A fun action game
with minimal adventure elements, The
Simpsons: Bart's House of
Weirdness
is a cross between a toybox and a game, starring the world's most
famous brat. The action begins with Bart being grounded yet again in
his room. It isn't the worse thing in the world, of course, and when
you've got an imagination like Bart does, staying entertained is easy
indeed.
The
game is a
collection of 5 interwoven "adventures," most
of which can be played in any order. Each adventure has a specific
goal, which can either be an action or an item (e.g."have fun!," or
picture of a book). The goal is clearly spelled out in the box at the
bottom of the screen, so you always know what you are looking for.
While you can earn points like in most other platform games by
collecting coins, defeating aliens, earning cool items, etc., points
are only for recording high scores, and are not essential to completing
the game. All adventures are a lot of fun to play, not least because of
unique, fun items you can find and figure out the use for. The space
aliens sequence (triggered by Bart's daydreams) and the basement action
game are in particular very entertaining.
After
Bart
finishes
all adventures, he can begin his greatest mission: saving his hero,
Krusty the Clown, from Sideshow Bob. You will then guide Bart high and
low through Springfield, searching for 3 cool items that will help him
rescue Krusty. When Bart has all the cool items (and has completed all
the missions), he can enter the final level, Krusty's Jungle Land.
The
game is by no
means revolutionary as far as gameplay
goes, but it features a lot of innovative variations on the themes that
fit well with the spirit of the show. For instance, the traditional
health meter is replaced by a Cool-O-Meter (gauge from Un-cool to
Cool), which measures Bart's coolness-- something he really cares
about. When everything is going well, Bart's cool. If he takes damage
his cool rating.drops, until he is toast. Bart can raise his level of
coolness by finishing a level, finding donuts, or jumping on mushrooms.
The game also includes many fun "extras," such as a VCR that you can
use to fast-forward or rewind your adventures, and an option to change
the game music (from Bart's stereo).
The
only gripe I
have with
this fun game is that you must go back to Bart's room to save. This can
be annoying if you are miles from his house, or in his dreams. Still,
this minor issue hardly detracts from a very entertaining experience.
Highly recommended for fans of the show, and everyone else who aren't
afraid of the joystick. Two thumbs up!
