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The Simpsons (arcade game)
Encyclopedia
The Simpsons Arcade Game is an arcade
beat 'em up
developed
by Konami
released in 1991, and the first video game based on The Simpsons
franchise. The voice actor
s of the immediate family (Dan Castellaneta
, Julie Kavner
, Nancy Cartwright
, and Yeardley Smith
) provide voices for their respective characters. It uses the same engine and therefore has similar overall gameplay as the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game
, also made by Konami. The game was ported to the Commodore 64
, and PC
.
and two of his goons stealing a giant diamond
from Springfield Jewelers for Mr. Burns. Smithers bumps into Homer Simpson
, whose family is conveniently walking down the street. The encounter knocks the diamond out of Smithers' hand, and Maggie
snatches it in her mouth (to replace the pacifier
), prompting Smithers to kidnap Maggie (rather than just the diamond) and run off. The Simpsons must give chase, but hundreds of suit wearing goons under Mr. Burn's employ stand in their way.
The Simpson family go through many stages
chasing Smithers, from Downtown Springfield (Stage 1), Krustyland theme park (Stage 2), Springfield Cemetery
(Stage 3), Moe's Tavern (Stage 4), the Springfield butte
(Stage 5), a concussion induced dreamland
(Stage 6), the KBBL's Channel 6 Broadcasting studio (Stage 7.0), and a dojo
(Stage 7.5). Eventually, Smithers retreats to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant (Stage 8, the final stage). Grabbing onto his helicopter
, they go inside after him.
The game ends with the player(s) having a showdown with a bomb throwing Smithers and then finally Mr. Burns who is in a plutonium-powered armored fighting vehicle. Then, once the player(s) defeats him, Maggie appears, walking toward the unconscious Mr. Burns. A finale cutscene shows her putting her pacifier into his mouth and sucking on the diamond. As the victor
, the player(s) stands behind Maggie and picks her up, and the family walks off. The family walks back to Springfield while the credits roll. After the credits, Homer tosses away the giant diamond that Maggie had in her mouth.
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 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, Krustyland, a graveyard, Moe's Tavern, Springfield Gorge, a dream world, the Channel 6 studio, and the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Each level ends with a boss
whose speed and strength would increase after taking a set amount of damage.
In Stage 4 (Moe's Tavern), there are several arcade machines, including one of the Simpsons arcade game. There was an Aliens arcade game that revealed the Alien to be Marge wearing a costume. Aliens was made in 1990 by Konami.
Although the game is one of many beat 'em ups produced after Final Fight
, it contained many innovations, including the option for two players to team up and attack enemies, 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 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 main characters retained their voice actors from the show.
The game features two minigame
s 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 fewer than four players were present, the player or players competed against 1-3 computer-controlled characters in these minigames.
The game featured many enemies, ranging from the infamous men in the purple suits, to battles with Bongo-like rabbits. The game included battling fat, old men; miniboss-like firemen; and even giant donuts.
One of the visual gags in the game include Marge showing rabbit ears similar to the Life in Hell
rabbits, like her skeletal silhouette when electrocuted. According to several DVD commentaries, before The Simpsons became a full series, Marge was supposed to be a Life in Hell rabbit in disguise as an in-joke
.
and PC
DOS
. A listing on the Australian Classification Board
website, posted on November 9, 2011, hints at a port of the game being developed by Backbone Entertainment
for multiple platforms.
A gameplay-inspired remake by EA Games was released for iOS on December 19, 2009. Although the plot and actual level layout was mostly altered from the original to avoid conflict with publisher Konami, the bonus Balloon blow up mini-game was included in the remake.
placed the game as the #1 best cartoon-based game of all time. The PC/MS-DOS version of the game was reviewed in 1992 in Dragon
#180 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
beat 'em up
Beat 'em up
Beat 'em up is a video game genre featuring melee combat between the protagonist and a large number of underpowered antagonists. These games typically take place in urban settings and feature crime-fighting and revenge-based plots, though some games may employ historical or fantasy themes...
developed
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
by Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
released in 1991, and the first video game based on The Simpsons
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
franchise. The voice actor
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
s of the immediate family (Dan Castellaneta
Dan Castellaneta
Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, singer and screenwriter. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble,...
, Julie Kavner
Julie Kavner
Julie Deborah Kavner is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. Noted for her role as Marge Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, she also voices other characters for the show, including Jacqueline Bouvier, and Patty and Selma Bouvier.Born in Los...
, Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Cartwright
Nancy Campbell Cartwright is an American film and television actress, comedian and voice artist. She is best known for her long-running role as Bart Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons...
, and Yeardley Smith
Yeardley Smith
Yeardley Smith is a French-born American actress, voice actress, writer and painter. She is best known for her long-running role as Lisa Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons....
) provide voices for their respective characters. It uses the same engine and therefore has similar overall gameplay as the 1989 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (arcade game)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, released as Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles in Europe, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Super Kame Ninja in Japan, is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up released by Konami as a coin-operated video game in...
, also made by Konami. The game was ported to the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, and PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
.
Plot
The game begins with Waylon SmithersWaylon Smithers
Waylon Smithers, Jr., usually referred to as Smithers, is a recurring fictional character in the animated series The Simpsons, who is voiced by Harry Shearer. Smithers first appeared in the episode "Homer's Odyssey", although he could be heard in the series premiere "Simpsons Roasting on an Open...
and two of his goons stealing a giant diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
from Springfield Jewelers for Mr. Burns. Smithers bumps into Homer Simpson
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons and the patriarch of the eponymous family. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
, whose family is conveniently walking down the street. The encounter knocks the diamond out of Smithers' hand, and Maggie
Maggie Simpson
Margaret "Maggie" Simpson is a fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She first appeared on television in the Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Maggie was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James...
snatches it in her mouth (to replace the pacifier
Pacifier
A pacifier is a rubber, plastic, or silicone nipple given to an infant or other young child to suck upon. In its standard appearance it has a teat, mouth shield, and handle...
), prompting Smithers to kidnap Maggie (rather than just the diamond) and run off. The Simpsons must give chase, but hundreds of suit wearing goons under Mr. Burn's employ stand in their way.
The Simpson family go through many stages
Level (video gaming)
A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...
chasing Smithers, from Downtown Springfield (Stage 1), Krustyland theme park (Stage 2), Springfield Cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
(Stage 3), Moe's Tavern (Stage 4), the Springfield butte
Butte
A butte is a conspicuous isolated hill with steep, often vertical sides and a small, relatively flat top; it is smaller than mesas, plateaus, and table landform tables. In some regions, such as the north central and northwestern United States, the word is used for any hill...
(Stage 5), a concussion induced dreamland
Nightmare
A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror...
(Stage 6), the KBBL's Channel 6 Broadcasting studio (Stage 7.0), and a dojo
Dojo
A is a Japanese term which literally means "place of the way". Initially, dōjōs were adjunct to temples. The term can refer to a formal training place for any of the Japanese do arts but typically it is considered the formal gathering place for students of any Japanese martial arts style to...
(Stage 7.5). Eventually, Smithers retreats to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant (Stage 8, the final stage). Grabbing onto his helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
, they go inside after him.
The game ends with the player(s) having a showdown with a bomb throwing Smithers and then finally Mr. Burns who is in a plutonium-powered armored fighting vehicle. Then, once the player(s) defeats him, Maggie appears, walking toward the unconscious Mr. Burns. A finale cutscene shows her putting her pacifier into his mouth and sucking on the diamond. As the victor
Victory
Victory is successful conclusion of a fight or competition..Victory may refer to:**strategic victory**tactical victory** Pyrrhic victory, a victory at heavy cost to the victorious party**Victory columns**Victory Monuments**Victory personified...
, the player(s) stands behind Maggie and picks her up, and the family walks off. The family walks back to Springfield while the credits roll. After the credits, Homer tosses away the giant diamond that Maggie had in her mouth.
Gameplay
Vacuum cleaner
A vacuum cleaner, commonly referred to as a "vacuum," is a device that uses an air pump to create a partial vacuum to suck up dust and dirt, usually from floors, and optionally from other surfaces as well. The dirt is collected by either a dustbag or a cyclone for later disposal...
; Bart, who wields his skateboard
Skateboard
A skateboard is typically a specially designed plywood board combined with a polyurethane coating used for making smoother slides and stronger durability, used primarily for the activity of skateboarding. The first skateboards to reach public notice came out of the surfing craze of the early 1960s,...
; and Lisa, who uses a jump rope
Jump rope
Jump rope or skipping rope is the primary tool used in the game of skipping played by children and many young adults, where one or more participants jump over a rope swung so that it passes under their feet and over their heads...
like a whip
Whip
A whip is a tool traditionally used by humans to exert control over animals or other people, through pain compliance or fear of pain, although in some activities whips can be used without use of pain, such as an additional pressure aid in dressage...
. They 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, Krustyland, a graveyard, Moe's Tavern, Springfield Gorge, a dream world, the Channel 6 studio, and the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Each level ends with a boss
Boss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
whose speed and strength would increase after taking a set amount of damage.
In Stage 4 (Moe's Tavern), there are several arcade machines, including one of the Simpsons arcade game. There was an Aliens arcade game that revealed the Alien to be Marge wearing a costume. Aliens was made in 1990 by Konami.
Although the game is one of many beat 'em ups produced after Final Fight
Final Fight
is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up game originally released by Capcom as a coin-operated video game in . It was the seventh game released by Capcom for their CP System arcade game hardware...
, it contained many innovations, including the option for two players to team up and attack enemies, 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 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 main characters retained their voice actors from the show.
The game features two minigame
Minigame
A minigame is a short video game often contained within another video game. A minigame is always smaller or more simplistic than the game in which it is contained. Minigames are sometimes also offered separately for free to promote the main game...
s 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 fewer than four players were present, the player or players competed against 1-3 computer-controlled characters in these minigames.
The game featured many enemies, ranging from the infamous men in the purple suits, to battles with Bongo-like rabbits. The game included battling fat, old men; miniboss-like firemen; and even giant donuts.
One of the visual gags in the game include Marge showing rabbit ears similar to the Life in Hell
Life in Hell
Life in Hell is a weekly comic strip by Matt Groening. The strip features anthropomorphic rabbits and a pair of gay lovers. Groening uses these characters to explore a wide range of topics about love, sex, work, and death...
rabbits, like her skeletal silhouette when electrocuted. According to several DVD commentaries, before The Simpsons became a full series, Marge was supposed to be a Life in Hell rabbit in disguise as an in-joke
In-joke
An in-joke, also known as an inside joke or in joke, is a joke whose humour is clear only to people who are in a particular social group, occupation, or other community of common understanding...
.
Legacy
The game has received ports to Commodore 64Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and PC
IBM PC compatible
IBM PC compatible computers are those generally similar to the original IBM PC, XT, and AT. Such computers used to be referred to as PC clones, or IBM clones since they almost exactly duplicated all the significant features of the PC architecture, facilitated by various manufacturers' ability to...
DOS
DOS
DOS, short for "Disk Operating System", is an acronym for several closely related operating systems that dominated the IBM PC compatible market between 1981 and 1995, or until about 2000 if one includes the partially DOS-based Microsoft Windows versions 95, 98, and Millennium Edition.Related...
. A listing on the Australian Classification Board
Australian Classification Board
The Australian Classification Board is a statutory classification body formed by the Australian Government which classifies films, video games and publications for exhibition, sale or hire in Australia since its establishment in 1970. The Australian Classification Board was originally incorporated...
website, posted on November 9, 2011, hints at a port of the game being developed by Backbone Entertainment
Backbone Entertainment
Backbone Entertainment is an independent video game development company located in Emeryville, California.Backbone Entertainment is the result of a 2003 merger between Digital Eclipse Software and ImaginEngine...
for multiple platforms.
A gameplay-inspired remake by EA Games was released for iOS on December 19, 2009. Although the plot and actual level layout was mostly altered from the original to avoid conflict with publisher Konami, the bonus Balloon blow up mini-game was included in the remake.
Reception
ScrewAttackScrewAttack
ScrewAttack . is a video game-related website that showcases original entertainment for an audience of video game enthusiasts. Its content is also shown on GameTrailers and IGN...
placed the game as the #1 best cartoon-based game of all time. The PC/MS-DOS version of the game was reviewed in 1992 in Dragon
Dragon (magazine)
Dragon is one of the two official magazines for source material for the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game and associated products, the other being Dungeon. TSR, Inc. originally launched the monthly printed magazine in 1976 to succeed the company's earlier publication, The Strategic Review. The...
#180 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave the game 3 out of 5 stars.