The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. It is set in the fictional town of Springfield and lampoons American culture, society and television and many aspects of the human condition.[1] The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987, and after a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime time show and became a hit series for Fox.[2][3] The growing popularity of the series motivated video game developers to create video games based on the series. Two pinball machines have also been produced; one self-titled, that was only made available for a limited time after the first season finale (1990) and The Simpsons Pinball Party (2003).[4] Additionally, several handheld device games have been released, such as Bartman: Avenger of Evil (1990) and Bart Simpson's Cupcake Crisis (1991).[5][6]

Video games based on the series started with The Simpsons arcade video game in 1991, developed and published Konami. Bart vs. the Space Mutants (1991), developed by Imagineering, expanded the franchise into new platforms, including the Amstrad CPC, NES and Master System. Over the next few years, the franchise would continue to expand, releasing system-exclusive games, such as the PC's Cartoon Studio (1996) and the PlayStation's The Simpsons Wrestling (2001). The release of The Simpsons Game (2007), developed by EA Redwood Shores (Visceral Games), further expanded the franchise, appearing on new platforms including the Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Due to the series' longevity, The Simpsons video games have also spanned many genres, such as the puzzle game Krusty's Fun House (1992), the sports game Itchy & Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness (1994) and racing game Road Rage (2001). The Simpsons is also one of the franchises spotlighted in the toys-to-life video game Lego Dimensions (2015). Characters and locations from the show were added to Fortnite Battle Royale (2017) in Chapter 6: Mini Season 2.

Video games

As of October 2020, 27 video games focused on The Simpsons series have been released. The following table showcases the correspondent title, release date, publisher, developer and the platforms on which each game was released along with any other relevant information. A detailed overview of each game can be found in their corresponding articles, with the exception of games without articles, which instead have a brief overview in a footnote.

List of The Simpsons video games
Title Release details Platform(s)
Microsoft Nintendo Sega Sony Other
Bart vs. the Space Mutants[7]
  • Released: February, 1991 (NES)[8][9]
  • Publishers: Acclaim Entertainment, Ocean Software
  • Developer: Imagineering
 NES Game Gear
Genesis
Master System 		Amiga
Atari ST
Amstrad CPC
Commodore 64
IBM PC
ZX Spectrum
The Simpsons[10]
  • Released: March, 1991 (Arcade)
  • Publisher: Konami
  • Developer: Konami
 XBLM PSN Arcade
IBM PC
Commodore 64
Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly[11]
  • Released: November, 1991
  • Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
  • Developer: Imagineering
 Game Boy
Bart vs. the World[12] NES Game Gear
Master System 		Amiga
Atari ST
Bart's House of Weirdness[13]
  • Released: January 1, 1992
  • Publisher: Konami
  • Developer: Distinctive
 IBM PC
Krusty's Fun House[14][a]
  • Released: May 1992 (NES)
  • Publishers: Acclaim Entertainment, Virgin Games
  • Developer: Audiogenic
 Game Boy
NES
Super NES 		Game Gear
Genesis
Master System 		Amiga
IBM PC
Bart vs. the Juggernauts[15]
  • Released: September 1992
  • Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
  • Developer: Imagineering
 Game Boy
Bart's Nightmare[16]
  • Released: October 1992 (Super NES)
  • Publishers: Acclaim Entertainment
  • Developer: Sculptured Software
 Super NES Genesis
Bartman Meets Radioactive Man[17]
  • Released: December 1992 (NES)
  • Publishers: Acclaim Entertainment
  • Developer: Imagineering
 NES Game Gear
Bart & the Beanstalk[18]
  • Released: February 1994
  • Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
  • Developer: Software Creations
 Game Boy
Virtual Bart[19]
  • Released: September 30, 1994 (Super NES)
  • Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
  • Developer: Sculptured Software
 Super NES Genesis
Itchy & Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness[20]
  • Released: November 1994
  • Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
  • Developer: Beam Software
 Game Boy
The Itchy & Scratchy Game[21]
  • Released: 1995 (Super NES)
  • Publisher: Acclaim Entertainment
  • Developer: Bits
 Super NES Game Gear
Genesis[b]
The Simpsons: Cartoon Studio[22]
  • Released: 1996
  • Publisher: Fox Interactive
  • Developer: Big Top
 Windows Mac
Virtual Springfield[23]
  • Released: 1997
  • Publisher: Fox Interactive
  • Developer: Digital Evolution
 Windows Mac
The Simpsons Bowling[24][c]
  • Released: 2000
  • Publisher: Konami
  • Developer: Konami
 Arcade
Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror[25]
  • Released: March 21, 2001
  • Publisher: THQ
  • Developer: Software Creations
 GB Color
The Simpsons Wrestling[26] PlayStation
The Simpsons: Road Rage[27]
  • Released: November 20, 2001 (PS2)
  • Publisher: Electronic Arts
  • Developer: Radical Entertainment
 Xbox GameCube PS2
The Simpsons Skateboarding[28]
  • Released: November 12, 2002
  • Publisher: Electronic Arts
  • Developer: The Code Monkeys
 PS2
Road Rage[29]
  • Released: June 30, 2003
  • Publisher: THQ
  • Developer: Altron Corporation
 GBA
Hit & Run[30]
  • Released: September 16, 2003
  • Publishers: Vivendi Universal Games
  • Developer: Radical
 Windows
Xbox 		GameCube PS2
The Simpsons Game[31]
  • Released: October 30, 2007
  • Publisher: Electronic Arts
  • Developers: EA Redwood Shores, Rebellion Developments
 Xbox 360 Wii PS2
PS3
PSP
The Simpsons Game[32]
  • Released: October 30, 2007
  • Publisher: Electronic Arts
  • Developers: EA Redwood Shores, Rebellion Developments
 Nintendo DS
Minutes to Meltdown[33][34][d]
  • Released: 2007
  • Publisher: EA Mobile
  • Developer: G5 Entertainment
 Mobile
Itchy and Scratchy Land[35][e]
  • Released: 2009
  • Publisher: EA Mobile
  • Developer: EA Mobile
 Mobile
The Simpsons Arcade[36][f]
  • Released: December 9, 2009 (J2ME)
  • Publisher: EA Mobile
  • Developer: IronMonkey
 iOS
J2ME
Tapped Out[37][38]
  • Released: February 27, 2012 (iOS), February 6, 2013 (Android), June 24, 2013 (Kindle)
  • Publisher: EA Mobile
  • Developer: EA Mobile
 iOS
Android
Kindle[39]
The Simpsons Arcade[40][g]
  • Released: August 16, 2021 (Arcade1Up Stand-Up)
  • Publisher: Arcade1Up
  • Developer: Arcade1Up
 Arcade1Up Stand-Up

See also

Notes

  1. Krusty's Fun House was released on the Super NES and Genesis as Krusty's Super Fun House.
  2. The Sega Genesis version went unreleased.
  3. The Simpsons Bowling is a 3-D trackball arcade game in which the player controls one of eight different bowlers (Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, Mr. Burns, Apu, Krusty the Klown and Groundskeeper Willie), all of which have different strengths and weaknesses.
  4. Minutes to Meltdown is a pseudo-3D action game in which the player controls Homer as he races to the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant to prevent a nuclear meltdown. The game is thirty minutes long (the player must get Homer to the power plant in that time) and has three levels (one at the Simpson's home, one on the streets of Springfield, and one at the plant).
  5. Itchy and Scratchy Land is an action game in which the player controls either Homer, Bart, Lisa or Marge as they go through Explosion Land, Unnecessary Surgery Land, Torture Land and Searing Gas Pain Land at the amusement park Itchy & Scratchy Land.
  6. The Simpsons Arcade (2009) is a re-imagining of the original The Simpsons Arcade Game (1991).
  7. The Simpsons Arcade The Simpsons™ Arcade Machine Bundle available directly from Arcade1Up includes a riser, light-up marquee, stool, and tin wall sign. Live WiFi enabled with no monthly subscription required.

References

  1. The Simpsons: America's First Family (television documentary). BBC. 2000.
  2. Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 14. ISBN 978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN 98141857. OCLC 37796735. OL 433519M..
  3. Gerard, Jeremy (February 21, 1990). "Bad Language, Hurt Feelings and Success". The New York Times.
  4. "Stern Pinball, Inc. Announces A Wild 'Simpsons Pinball Party'". Stern Pinball. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012.
  5. "Bartman: Avenger of Evil". IGN. News Corporation. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013.
  6. "Bart Simpson's Cupcake Crisis". IGN. News Corporation. Archived from the original on October 12, 2013.
  7. Bart vs. the Space Mutants:
  8. "NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo of America. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 11, 2014.
  9. "Eye on the Future". The Bulletin. Norwich, Connecticu. February 2, 1991. p. C2 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. Weiss, Brett Alan. "The Simpsons – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014.
  11. Weiss, Brett Alan (October 3, 2010). "Bart Simpson's Escape From Camp Deadly – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014.
  12. Baker, Christopher Michael (October 3, 2010). "The Simpsons: Bart vs. the World – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014.
  13. "The Simpsons: Bart's House of Weirdness – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on November 14, 2014.
  14. Krusty's Fun House:
  15. "The Simpsons: Bart vs. The Juggernauts – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on November 15, 2014.
  16. Weiss, Brett Alan. "The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  17. Marriott, Scott Alan. "The Simpsons: Bartman Meets Radioactive Man – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  18. Marriott, Scott Alan. "The Simpsons: Bart & The Beanstalk – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  19. Virtual Bart:
  20. "Itchy & Scratchy in Miniature Golf Madness – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  21. "The Itchy and Scratchy Game – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  22. Savignano, Lisa Karen. "The Simpsons Cartoon Studio – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  23. Shani, Tamara. "The Simpsons: Virtual Springfield – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  24. "The Simpsons Bowling – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  25. Deci, T.J. "The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  26. House, Matthew. "The Simpsons Wrestling – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  27. Deci, T.J. "The Simpsons Road Rage – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  28. Weiss, Brett Alan. "The Simpsons Skateboarding – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  29. Marriott, Scott Alan. "The Simpsons Road Rage – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  30. Marriott, Scott Alan. "The Simpsons: Hit & Run – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  31. Marriott, Scott Alan. "The Simpsons Game – Overview". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  32. http://ds.ign.com/articles/833/833419p1.html
  33. "The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown". EA Mobile. Electronic Arts. Archived from the original on December 29, 2012.
  34. Buchanan, Levi (July 24, 2007). "The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown Review". IGN. Archived from the original on March 6, 2012.
  35. "The Simpsons: Itchy & Scratchy Land". EA Mobile. Electronic Arts. Archived from the original on August 7, 2012.
  36. "The Simpsons Arcade". AllGame. Rovi Corporation.
  37. Davis, Justin (February 27, 2012). "Build Your Own Springfield in The Simpsons: Tapped Out – iPhone Preview at IGN". IGN. News Corporation. Archived from the original on May 30, 2012.
  38. "Gamespot Tapped Out Android". CBS Interactive Inc. 20 April 2016.
  39. "The Simpsons: Tapped Out (Kindle Tablet Edition)". Amazon. June 24, 2013.
  40. "The Simpsons Arcade". AllGame. Arcade1Up.