The Simpsons are one of the most recognized IPs in the world today. Despite having been around for over three decades, the yellow American family is still going strong. And it’s like they have not aged a day since 1989.
Having been around for so long, they’ve naturally had their brand put onto almost every product under the sun. Lunchboxes, watches, jack-in-the-boxes, you name it, there’s probably a Simpsons version of it. The same can be said for video games, which had their fair share of The Simpsons software.
But what is the best Simpsons game around? Read on to find out!
The Simpsons Cartoon Studio
While it’s not really a “game”, The Simpsons Cartoon Studio computer program allowed fans of the show to create their own clips and even episodes with this neat software package.
Users can choose from a number of different scenes to stage their clips. From there, select characters, props, sound effects, and voice lines to create your own personal scene. All the animations are actually hand-drawn by the animators at Fox. The cast also recorded additional lines specifically for the game.
While it is fun and humorous to be able to set up your own scenes with pratfalls and jokes, the program is far from perfect. The UI/UX was not intuitive and it required a decent time investment to get properly acquainted with. This would have been even more prevalent among younger users who were probably lacking in patience. Couple this with fairly limited options on hand, the effort versus yield was rarely worth the struggle.
The Simpsons: Bart’s Nightmare
Various platforms released this video game in the 1990s when The Simpsons’ popularity exploded. Today, Bart’s Nightmare is still one of the better video games fans can play.
This video game was developed by Sculptured Software and published by Acclaim Entertainment in 1992. At that time, The Simpsons-mania was sweeping the world. Everyone wanted to make a product or collaborate with the yellow family in some way. Bart, in particular, became incredibly popular and he was the centerpiece of most spin-off media, especially video games.
In this adventure, Bart falls asleep while researching his homework assignment. The levels take place within his dreams, with the aim of reclaiming his lost homework pages. This premise leads to a lot of abstract level designs and concepts. For example, one level has Bart acting as a Godzilla-type creature, with Marge’s head appearing on a giant moth.
With awkward controls and punishing difficulty, Bart’s Nightmare is probably not the easiest game to play. However, there are some interesting design choices on display, and there’s enough variety in the relatively short length to be entertaining.
The Simpsons Wrestling
Graphically it may be tough to look at today, but The Simpsons Wrestling was a fun novelty. It did however keep up the trend of Simpsons games being notoriously difficult to beat, thanks to Ned Flanders and Mr. Burns.
As an arcade-type action game, The Simpsons Wrestling pitted various Springfieldians against each other in the squared circle. Homer, Apu, and Groundskeeper Willie among others duke it out to become heavyweight champion of the town.
While the gameplay isn’t necessarily deep, each character has their own unique moves and voice lines provided by the cast. Characters have light and fast attacks, strong and slow attacks, as well as special moves. These are controlled with a stamina bar that recharges in between blows. Special attacks include Marge releasing Maggie to latch onto your leg and slow you down, or Bumblebee Man setting his chihuahua loose to nibble at your ankles.
This game follows the common structure of fighting games as you may your way up the ladder of combatants to the championship bout. Each fight gets progressively harder, with a few of the townsfolk having a somewhat unfair advantage (like Smithers throwing bombs at you while fighting Mr. Burns).
Overall, The Simpsons Wrestling is a fun brawler but lacks any proper depth or skill mastery which kills its replayability.