the exact attack differing slightly depending on which two characters were being used. Food could be used for healing, and various weapons and items could be obtained for use for a short time or for a one-time projectile attack. These items were often brought into the game by other Simpsons characters, and the Simpsons' own pets could be used as thrown weapons at various points in the game. The Japanese version of the game also included small scale nuclear bombs that, when thrown, clear all on-screen enemies, as well as a life bar that can be doubled by eating food when your character's health was full.
The game featured two occurrences of a minigame between two of the levels, in which players competed against each other to be the first to finish a task (inflating a balloon shaped like their character in the first game, waking up their character in the second). The minigame was based on repeated button-pushing, with the player who pushed the buttons fastest winning. If less than four players were present, the player or players competed against one to three computer-controlled characters in these minigames.
[edit] Reception
The Simpsons is often praised for its faithfulness in digitizing the animated series' unique animation. The continued success of the series has ensured that the game has its place in many modern arcades. The game does seem somewhat dated by modern standards however, largely because it was produced so early in the show's history. More contemporary fans of the show may be surprised, for example, to find that the game features such a large amount of "made up" characters (like the men in the purple suits), as many of the show's most popular supporting characters had not yet been introduced to the series. Also, in the gorge level, Sideshow Bob makes a quick appearance, but instead of trying to kill the Simpsons, he provides a ham that restores the player's health, the game being produced before Krusty Gets Busted, which established Bob as a villain. Another oddity was Waylon Smithers as a villain; as the television series became more established, he at most would get caught up in Mr. Burns' various plots, but generally was never out-and-out villainous.
In addition to numerous Simpsons characters, characters from Simpsons creator Matt Groening's comic strip Life in Hell also make cameo appearances.
[edit] Ports and variations
In addition to the arcade release, the game was also ported to such personal computers as the Commodore 64 (in 1991) and PCs running MS-DOS. Konami was unable to bring the game to any consoles of the time, since Acclaim held the console license for any Simpsons games at the time. Many fans have been begging Konami to bundle the game into any kind of "classics" compilation they can think of, but since Konami still has no video game rights for the series (Vivendi Universal does), this can not be done. Most people have resorted to emulation on current home consoles to play the game instead.
With specific respect to the arcade game, there are three different versions of The Simpsons; the American four player version, the American two player version, and the Japanese two player version. It should be noted that the Japanese version is actually in English, but does contain many differences from the American versions.
American versions
- The four player version allows four players on screen at the same time. The two player version allows only two.
- When a player puts their credit into the four player version, they automatically play as the character who corresponds with the coin slot they used (Marge is slot 1, Homer is slot 2, Bart is slot 3, and Lisa is slot 4). In the two player version, the player gets to choose from the four characters.
Japanese version
- The Japanese version is somewhat easier than its American counterparts. The enemy AI seems a bit more advanced in the American versions. Also, the life bar in the Japanese version can go past the maximum amount of health, whereas picking up a vitality item with full health in the American versions is useless. Also, the Japanese version awards the player bonus points at the end of each level based on the amount of life they have.
- The Japanese version has an exclusive weapon. The type of nuclear bombs used by Mr. Burns in the final boss fight can be found by the player at several points in the game. In addition to this, the blue bombs that you can use against Smithers also appear earlier in the game. They work much like any other weapon, and they defeat only one enemy per bomb.
- When Smithers is defeated, he drops several vitality items which the player can try to pick up before Mr. Burns appears.
- When Mr. Burns is defeated in the American versions, only the rest of the Simpson family shows up (Patty and Selma if all characters are in action). In the Japanese version, additional characters show up, including Principal Skinner, Milhouse, Nelson, Sherri and Terri, Santa's Little Helper, and Snowball II.
- Scoring is done differently in the Japanese version, generally making scores much higher.
The Japanese version was intended to be the version also released in the U.S., but complaints were made about things such as the difficulty, so the game was changed a bit before being sent over.
[edit] External links
- KLOV entry for The Simpsons
- The Simpsons Arcade Game at Progressive Boink
- The Simpsons Arcade Game at MobyGames
| The Simpsons video and pinball games |
|---|
| Video game titles |
| Bart vs. the World • Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly • The Simpsons: The Arcade Game • Bart vs. the Space Mutants • Bart's House of Weirdness • Bart vs. the Juggernauts • Krusty's Fun House • Bartman Meets Radioactive Man • Bart's Nightmare • The Itchy and Scratchy Game • Virtual Bart • Bart and the Beanstalk • The Simpsons Cartoon Studio • Virtual Springfield • Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror • The Simpsons Bowling • The Simpsons Wrestling • The Simpsons Road Rage • Simpsons Skateboarding • The Simpsons Hit & Run |
| Pinball titles |
| The Simpsons • The Simpsons Pinball Party |
