The Simpsons Game

The Simpsons Game is a 2007 3D action-platformer for PSP, developed by Rebellion and published by Electronic Arts. Released in North America on November 5, it is an original adventure rather than a tie-in to The Simpsons Movie, built around the show’s self-aware humor, voice cast, and send-ups of video-game conventions.

After Bart finds a mysterious game manual, the Simpsons learn that they are characters in a video game and that its pages grant them superpowers. Their early exploits around Springfield grow into a bid to stop Kang and Kodos’ invasion, reach the Game Engine, and confront the people and forces behind their digital world.

The campaign pairs members of the family for its episode-like stages, although the PSP edition is a single-player game: the computer handles the accompanying character. Homer, Bart, Lisa and Marge all fight, jump, interact with scenery, and solve environmental problems, while Maggie joins Marge for passages too small for the other characters.

Each hero brings tools that drive the puzzles. Bart becomes Bartman to glide, climb, travel on zip-lines and use his slingshot; Homer consumes particular items to assume forms such as a rolling Homer Ball, Gummi Homer, a fiery pepper-powered version, or a helium balloon. Lisa calls on the Hand of Buddha to move or attack with large objects, while Marge recruits a controllable mob to clear obstacles, construct objects, and overwhelm foes.

The stages move from Springfield set pieces such as the museum, an eating contest, deforestation and a game-store protest to deliberately exaggerated genre parodies. The Simpsons visit fantasy, wartime, Japanese adventure and crime-game scenarios in pursuit of key cards, with levels designed around switching to the family member whose power fits the immediate obstacle.

Completion is not limited to reaching the end of each episode. Players can return to seek character collectibles and spot the game clichés hidden through the adventure, giving the portable version a reason to revisit stages. This PSP release follows the reduced PS2-style design rather than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions: it has no multiplayer mode and lacks those versions’ additional episode time-trial challenges.