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Bart: The only Simpsons Game we play is the one where we pretend Homer isn't an alcoholic. |
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The Simpsons Game is a platformer based on The Simpsons. It's also an Affectionate Parody of loads and loads of other games, and lampshades just about every Trope they can think to lampshade.
Each character has their own special powers: Homer can become a giant belly and smash into things; Bart becomes Bartman, and is able to glide and shoot with his slingshot; Lisa can harness the power of the Buddha and stun enemies with her saxophone; and Marge can rally up supporters and is able to send Maggie into small gaps.
During the game, Bart finds the manual to The Simpsons Game, from which the family discovers their superpowers. Soon afterwards, there is an Alien Invasion. After that, the family is sucked into their computer and starts playing through levels based on other video games. Finally, they attack the fortress of the creator, Matt Groening, and ultimately make a stairway to heaven in order to battle William Shakespeare, Benjamin Franklin, and God.
Notable that it came out a few months after The Simpsons Movie was released, although they aren't connected beyond both being Simpsons. Also gets points for having both the writers and the original voice cast brought on to help with its development.
Tropes used in The Simpsons Game include:
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Lisa: It's the mother ship! |
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- Adaptational Wimp: King Snorky had no problem taking over all of Springfield in Treehouse of Horrors. In this game, he's defeated by two kids and an old sea dog.
- Affectionate Parody: Of just about everything.
- Alien Invasion: Somehow it's not a cliché when it's happening to you.
- Anal Probing: A conversation between two alien Mooks in the Alien Invasion level,
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Alien 1: This human has tiny pieces of paper which gives him big, big savings. We must study him! |
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- Anti-Hero: Homer and Bart.
- Art Evolution: The cutscenes are animated in the style of the show, instead of using the game engine, and they had to be done in High-Definition for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. On top of that, the first level is "The Land of Chocolate", previously seen in a dream sequence from the 1991 episode Burns Verkaufen der Kraftwerk.
- Badass Family: The Simpsons are very much this trope.
- Badass Normal: Parodied by Bart's powers.
- Bait and Switch: When the Alien Invasion starts, Bart and Lisa note that only person is smart enough to help them now. Cue a dramatic entrance from... Ralph Wiggum. Bart than tiredly says they have to go to Professor Frink.
- Balloon Belly: Homer's powers.
- Berserk Button: If the alien had known anal probing happened to be his berserk button, then maybe Cletus would’ve just left. Well, because they did it anyways, cue Cletus.
- Biting the Hand Humor: While the original show constantly mocks Fox, the game constantly mocks EA.
- Bottomless Pits
- Bragging Rights Award: Getting all the collectibles gives the Simpsons unlimited energy for their attacks.
- Breaking the Fourth Wall:
- The Simpsons are quite aware they're in a Video Game.
- One with hilariously self-referential cutscenes.
- Though apparently the Sea Captain is the only one who's aware of the series it's based on.
- Ralph Wiggum is aware that "someone's looking at me!"
- The Simpsons are quite aware they're in a Video Game.
- Brick Joke: In Bartman Begins, the mastermind behind the robbery is revealed to be Skinner. In Mob Rules, he is a recruitable character, and is found in front of the museum he tried to rob.
- During the first cutscene of The Big Super Happy Fun Fun Game, Homer refuses to eat any sushi ("unless it's full of chocolate and there's no sushi in it"). The only available food in the level is sushi, and he eats it anyway. This is just a gameplay mechanic, but it's still hilarious.
- The Cameo: Sideshow Bob is working with Kang & Kodos. Bart lampshades how weird it is that he'd be working with the aliens; Bob advises Bart to "Try not to think about it too much, and instead just focus on what an unexpected treat it is to see me here".
- Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkeys: The French villagers in Medal Of Homer play this trope straight to a frankly absurd degree. Young Abraham Simpson even calls the French like this in the same segment.
- Just to be clear about this, the first mission in the level is a Fetch Quest to remove all the white flags from a French city.
- Cliché Storm: One of the collectibles in the game is "Video Game Cliché Moments", as pointed out by Comic Book Guy.
- Creator Cameo: Not only does Matt make an appearance, he's also a boss.
- Crossover: Near the end of the game, The Simpsons fight clones of Bender and Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama in the Groening mansion, where they're summoned by none other than the man himself.
- Damn You, Muscle Memory!: There is a Dance Dance Revolution parody/ShoutOut in the final level of the game, but the arrows are in the wrong place for those familiar with the real game. It should be left-down-up-right, EA Games, not left-right-up-down!
- Double Jump
- Eiffel Tower Effect: The Around the World in 80 Bites episode.
- Escort Mission: Medal of Homer has one. Abe lampshades it and Comic Book Guy declares it the Worst Video Game Cliché Ever.
- Exploding Barrels: "Frustrating and AND hackneyed"
- Genre Savvy: All of the Simpsons, but Bart in particular.
- Gotta Catch Em All: Each character has a set of items to collect in each level.
- Groin Attack: At the end of "Shadow of the Colossal Donut", when Bart and Homer take down the Lard Lad Donuts mascot statue, Homer continually pounds the fallen statue in the crotch, with Bart telling him to show some dignity in victory.
- Halfway Plot Switch: In typical Simpsons fashion. The story starts out normal before it turns into an Alien Invasion and the family flees into the world of video games to try and find help. When that story is concluded, Bart reminds Homer that they're still under attack from aliens.
- Helium Speech: Occurs when Homer inflates himself.
- Honor Before Reason: Lisa does want to stop the Alien Invasion but if that means being dishonest. Bart has no such compunctions.
- Humanoid Female Animal: The orange female prostitute cats look more humanoid than Scratchy.
- Hypocrite:
- In trying to protect the trees, Lisa murders the loggers.
- Marge, as Lisa points out, isn't any better. She's opposed to the violence of Grand Theft Scratchy but she used violence to get her way.
- I Choose to Stay: Thanks to Interspecies Romance, Frink chooses to stay in the Game Engine.
- Interspecies Romance: Professor Frink's relationship with his new turtle bride.
- Invisible Wall: Because the game doesn't go on forever.
- Lampshade Hanging: The Clichés, obviously.
- Lethal Lava Land: "It's not that original."
- Levels Take Flight: A fight occurs on a flying boat.
- Meet Your Early Installment Weirdness: The HD Simpsons meet heavily-pixelated NES counterparts.
- Mini Game: The Simpsons Game.
- Moral Guardians: Marge as always. Though as Lisa points out, Marge's methods are just as violent as the media she's trying to censor.
- Mythology Gag: Everywhere. If you can't find three in every level, you're playing the wrong game.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Bart pointing out the Weaksauce Weakness of Kang and Kodos' mothership convinces the duo not to keep exposing the weakpoint before they upgrade to Death From Above, flying out of range of the Simpsons' attacks.
- No Fourth Wall
- Palette Swap
- Petting Zoo People: The orange female prostitute cats.
- Police Are Useless:
- The Springfield police force shows up after Bartman had defeated Skinner.
- No one but the Simpsons tries to fight against the Alien Invasion.
- As Homer points out, mall security will only show up if someone is taking a wizz in the fountain.
- The Power of Jazz: Lisa can knock people out with a few notes on her saxophone.
- Power-Up: Every family member has one that makes them deal more damage as well as being temporarily invincible.
- Rage Against the Author: Simpsons vs Groening. After beating him up, the family call him out for milking their franchise.
- Rage Against the Heavens: When defeating Groening doesn't stop the chaos in Springfield, they take it the one person more powerful than him - God.
- Reality Ensues:
- Lisa stops the deforestation, but she also put a whole workforce out of work.
- Bart turns his slingshot against a Flying Saucer capable of interstellar warfare. He doesn't even scratch it.
- Respawning Enemies: "Infinite bad guys from a small door. Way to rip off the clown car."
- RPG Episode: Homer and Marge go through a level called "Neverquest" and Homer and Lisa go through JRPG battles in "Big Super Happy Fun Fun Game".
- Self-Deprecation: Matt Groening's cameo.
- With a hell of a Take That in the mix:
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Matt Groening: "Your creator is TV's most beloved animation visionary!" |
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- Shout-Out: To a metric ton of other video games. Even Hotel Mario, when the Mario Expy says at the end "I hope it's a-spaghetti!". Not a lot of tropers are willing to describe them, but you have a list of them in The Simpsons wiki. [1]
- Slippy-Slidey Ice World
- Slogan Yelling Megaphone Guy: Marge.
- Space X:
- "I told you to pick up your space-rake!"
- "Space me agrees!"
- Super Drowning Skills: It's not the sequel yet.
- This Loser Is You: Oddly enough, God fills this role.
- Trailers Always Spoil: Sideshow Bob is revealed as working with Kang & Kodos for the purpose of making a cameo. This would be a surprise... If the game's advertising didn't mention the surprise cameo whilst showing the character's distinctive silhouette.
- Versus Character Splash: In Big Super Happy Fun Fun Game, when you fight the Sparklemons.
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: You can beat up and knock out characters walking around Springfield. You can have Homer beat the crap out of Sherri and Terri.
- Video Game Tutorial: Because you wouldn't read the manual.
- Villain Team-Up: Sideshow Bob, merely so that this trope can be lampshaded, is working with Kang and Kodos. Though Bob insists that there's a long reason for it before he steps on a rake and knocks himself out.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Marge has the power to bend people to her will, which she uses to create a mob who destroy a bunch of Video Game merchandise and advertisements, as well as beating a bunch of innocents in the process. She does this in the name of censorship.
- Widget Series: "Big Super Happy Fun Fun Game" is a pastiche of weird Japanese video games, including references to Pokémon and Katamari Damacy.
- Worst Whatever Ever
- You Could Have Used Your Powers for Good: What the Simpsons argue about after the tutorial levels. Problem is, they have differing definitions of what constitutes "good".