The Simpsons is an arcadebeat 'em updeveloped and published by Konami released in 1991. It was the first video game based on the Simpsons franchise to be released in North America. The game allows up to four players to control members of the Simpson family as they fight various enemies to rescue the kidnapped Maggie.[1] It was a commercial success in the United States, where it was one of the top three best-selling arcade video game machines of 1991, The game also features the television shows's voice actors; Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith reprising their respective roles as the Simpsons Family.
The game was ported to the Commodore 64 and MS-DOS soon after its launch in the arcades, and was released as The Simpsons Arcade Game on those platforms. It was also released under that title on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 in February 2012, however it has since been removed from both services on December 20, 2013.[2][3] In 2021, Arcade1Up released a 30th anniversary edition home arcade cabinet.[4]
While walking through downtown Springfield, the Simpsons collide with Smithers, who has just stolen a large diamond from a jewelry shop for Mr. Burns. The diamond goes flying and lands in Maggie's mouth, and she begins sucking on it like a pacifier as Smithers kidnaps her. The rest of the Simpsons give chase across the city, fighting off hordes of enemies (hired by Mr. Burns) to reach the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. The pursuit covers eight stages, each of which ends with a fight against a strong boss character. In the final stage, the Simpsons must defeat first Smithers and then Mr. Burns, who uses a mobile battle suit equipped with a variety of weapons. Once Mr. Burns is defeated, Maggie puts her pacifier in his mouth and the Simpsons take her home, with Homer throwing the diamond away.
Gameplay
Screenshot from Stage 7 of the game, where Marge battles two "Royd" and one "Rupert" enemies.
The Simpsons is a side-scrolling beat 'em up that allows players to join in at any time. Two different cabinet models were produced: one allowing up to two simultaneous players, each able to choose a character, and another allowing four players with a dedicated position for each character. Controls consist of an eight-way joystick and two buttons to jump and attack.
The characters have distinctive attack styles; Homer punches and kicks, Marge swings a vacuum cleaner, Bart wields a skateboard, and Lisa attacks with a jump rope. Two characters standing close to each other can mount a combined attack, such as Homer and Marge holding each other's ankles to roll around the screen and mow down enemies, or Homer placing Lisa on his shoulders so they can strike at two different heights. Each player has a health meter, which decreases upon being hit by enemies; food items can be picked up to replenish it. Players can also pick up and throw/swing items such as hammers, bowling balls, and mailboxes as melee weapons. One life is lost whenever a player's health meter runs out; if all lives are lost, the player may continue the game by adding credits within a time limit. Two minigames played between stages require players to hit their buttons as quickly as possible, with computer-controlled enemies replacing any characters not in play.[1]
The Japanese version of the game includes many differences from the North American release.[5][1][6] These changes include throwable small scale nuclear bombs that clear all on-screen enemies. A life bar that, unlike in the North American version, can accumulate three levels by eating food beyond the first full level. The player's life is turned into bonus points after they complete a level and is restored when the next level begins. In this version there are hidden items (food and weapons) which appear when the player hits specific points of the screen. Also, in the Japanese version the score system is different: each enemy character defeated gives the player a certain number of points, while at the North American version the player only earns a single point by defeating them. This is similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game score system.
Legacy
Soon after the Simpsons' arcade release, Novotrade released ports for Commodore 64 and MS-DOS computers. A listing on the Australian Classification Board website, posted on November 9, 2011, hinted at a port of the game being developed by Backbone Entertainment for multiple platforms.[7] In January 2012, a high-definition port of The Simpsons Arcade Game was announced for PlayStation Network for release in February, with a release on Xbox Live Arcade also revealed.[8] The port features online multiplayer, the ability to unlock the rare Japanese 4-player version of the game, and promotional content from the game's arcade launch.[8] The game was initially made available exclusively to PlayStation Plus users at no charge.[9] In December 2013, the game was removed from the PlayStation Network store, although at the time it was still available through the Xbox Live Marketplace; no reason for the removal was given by either Sony or Konami.[10]
A completely different title inspired by the arcade game, The Simpsons Arcade, was released by Electronic Arts for iOS on December 19, 2009. Unlike the arcade game, the title is a single player game where players control Homer, assisted by the other family members via power-ups. The plot is also slightly altered, as it revolves around a thumb drive containing plans for Burns' "Project: Operation Mission" hidden inside a donut that Homer attempted to eat after bumping into Smithers, who had been tasked with securing the plans. With Burns' associates retrieving the donut and taking turns keeping it safe while Homer remains ignorant of the drive inside, his objective is simply to take back the donut.[11]
In June 2021, Arcade1Up announced its intent to release a 30th anniversary edition home arcade cabinet in late fall the same year.[4]
This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (May 2013)
In the United States, thousands of arcade cabinets were ordered upon its debut at the American Coin Machine Exposition (ACME) in March 1991.[16]The Simpsons went on to win a Platinum award from the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA) for sales achievement in 1991, making it one of the top three best-selling arcade video game machines of 1991 (with the Neo Geo MVS which won Platinum and below Street Fighter II which won Diamond).[17][18] In Japan, Game Machine listed The Simpsons on their October 1, 1991 issue as being the eleventh most-popular arcade game for the previous two weeks.[19]
The arcade game received positive reviews from critics. Sinclair User gave it a positive review, saying “It’s the great looking graphics, good sampled sound and clever animations that makes the Simpsons such fun to play“[15]ScrewAttack ranked the arcade game as the best cartoon-based game.[20]
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.[13]
References
^ abcHopper, Steven (2012-02-03). "The Simpsons Arcade Review". IGN. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
^"X-Men and The Simpsons Arcade Game disappear from PSN, still on XBLA". Polygon. 2013-12-20. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
^"The Simpsons Arcade takes us back to the bowling alley (review)". VentureBeat. 2012-02-07. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
^ abPeters, Jay (June 9, 2021). "The Classic Simpsons Arcade Cabinet Is Getting rereleased Thanks To Arcade1Up". The Verge. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
^. hardcoregaming101.net. Archived from the original on May 2, 2016. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
^"The Simpsons (Arcade) - The Cutting Room Floor". tcrf.net. The Cutting Room Floor. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
^Sterling, Jim (9 November 2011). "The Simpsons Arcade likely coming to consoles". Destructoid.
^ abMakuch, Eddie (February 1, 2012). "Simspons Arcade Game hits XBL Friday". GameSpot.com. CNet. Retrieved February 1, 2012.
^Makuch, Eddie (January 31, 2012). "Simpsons Arcade Game arriving next week for PlayStation Plus subscribers". GameSpot.com. CNet. Retrieved January 31, 2012.
^Tracey Lien (December 20, 2013). "X-Men and The Simpsons Arcade Game Disappear From PSN, Still On XBLA". Polygon. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
^"The Simpsons Arcade on the App Store on iTunes". Itunes.Apple.com. 21 December 2009. Retrieved 2014-07-10.
^Weiss, Brett Alan. . Allgame. Archived from the original on 2014-11-16. Retrieved May 27, 2013.
^ abLesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia & Lesser, Kirk (April 1992). "The Role of Computers". Dragon (180): 57–61.
^McShea, Tom. "The Simpsons Arcade Game Review". GameSpot. Retrieved Nov 16, 2017.
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For other video games based on The Simpsons see List of The Simpsons video games The Simpsons is an arcade beat em up developed and published by Konami released in 1991 It was the first video game based on the Simpsons franchise to be released in North America The game allows up to four players to control members of the Simpson family as they fight various enemies to rescue the kidnapped Maggie 1 It was a commercial success in the United States where it was one of the top three best selling arcade video game machines of 1991 The game also features the television shows s voice actors Dan Castellaneta Julie Kavner Nancy Cartwright and Yeardley Smith reprising their respective roles as the Simpsons Family The SimpsonsThe Simpsons arcade cabinetDeveloper s Konami Arcade Novotrade C64 MS DOS Backbone Entertainment XBLA PSN Publisher s KonamiDirector s Kengo NakamuraProducer s S KidoProgrammer s Akira SuzukiHirotaka IshikawaNWKArtist s Kengo NakamuraYasushi TakanoK NakajimaNoriyuki YokokiHiroshi IuchiComposer s Norio HanzawaPlatform s Arcade Commodore 64 MS DOS Xbox 360 PlayStation 3ReleaseArcadeNA March 4 1991JP August 11 1991WW 1991Commodore 64NA 1991MS DOSNA 1991Xbox Live ArcadeWW February 3 2012PlayStation NetworkNA February 7 2012EU February 8 2012Genre s Beat em upMode s Single player multiplayerThe game was ported to the Commodore 64 and MS DOS soon after its launch in the arcades and was released as The Simpsons Arcade Game on those platforms It was also released under that title on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 in February 2012 however it has since been removed from both services on December 20 2013 2 3 In 2021 Arcade1Up released a 30th anniversary edition home arcade cabinet 4 Contents 1 Plot 2 Gameplay 3 Legacy 4 Reception 5 References 6 External linksPlot EditSee also List of The Simpsons characters While walking through downtown Springfield the Simpsons collide with Smithers who has just stolen a large diamond from a jewelry shop for Mr Burns The diamond goes flying and lands in Maggie s mouth and she begins sucking on it like a pacifier as Smithers kidnaps her The rest of the Simpsons give chase across the city fighting off hordes of enemies hired by Mr Burns to reach the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant The pursuit covers eight stages each of which ends with a fight against a strong boss character In the final stage the Simpsons must defeat first Smithers and then Mr Burns who uses a mobile battle suit equipped with a variety of weapons Once Mr Burns is defeated Maggie puts her pacifier in his mouth and the Simpsons take her home with Homer throwing the diamond away Gameplay EditThis article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources The Simpsons video game news newspapers books scholar JSTOR January 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Screenshot from Stage 7 of the game where Marge battles two Royd and one Rupert enemies The Simpsons is a side scrolling beat em up that allows players to join in at any time Two different cabinet models were produced one allowing up to two simultaneous players each able to choose a character and another allowing four players with a dedicated position for each character Controls consist of an eight way joystick and two buttons to jump and attack The characters have distinctive attack styles Homer punches and kicks Marge swings a vacuum cleaner Bart wields a skateboard and Lisa attacks with a jump rope Two characters standing close to each other can mount a combined attack such as Homer and Marge holding each other s ankles to roll around the screen and mow down enemies or Homer placing Lisa on his shoulders so they can strike at two different heights Each player has a health meter which decreases upon being hit by enemies food items can be picked up to replenish it Players can also pick up and throw swing items such as hammers bowling balls and mailboxes as melee weapons One life is lost whenever a player s health meter runs out if all lives are lost the player may continue the game by adding credits within a time limit Two minigames played between stages require players to hit their buttons as quickly as possible with computer controlled enemies replacing any characters not in play 1 The Japanese version of the game includes many differences from the North American release 5 1 6 These changes include throwable small scale nuclear bombs that clear all on screen enemies A life bar that unlike in the North American version can accumulate three levels by eating food beyond the first full level The player s life is turned into bonus points after they complete a level and is restored when the next level begins In this version there are hidden items food and weapons which appear when the player hits specific points of the screen Also in the Japanese version the score system is different each enemy character defeated gives the player a certain number of points while at the North American version the player only earns a single point by defeating them This is similar to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade game score system Legacy EditSoon after the Simpsons arcade release Novotrade released ports for Commodore 64 and MS DOS computers A listing on the Australian Classification Board website posted on November 9 2011 hinted at a port of the game being developed by Backbone Entertainment for multiple platforms 7 In January 2012 a high definition port of The Simpsons Arcade Game was announced for PlayStation Network for release in February with a release on Xbox Live Arcade also revealed 8 The port features online multiplayer the ability to unlock the rare Japanese 4 player version of the game and promotional content from the game s arcade launch 8 The game was initially made available exclusively to PlayStation Plus users at no charge 9 In December 2013 the game was removed from the PlayStation Network store although at the time it was still available through the Xbox Live Marketplace no reason for the removal was given by either Sony or Konami 10 A completely different title inspired by the arcade game The Simpsons Arcade was released by Electronic Arts for iOS on December 19 2009 Unlike the arcade game the title is a single player game where players control Homer assisted by the other family members via power ups The plot is also slightly altered as it revolves around a thumb drive containing plans for Burns Project Operation Mission hidden inside a donut that Homer attempted to eat after bumping into Smithers who had been tasked with securing the plans With Burns associates retrieving the donut and taking turns keeping it safe while Homer remains ignorant of the drive inside his objective is simply to take back the donut 11 In June 2021 Arcade1Up announced its intent to release a 30th anniversary edition home arcade cabinet in late fall the same year 4 Reception EditReceptionReview scoresPublicationScoreAllGame Arcade 12 Dragon MS DOS 13 GameSpot3 10 XBLA 14 Sinclair User86 Arcade 15 This section needs expansion You can help by adding to it May 2013 In the United States thousands of arcade cabinets were ordered upon its debut at the American Coin Machine Exposition ACME in March 1991 16 The Simpsons went on to win a Platinum award from the American Amusement Machine Association AAMA for sales achievement in 1991 making it one of the top three best selling arcade video game machines of 1991 with the Neo Geo MVS which won Platinum and below Street Fighter II which won Diamond 17 18 In Japan Game Machine listed The Simpsons on their October 1 1991 issue as being the eleventh most popular arcade game for the previous two weeks 19 The arcade game received positive reviews from critics Sinclair User gave it a positive review saying It s the great looking graphics good sampled sound and clever animations that makes the Simpsons such fun to play 15 ScrewAttack ranked the arcade game as the best cartoon based game 20 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 13 References Edit a b c Hopper Steven 2012 02 03 The Simpsons Arcade Review IGN Retrieved 2017 05 04 X Men and The Simpsons Arcade Game disappear from PSN still on XBLA Polygon 2013 12 20 Retrieved 2017 05 04 The Simpsons Arcade takes us back to the bowling alley review VentureBeat 2012 02 07 Retrieved 2017 05 04 a b Peters Jay June 9 2021 The Classic Simpsons Arcade Cabinet Is Getting rereleased Thanks To Arcade1Up The Verge Retrieved August 17 2021 Hardcore Gaming 101 Konami Beat em ups hardcoregaming101 net Archived from the original on May 2 2016 Retrieved 2017 05 04 The Simpsons Arcade The Cutting Room Floor tcrf net The Cutting Room Floor Retrieved 2017 05 04 Sterling Jim 9 November 2011 The Simpsons Arcade likely coming to consoles Destructoid a b Makuch Eddie February 1 2012 Simspons Arcade Game hits XBL Friday GameSpot com CNet Retrieved February 1 2012 Makuch Eddie January 31 2012 Simpsons Arcade Game arriving next week for PlayStation Plus subscribers GameSpot com CNet Retrieved January 31 2012 Tracey Lien December 20 2013 X Men and The Simpsons Arcade Game Disappear From PSN Still On XBLA Polygon Retrieved July 1 2014 The Simpsons Arcade on the App Store on iTunes Itunes Apple com 21 December 2009 Retrieved 2014 07 10 Weiss Brett Alan The Simpsons Review Allgame Archived from the original on 2014 11 16 Retrieved May 27 2013 a b Lesser Hartley Lesser Patricia amp Lesser Kirk April 1992 The Role of Computers Dragon 180 57 61 McShea Tom The Simpsons Arcade Game Review GameSpot Retrieved Nov 16 2017 a b The Simpsons Review EMAP July 1991 p 38 Cover Story It s Arrived Konami Ships Simpsons Video RePlay Vol 16 no 8 May 1991 pp 103 4 ACME 92 Play Meter and AAMA present annual awards Play Meter Vol 18 no 5 April 1992 pp 66 68 Coin Machine Seven Manufacturers Receive AAMA Awards PDF Cashbox 25 April 18 1992 ISSN 0008 7289 Game Machine s Best Hit Games 25 テーブル型TVゲーム機 Table Videos Game Machine in Japanese No 412 Amusement Press Inc 1 October 1991 p 31 Top 10 Cartoon Games GameTrailers ScrewAttack s Top 10 17 July 2009 Retrieved 2014 07 10 External links EditThe Simpsons at MobyGames Simpsons The at the Killer List of Videogames Portals Video games The Simpsons 1990s Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Simpsons video game amp oldid 1133904552, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
