As a The Simpsons marathon rages on television airing all 552 episodes, one can’t help of think of the many Simpsons video games that have released over the years. Some terrible, some less terrible, and a handful of decent games give the interactive virtual incarnation of the show a strange history. You can check out the highs and lows of the library below, as well as see our review scores, where applicable.
The Simpsons Arcade Game (1991) – Arcade
Of the earlier Simpsons games, the arcade game stands out as being the most memorable of all the games that came to follow it. The arcade game offered a fantastic recreation of the show that was airing on TV, all while offering a fun multiplayer beat ‘em up experience. Its re-release as a downloadable title on consoles in 2012 was the source of a lot of excitement.
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991) – PC, NES, Sega Master System, Genesis, Game Gear
A mostly unimpressive platformer starring Bart, Bart vs. the Space Mutants didn’t do much to differentiate itself from similar platformers of the time.
Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly (1991) – Game Boy
Another fairly standard, straightforward Simpsons platformer, this game featured the appearance of Mr. Burns' nephew, Ironfist Burns, who never appeared in the show.
The Simpsons Bart vs. the World (1991) – NES, Sega Maser System, Game Gear
In this platfomer, Bart is sent on a globe hopping journey going to places like China, the North Pole, Egypt, and Hollywood where he must fight weird incarnations of Mr. Burns like The Abominable Snow Burns.
The Simpsons Bart's House of Weirdness (1992) – PC
Part point and click, part action game, Bart’s House of Weirdness was hard – a theme Simpsons video game fans would become all too familiar with.
The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Juggernauts (1992) – Game Boy
Moving away from the platformer gameplay of previous titles, Bart vs. the Juggernauts plays more the like an American Gladiators game with a collection of challenges like playing basketball on a bouncy court or skateboarding on an obstacle course.
The Simpsons Bartman Meets Radioactive Man (1992) – NES, Game Gear
After his brief stint in non-platforming on the Game Boy, Bart returned to what he knew best (but wasn’t particularly good at) for an adventure with Radioactive Man while he took on his Bartman alter ego
The Simpsons Bart's Nightmare (1992) – SNES, Genesis
Review Score: 8.5
One of The Simpsons games I am more familiar with, I have a lot of memories of playing this game, but not actually making much progress. In the game, Bart wanders the streets of his neighborhood picking up lost homework pages and getting periodically pulled into strange, surreal minigames that would do things like turn Bart into an Indiana Jones-type, or turn him into a blood cell to fight viruses.
