The Simpsons in another video game? Who didn't see THAT coming?

User Rating: 8 | The Simpsons Game X360
The Simpsons is currently the longest running animated television series in history, so of course, it would see more than its fair share of video games. Unfortunately for The Simpsons, it never got to see very many good video games that made use of its license, aside from maybe Hit and Run. Now, EA has come along for this generation and released The Simpsons Game, an action platformer, that not only is a decent game in of itself, but also makes the greatest use of the license thus far with its phenomenal presentation.

Do you ever get that feeling that your life is a video game? Tell that to the Simpsons family. One day in Springfield, they come across a video game manual, strangely enough for The Simpsons Game, and they realize that indeed, their life is one big video game. They are presented with many different scenarios, and they'll need to learn their video game powers in order to overcome these ordeals, along with finding out just why they've become stars in their very own video game.

The Simpsons Game centers on Springfield, a hub that contains starting points for all the games levels. Spread throughout the town are character specific icons that can be collected; bottle caps for Homer, Krusty cards for Bart, coupons for Marge, and Malibu Stacy stamps for lisa. If you collect these icons in the game's levels, you'll increase the life bar for the family. As you're wandering around Springfield, you'll also run into the various denizens who have random things to say.

The episodes of The Simpsons game start off relatively short and small, but as the game progresses, they get larger and longer. They are designed for cooperative play. Each character has powers and abilities related to their personality, such as Homer turning himself into a wrecking ball, Bart becoming Bartman for gliding and grappling abilties, Lisa to charm enemies with her saxophone, and Marge for her megaphone-aided rallying abilities. All these abilities are used to take out enemies or reach places inaccessible by other characters. More powers will also unlock later on the game.

The levels are designed fairly well. There are many different objectives, such as performing a little bit of puzzle solving using Lisa's meditation ability, or commanding a mob of citizens with Marge's megaphone to destroy structures. They'll always involve a good number of enemies to beat up, but some levels have spots where enemies continously spawn. The spawn points can usually be destroyed, but sometimes they can easily overwhelm you and kill you.

The game's soaked in humourous tongue-in-cheek satire. It brings to light many video game cliches and plays off them. In fact, some of these cliches can be discovered accidentally, and Comic Book Guy will pop up and inform you when you find one. Every level has at least one, like falling in the water. The themes of the levels are also pretty fantastic too, such as the game engine level that has you saving old 8-bit games no one plays anymore. The later set of levels are spoofs of other video games, with Simpson-inspired puns for titles, such as Medal of Homer or Grand Theft Scratchy.

All references and humor aside, the game does have some irksome flaws, one of which is a targetting system that only works half of the time. It's frustrating fighting never-ending enemies when you can't get your target locks in time. There are some slight control issues, either too touchy or too sluggisgh, and some colission detection issues. One of the most irritating shortcomings is the camera, as it tends to flip around in certain areas when you get too close to the edge of a corner. It's not a problem all the way through, just a problem at certain times.

The AI could have also used a bit of improving. Your partner tends to get stuck in random places, usually involving you switching over to them and moving them along yourself. They also don't seem to be that competent in battle, meaning you'll be carrying the bulk of combat. The enemy AI is also extremely inconsistent, with some of the foes no more than cream puffs, while others attack like rabid animals.

Visually, The Simpsons Game is excellent. It animates very well, and the characters and environments are modeled and shaded almost to the point where you'd swear they lept straight out of a Simpsons episode. The only very minor complaint is that the lines of characters upclose aren't very crisp, distorting their appearance just slightly.

You're also in for a treat in regards to the game's cutsenes inbetween levels. They are original animated material, just like what they do for their seasons, done in 720p, and they look beautiful. It might be impossible to watch your older seasons of The Simpsons on DVD after playing this game.

Audio wise, the game's just as impressive as the visuals. You've got the entire cast of the Simpsons show doing the voices for their respective characters, always saying funny and amusing things. You have the same Simpsons soundtracks. You have decent sound effects. Sometimes, you might get a little bothered by the frequent yelling of aliens being disposed of, but that's pretty much the only complain as far as sounds go.

You honestly can't go wrong with this game. It's a pretty standard plaformer, but what really makes it entertaining is all the reference-based humor. There's a ton of laughter to be had in the game, and there's quite a bit of replay value as well. The collector will spend a ton of time looking for all the collectible trinkets, while the speed runner will try to master all of the challenge times for the levels. Every Simpsons fan owes it to themselves to add this game into their collection, and keep in there after they've finished it.