A few weeks ago a jewel of nostalgia came to the Xbox Live Arcade and the Sony Entertainment Network in the form of the Simpsons Arcade game. For those of you too young to remember, this was one of the rare four player coop machines. I spent quite a few quarters back in the day playing this with my brother and any 2 other kids that would try their hand at it.
The story for the game is pretty simple, Smithers robs a jewelry store and runs into the Simpsons family. In turn a large diamond falls into Maggie’s mouth as a pacifier and Smithers takes her instead, it’s now up to the family to save her. You can play as any member of the family; and each member has their weapon of choice, there is minimal difference, it’s really just a change in skins. Other than the joystick only two buttons are used, jump and attack, simple enough. It’s pretty much a hack-and-slash all the way through fighting mostly common henchmen in suits, and a boss fight at the end of each level. Working your way through some common Springfield locations such as: Krustyland, Moe’s Tavern, downtown Springfield, and the Power Plant for your final level.
The game is much more fun with others, and can be played over PSN, Xbox Live, or local coop. Even after romping through the game, you’ll find yourself going back to play as a different character. If you complete the game with each character you unlock different options in the “cool stuff“, menu. The download also came packed with the Japanese version of the game, and various difficulty settings. The achievement list is varied and fun giving different styles of play and thing to do within the game.
I find this game well worth the $10/800 points, the 18 mb file size is shocking for such a quality title! I highly recommend downloading this one. It’s good for all ages and gamers alike. Similar games I’d recommend are X-Men Arcade and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arcade games.