The Simpsons Arcade Game (1991)

Preliminary: Wow instant nostalgia. Such a classic arcade game for my age range. But a brawler never holds my interest long. We shall see.

Wow. Great music, great handling of depth which is usually my issue with brawlers, great Look. I'm not even a huge Simpsons guy, tho I do want to delve into it some day, but this is just so well-done for a tie-in game. This demands being played with others though; I hope I can talk my husband or brothers into playing a bit with me :-p Because of the good handling and neat world, this might actually be worth a full playthrough. Or at least worth 3+ stars. which is unusual for a brawler :-p

So many nice little touches with the background, random extra characters, interactivity etc. I think I need to save a full playthrough of this, though, until I can play this with my brother. Because this deserves an earnest playthrough how it was intended to eb played. For now I will play through a level or 2 solo, and give the rating I feel it's worth (likely 3), but will give it another shot with an additional player, and may see that rating go up.

Meh yea one level is enough. That wrestler boss took forever, and my problem with brawlers also is that they're so clearly meant for coin eating. Their mechanics basically demand it, unless you use cheap methods like I did with Marge jumping in for an attack then jumping out, which made the boss fight much longer. I dunno. Brawlers just don't do it for me. This may get a higher rating when I play it with others though. (Just showed my husband and he said he never saw it back in the day! Wow! I thought this was as popular and prevalent as, say, the X-Men brawler)

Look: 8.5/10 Absolutely beautiful.

Sound: 8/10 Neat

Play: 7/10 This could go up if I play with others. As a solo game, brawlers just don't do it for me.

Feel: 7.5/10 Nostalgia for it. Will reassess when get to play it with others.

Attachment: 8/10 The fact I'm already planning to replay it with others says something, but also the fact I feel I can only really enjoy it with others also says something. Brawlers just can't hold me without others I suppose.

Overall: 7.8/10

The Siiiimpsooooons...

It's an arcade beat-em-up from the early 90s, a classic from Konami back in their heyday. A really popular one too, surely in part due to the TV show's massive popularity at the time. But it helps that the game was actually a good one, and a lot of fun to play with friends (up to four players). I think the game was as successful as it was thanks to three factors:

1. Ease of play (anyone can immediately jump in, and it's a beat-em-up so the controls are very simple) -- and no menu fiddling, even for character select (character is determined by which slot you put your quarter in)
2. The game looks like the show (great cartoon-style graphics for the time, basically all the favorite characters and locations are featured)
3. Secrets and replayability (finding new things you can throw or use as weapons, hidden health items, learning the combo moves [two characters join together for special attacks], etc)

The game does get to feel repetitive after a while, and the later levels are very blatantly out to get your quarters (namely on the bosses that require a billion hits). But still, it's a good time especially if you can get three friends to join you through a playthrough of it.