The Simpsons games on the console aren’t very good. The Arcade game was the only one I remember being fun to play. The others were more frustrating, and I remember playing them for a bit before going back to something else.
The Game Boy games are new to me. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started playing this one. It plays like every other side-scrolling game from this era. It is also a licensed property that is as bad as all of the other games based on licensed properties.
The one thing that I like about The Simpsons games is that they have stories that might have been in the cartoon. In this case, you have Bart and Lisa going to a summer camp and having to escape.
TLDR: Bart Simpson’s Escape from Camp Deadly is another forgettable platformer. It is an average game that doesn’t stand out.
Narrative
In this game, you play as Bart Simpson. Bart and Lisa have been sent to Camp Deadly, run by Ironfist Burns, a nephew of Mr. Burns. This is a theme of the Simpsons games.
Your goal is to escape from the summer camp. Everything in this camp is trying to kill you! They’re trying to keep you in the camp, but I still think you were sent there because Homer and Marge are terrible parents. They sent their kids to a place called Camp Deadly for some reason!
This game is similar to the episode “Kamp Krusty,” but it came out a year before it aired. It is cool to see how some of these games tie into episodes of the cartoon. It would be fun to see how closely the games match up to specific episodes.
The game’s story is much better than the gameplay. It isn’t anything spectacular, but it is a fun story that doesn’t get too crazy/
Gameplay
This is a side-scrolling platform game, and it isn’t good. It isn’t the worst game, but it isn’t one I would recommend unless you’re trying to play every Simpsons game.
You play as Bart, and you move through the different stages of the summer camp. Mostly, you play capture the flag, climb a mountain, and deal with lunch and dinner activities. It uses the summer camp setting very well but makes me wonder how this camp hasn’t been sued into oblivion by now.
The game feels a little slippery. Your character’s hitbox seems unfairly large, and your weapons are annoying. This is a problem with the Simpsons games on the NES, and for the life of me, I can’t figure out why Acclaim kept doing this.
You start with spit wads as your main weapon. There are other weapons available, but with how easy it is to die in the game, you’ll be using the spit wads a lot. The attacks do that annoying arc that seems to exist in every lousy game. It isn’t too terrible, but it isn’t very pleasant.
There is at least one part where you can free someone that will help you later. It only happens once and isn’t necessary to beat the game.
This is a short game that works well for a handheld. This would have been a good game if the controls were better.
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Visuals
Bart Simpsons Escape from Camp Deadly looks good for a Game Boy game. It looks like it could be on the NES. It was published in 1991, and you can tell that developers have learned how to make games for the system.
Bart and Lisa look good. Most of the characters look like they would fit right into a Simpsons episode. The cutscenes are also good.
The only thing I don’t like about the visuals is how it can be hard to dodge projectiles and some tiny enemies. It can also be hard to tell what you can and cannot jump on. This is a problem that many Game Boy games have, but it seems worse here.
6/10. This is another disappointing licensed game. It used The Simpsons’ property well as far as the story goes, but the gameplay is where the game fell apart for me. It felt like Bart was running on ice for most of the game.
Pros
- The graphics are good
- It has a fun story
- It is a short game
Cons
- Bad controls
- Annoying weapons
- One-hit deaths
I thought about adding in “single player only,” but I don’t think this is all that much of a problem.
Conclusion
The Simpsons could have made a suitable property for a video game. The stories for the games work well, given the subject matter. The arcade game is the only game with great gameplay. It makes me wish that Konami had the rights to the console games.
The games that Acclaim published weren’t all that great. They were playable and had better-than-average stories to them. The controls are where the games fell apart, as they had somewhat awkward and slippery controls.
I have fond memories of The Simpsons games on the NES and the arcade game. This one did remind me of the NES games, for better or worse.