The Simpsons (video game)
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.
For other video games based on The Simpsons, see List of The Simpsons video games.The Simpsons
Konami (Arcade)
Novotrade (C64, MS-DOS)
Backbone Entertainment (XBLA, PSN)
Konami
Kengo Nakamura
S. Kido
Akira Suzuki
Hirotaka Ishikawa
NWK
Kengo Nakamura
Yasushi Takano
K. Nakajima
Noriyuki Yokoki
Hiroshi Iuchi
Norio Hanzawa
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, for unknown reasons, it was removed from both services on December 20, 2013.[2][3] In 2021, Arcade1Up released a 30th anniversary home arcade cabinet.[4]
Legacy[edit]
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, allegedly containing the town's secret data. 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. But first, he must defeating Chief Wiggum before advanced to next level, before taking final showdown with Burns in his mansion.[11]
In June 2021, Arcade1Up announced its intent to release a 30th anniversary edition home arcade cabinet in late fall the same year.[4]