Virtual Bart

"Virtual Bart: the good, the bad, the unbeatable"

One of the more innovative games to be released on the SNES, Virtual Bart is an enjoyable Mario Party-like game, for one player. It is comprised of six minigames, of varying difficulty and fun factor.

Story: 6/10

There is not much of a story to this game, due to the nature of this game as a minigame collection.
The premise of this game is that there is a science fair at Springfield Elementary, and Bart (that's you) is browsing through the exhibits, looking for something cool.
He walks behind a curtain, and is promptly strapped to a Virtual-Reality roulette wheel of sorts. If you lose, you get off the machine and puke. What happens if you win? This game is unwinnable.

Gameplay: 8/10

In this section I will explain each individual minigame.

Dino-Bart thingie: In this minigame, you jump around a prehistoric world as a dinosaur. You can jump, and you can attack with your tail. Throughout the level, you run into various Simpson family characters, decked out in caveman garb.
You can't kill Barney at the end. Overall: 4/10

Baby-Bart thingie: In this level, you hop around the treetops and laundry lines, seeking an ice cream truck. Throughout this level, you come across various villains that you can avoid by jumping, or by shooting it with a binky. Your targets? Squirrels, Frisbees, all that stuff.
I beat it once. 6/10

Pig-Bart: Good god, This was pure crap. This level has no attainable end, and I've never gotten past the freezer room. You have no weapon, only your tail-hopping, which you perform by jumping, and holding up.
Very uncomfortable. 5/10

Slide-Bart: What. The. Hell. This game consists of you moving from side to side in a huge waterslide with many obstacles and forks. If you go down the wrong fork, you either fall onto homer, or die. How do you know which fork to go down? About a half-second before the fork is upon you, a colored dot appears at the top of your screen. If the forks don't kill you, the smorgasbord of obstacles randomly strewn about the tunnel will.
I beat it twice out of sheer luck. 3/10

Biker-Bart: This is where this game gets good. this is a delightful Road Rash-esque mission taking place in a Springfield that looks like the surface of Mars, but with chickens, dollys, and busses. Why? The nuclear plant exploded. Just as in Road Rash, you can kick left and right to defend yourself. Never beat it, however.
Very fun, 7/10

Lastly, we have the Vandal-Bart.
In this awesome game, you throw tomatoes and eggs at various students and faculty of Springfield Elementary. This is the saving grace of this game. Very fun. If not for this minigame, this game would be worthless.
Beautifully constructed gameplay. A pleasure to play. 9/10

Graphics: 8/10

If you were to play this game now, you would find its graphics sub-par. For its time, however, it was superb in the graphical category. The beginning cinema is quite realistic, and does justice to the characters of the simpsons.

Sound: 6/10

All of the music in this game is a light bassy techno beat, midi-ized for the SNES. Honestly, the music was crap. The sound, however, was excellent. I loved the realism of the splat as I hit groundskeeper Willy in the face with an egg; I also enjoyed Barney's drunken belching.

As you can see from this review, this game is extremely difficult, and most of it is not fun. However, The few saving graces make this game a worthwhile play.

Rent or buy? Can you even rent SNES games anymore? If so, rent it, unless you see it for under $10.

Overall: 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 05/05/03, Updated 05/05/03