Talking Simpsons - The Simpsons Arcade With Chris Kohler

I always thought The Simpsons arcade game deserved a modern remake, so naturally EA had the same idea and did it in the most half-assed way possible. I looked up a playthrough on youtube and Homer's animations are stiff, the music is grating, and the whole thing is devoid of charm. Oddly enough, it looks like Sideshow Bob ISN'T a boss but Sideshow Mel is.

PurpleComet

I don't think ghosts hanging from trees is a Japanese thing. They're hanging from trees 'cause they're just normal dudes disguising themselves as "floating" ghosts

nina matsumoto

Next Simpsons game needs to be a Tree House themed Persona game set in Springfield

Alex Atchley

Like most people, I have great memories of this game as a kid but it wasn't until I was an adult that I finally beat this at Ground Kontrol on one of their free play nights.

littleterr0r

Great episode boys, but I’m afraid I have to correct Bob on something. When you said that this is the only “life in hell” game. In the much better DS version of 2007 Simpsons game, there is an even bigger reference to these characters. When you are going through Matt Groening’s crazy mansion there is an entire “Life in Hell” room where you platform on what look to be actual Groening drawings. If you haven’t played this version of the game, I’d recommend it. This is the only video game fact I can actually correct Bob on and now I feel like a big man.

Konami's arcade brawlers were pretty consistently style over substance—they all look fantastic, but compare most of them to a Capcom game like Final Fight or Captain Commando, and they feel very stiff and limited. I wouldn't even rank The Simpsons near the top of Konami's brawlers (the best ones are Vendetta and Metamorphic Force, IMO), but it still has a few neat little gameplay innovations, like the various weapons, the interactive environments, and the team attacks. It's also a colorful and beautifully-animated game, so it's just fun to watch. I love all the slightly off-model touches you highlighted, and the fact that those are in a product with so many specific references to the show and even the real voice cast only makes them stand out more. They're the kind of creative liberties with a license that I think could only have happened at that point in entertainment history, before IP holders really started becoming obsessed with brand management. The arcade game is one of the few official Simpsons things I can think of with a noticeably divergent interpretation, so it remains unique in the series' history.

Christmas Ape

Konami totally reused the big guy / little guy boss design the exact same year in Vendetta - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGTZFOIJDPs&t=897s

A few years ago I was walking down a street with my family while we were on vacation in Florida. All I remember from that day was looking at one building — light out, checkerboard floor — that was completely empty minus a lone Simpsons cabinet in the centre. I have no idea how or why it was left there, but it was. Also, fun fact: the awful DOS and Commodore 64 ports were programmed by Novatrade, a Hungarian developer who, in just a few years, would help create the Ecco The Dolphin series for SEGA. Quite a step-up IMO.

Dylan Mansfield

The way I got to play through this is our local mall arcade, Aladdin's Castle, had a couple of days each summer where $5 was unlimited play on all non prize machines. So me and my friends would wait for that day, like in and play through Simpsons, X-Men, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Paul

This game came at a good time. The brawler was established and Konami had a ton of experience with it and knew how to properly apply a license to one. I know I had played it before, but my strongest memory of the game was playing it at Chuck E Cheese's for my friend's birthday (he was an August baby, so I know it was during that month). I got there last and had to settle for Marge, who was the secret best character, but when you're 9 or whatever you don't want to be Marge. My friend's mom just fed us tokens until we beat it and I think it was the first time I ever beat an arcade game in an actual arcade. After it was over, we moved on to something else, but I don't have any other memories of that party so obviously The Simpsons game was the best thing that happened. I'm not sure if I ever even played it again as a kid, though I've done so as an adult. When a local arcade went out of business about five years ago I almost bought their cabinet, but it really wouldn't have been a smart financial decision following the birth of our second kid. Even so, I still kind of regret not going for it. Those Arcade 1-Up cabinets just don't do it for me. And, for the record, I am the guy who cares about Bucky O'Hare. Konami did that rabbit right with both the NES and arcade game. The arcade game was fun since it was a shooter/brawler and canonically was basically the finale to the show, but yeah, no one remembers that game and few care.

Joe Hodgson