The vast majority of people out there probably think most Simpsons videogames of old are pretty crappy. They’ve been generally regarded as complete messes that have been thrown together to make sure there was always a constant stream of games for the kids to buy. And for the most part these people are right. All the early NES platformers were ridiculously difficult, not that fun to play, and altogether more annoying than anything else. Ditto to all the sports games too. From juggernauts, to mini-golf, to wrestling, there was never any good reason for these games as they had very little to do with the show, nor were they ever done particularly well.
However, I’ve always found there to be a few gems in the past. Krusty’s Funhouse could be a fairly addictive game (even if it was a Lemmings rip-off), The Simpsons Arcade game is still alright to play (if you can find a working machine) and both Bart’s Nightmare and Virtual Bart had a certain charisma. That’s because they were games that, despite their faults, embraced the humour and charm of the Simpsons TV show. Then a few years back Vivendi came out with the fantastic Simpsons Hit & Run, which was basically Grand Theft Auto in Springfield, but still worked very well because of that same charm.
With The Simpsons Game, it looks like Electronic Arts was trying to create the definitive Simpsons videogame; the one that will finally perfectly blend the unique humour and sardonic wit from the show with fun and inventive gameplay. And they did try. The entire game from top to bottom really always feels like its trying to hit that upper echelon of greatness.
It just never really quite makes it.
The story is what The Simpsons has always done best, which is complete and total satire. You play as the various members of the Simpsons family as they discover an instruction manual and realize they are actually living within a videogame. They one by one learn their secret videogame powers (Homer for instance can turn himself into a huge gelatinous blob and Bart can become the infamous Bartman) and are then randomly paired off to conquer various missions like fighting evil Dolphins, trying prevent the French from surrendering (ain’t it the truth) or dismantling Mr. Burns’ clear cutting factory (because it just wouldn’t be a Simpsons game without Mr. Burns as a bad guy in there somewhere).
The Simpsons Game
The metatextuality doesn’t stop there as there are many references and jokes based off the videogame universe. Madden, Zelda, Grand Theft Auto, Street Fighter, Call of Duty, Lord of the Rings, Donkey Kong, Pokémon, and a bunch more. It’s got Will Wright of Sims fame threatening to destroy older NES Simpsons games, extremely obscure episode references and even some Family Guy and Futurama gags. The story and jokes aren’t just good for a videogame; they’re just plain good. More than good, they’re fantastic and downright hilarious. Forget the horrible comedy the show has been churning out in recent years, this is the kind of post-mod humour the movie was able to capture so well and it’s been translated perfectly to this game. Honestly, any game with a line like, “Eat fist lard-crotch” is a-ok in my book.
So you’ll be left in stitches with the game’s storytelling, cut scenes and one liners, but eventually you will have to play the game itself, which is where things start to get murky. For such an original conceptual story, the gameplay is incredibly pedestrian and unimaginative. For all the little tricks and gimmicks they try to toss in, the entire thing can be boiled down to an adventure where you’ll go section to section button mashing to beat up all the bad guys, then do something to move further in the level, be it pull a lever, jump across a pit or whatever. It’ll change up a little bit from time to time (including a series of hysterical Japanese RPG turn-based battles) but most of the time it’s just running, punching, and pulling switches. You’re always playing with two family members at the same time (being able to switch back and forth between them), and usually need the aid of both their powers to continue forward. There’s also a two player drop-in mode which is mildly recommended versus playing alone as it can get cumbersome switching back and forth constantly to get things done, but to be fair one person frequently has to sit and watch the other get through the meat of a mission unaided, and the AI is not so bad when playing alone. Pick your poison I suppose.
The Simpsons Game
It’s made up of individual “missions” of sorts, and at times there is some choice as to which you want to tackle and when, but these choices have no bearing on the actual story. When playing the 360 or PS3 version, you access these missions by being dropped into a giant sandbox of Springfield itself, and you frustratingly have to hunt down the random spot where the next mission will begin. It’s somewhat cool to run around the town and meet all its quirky inhabitants, but since none of the actual game is really played there the lustre rubs off real quick. In contrast the Wii version strips that right out and instead more or less brings you right from mission to mission, which works a whole lot better.
Which is pretty much the only thing the Wii version does better at all. Aside from the obvious graphical limitations, the controls were clearly designed for a more conventional controller as EA falls into the trap of trying to shoehorn things that should be just a button push into random motion controls. On top of that, the invincibility power ups that serve to really break up the monotony when fighting baddies on the 360 and PS3 are non-existent on the Wii.
The one problem that plagues all three however is the shoddy camera. It’s wonky and unpredictable and you’ll always feel like your fighting with it to see what the hell is going on. Mix that with some really bad depth perception and you’ll find yourself falling in pits, off bridges, or just missing what should be a relatively simple platform jump over and over and over again. It becomes so frustrating that the urge to just shut the game off is enormous, with the only thing keeping you going is the need to see what happens next in the story. The camera is so bad that the developers even slip a shot at it within the game itself when God himself can’t even handle it.
The Simpsons Game
Which leads me to the most bewildering problem of all. On top of the God crack, the game contains a hilarious twist by having Comic Book Guy pop up whenever you stumble upon a “Videogame Cliché.” He’ll then openly mock the game for things like bad enemy AI, played out crates or levers, overuse of double jumps and punch combos, or being able to hang off edges forever. He’ll call these things hackneyed, ripped off, boring and fake. While these are funny and entertaining, they highlight one problem: The game actually HAS all these flaws… and the developers KNOW it! Every one of the 31 clichés you can find around the game are all entirely accurate, meaning the makers of The Simpsons Game knew well in advance what was wrong, and instead of trying to aim higher, they went low and made another joke instead.
I wouldn’t go nearly as far as using the Comic Book Guy catchphrase ‘worst game ever’ but it’s certainly a disappointing one. It has everything a gamer could want in terms of a story, and to that end the game has to be recommended just to get through it all (especially to see who the game’s main villain is and to see the philosophically trippy and extremely funny ending). Which is why it’s so unsatisfactory that playing the game itself can be such a chore.
The franchise has come a long way since Space Mutants and Road Rage, but by coming up short once again of being a truly great game, one has to wonder if perhaps The Simpsons, despite every effort to the contrary, is destined for nothing higher than videogame mediocrity.
The Simpsons Game *** (out of 5)
Electronic Arts
Related Links: Official site
Review by Jonathan Popalis
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