The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror

"A Simpsons game by THQ? D'oh!"

Ask any Simpsons fan about the Treehouse of Horror episodes and they will instantly recognize it as the infamous Halloween episodes. These episodes not only try to parody scary movies to try to give you a spook, but they also put the Simpsons characters in impossible situations. Crazy transformations, mass killing, and the living dead are certainly not things you would find in an ordinary Simpsons episode, even if it is a cartoon. With this in mind, THQ decided that crazy Halloween episodes would be the best subject for their Game Boy Color game based on the Simpsons.

To start this review off, I just want to say that I am a huge Simpsons episode. I have seen practically every episode and have tons of memorabilia concerning the Simpsons, which would be the reason that I would be sad to have to give this a bad rating.

Gameplay: The gameplay is kind of a mixed bag. Keeping in mind that this is based on the Treehouse of Horror episodes, it would be bland to simply keep it a platformer with so many different kinds of episodes.. Instead, there are different types of stages. The first type of stage is the platform stage, which there are 4 of. If you have read any of my other reviews, you probably know that I love 2D platformers with a passion. I seriously believe that these stages could have worked out well if not for the flawed controls.

First off, a minor flaw is that you use the B button to jump. This is not much of a flaw however, although I am quite used to using the A button for that action. Once you press the jump button, you will notice what makes these controls flawed. The gameplay mechanics in this game are based on the Rugrats games THQ has also made. If you have played any Rugrats games, (God help you if you did) then you can expect the same kind of jumping prowess for the Simpsons as the Rugrats. Yes, the characters jump as if they were in a slow-motion video game. The physics are horrible and cause your character to fall at the same rate as a piece of paper. Even worse, they jump so high that you end up airborne for a good 3 seconds before you finally reach the ground and remain immobile for another second because of the high landing. I could go more in-depth on the characters’ equally sluggish walking, but that would be more or less the same. You attack with the A button, although it won’t really matter whether you attack the enemy or not since your weapon fires so ridiculously slow that the enemy would probably catch up to you before you fired the damn thing.

The next type of stage is a flying stage, which there is only one of. Basically, you fly around with Maggie, who has been turned into a housefly. This is, in my opinion, one of the better stages in this small bunch of trash. Although you fly slower than most real houseflies, the gameplay ends up being a nice kind of sidescrolling flight sim stage. You dodge bees and avoid water while navigating through a world larger than your own. It’s a shame that there’s only one of this type of stage.

The next type of stage is a shooting stage, ironically starring everyone’s favorite nagger, Marge. The view of the stage is overhead, much like the 2D shooters of yesteryear. Here, you must shoot zombies before they outrun you. The flaw here is that once a zombie begins to follow you, you have hardly any response time to shoot the zombie on your trail. All in all, this stage isn’t all that bad and does require strategy to maneuver around the gunshots being fired at you. In fact, think of this as the Simpsons version of Galaga without a screen that forces you to move. As with the flying stage, it’s a shame that there’s only one of these stages.

Finally, there’s the one stealth stage with our very own Lisa. No, it’s not Metal Gear Solid. Rather, it’s simply a game where you must camouflage with lockers to avoid teachers and staff of the school. The style is the same as the platform stages (sigh), but you must hide whenever a teacher is going to look at you. This is more of a boring experience, since there are rarely any enemies after you in this stage.

An element that would spark your interest is the fact that every stage is based on a Halloween episode of the Simpsons one way or another. The first stage is a romp by Bart through the Bad Dream House. It is followed by the adventures of Maggie the housefly. (wasn’t it Bart who was changed into a fly?) Then, you must traverse through the neighborhood killing off zombies and other Simpsons characters who have transformed into zombies. After that, it’s a trip to Mr. Burns’s, or should I say Dracula’s, castle with Homer. Homer once again takes the spotlight in the form of a robot in search for his parts in the next stage. Conspiracies arise in the next stage as Lisa must avoid children-hungry teachers who want nothing but eat Lisa. Finally, the game finishes off with King Simpson, otherwise known as Homer Kong. The stages themselves are interesting, although an appearance by local aliens, Kang and Kodos, would have been a treat.

While I am a huge Simpsons fan who loves the Halloween episodes, I just can’t bring myself to enjoy this game. Whether it’s the fact there is no battery save, (you have to use passwords) or if it’s the messy and unresponsive controls, there is nothing too appealing to me. After all, if you took out the Simpsons license, it would simply be a run-of-the-mill video game. Sorry, although it was a wonderful idea for a game to have Simpsons characters in popular Halloween episodes, THQ just doesn’t deliver the gameplay mechanics of what could have been a great game.

Rating: 5/10

Graphics: The graphics are great for a Game Boy Color game and feature the Simpsons character models in all their 2D glory. The backgrounds are loyal to the actual Simpsons backgrounds. In fact, if you look closely at the backgrounds, you’ll find references to Mr. Sparkle and El Barto. This is the closest thing to traveling through the Simpsons universe in 2D. Unfortunately, the wonderful graphics don’t make up for the mediocre gameplay.

Rating: 8/10

Music: Most of the music is uninspired. They simply feature the usual spooky fare found in “scary” games like this. Also, as far as I can tell, sound is nonexistent in this game. I know it would be rare for a GBC game to have vocals, but if only it could include those, then it would be at least worth the torture of the gameplay.

Rating: 4/10

Replayability: Oh boy, well since there is no battery save, you might as well continue playing the boring first stage over and over until you finally reach the fourth stage and realize that the boss is ridiculously complicated. Don’t expect lots of replay value here once you finally do make it to the end, even if you find bliss in playing sidescrollers over and over again. There is nothing worth replaying in the game, even if you’re bored.

Rating: 1/10

Rent or Buy? If you are a hardcore Simpsons fan, the most you probably want to do is rent it, unless you’re the type of fan that keeps video games that you will never play as novelty items. Anyone that isn’t remotely familiar with the Simpsons should stay away from this game.

Final Rating: 4/10

Reviewer's Score: 4/10, Originally Posted: 07/11/03, Updated 07/11/03