The Simpsons Game

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Hilarious game with many inside jokes for fans.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that this game is about as controversial as the television show. It includes Itchy & Scratchy blood and violence (for the uninitiated, that's the show's parody of violent cat-and-mouse cartoons), some minor curse words, a few sexual references, and so on. In other words, if you let your kids watch the show there isn't anything in the game that will raise a red flag.

  • Inappropriate role model behavior, but that's the source of the humor.
  • Some animated blood in one or two levels (later on in the game).
  • Some sexual references, such as saying Marge's eyes look like "boobs."
  • Some words might offend including "hell," "damn," "butt."
  • Some references to pop culture and other video games.
  • A few references to drinking alcohol, smoking, but nothing major.

What's it about?

With a zany story line crafted by the Emmy award-winning writers from the TV show, the Simpsons family -- Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie -- are aware they're trapped inside THE SIMPSONS GAME, and so they use their newfound special powers to live out their fantasies and help save their town of Springfield. For example, the overweight father Homer can unleash a serious belch or change into a giant ball of fat to roll over enemies, while bad-boy Bart, armed with a slingshot, can peg off baddies with ease or glide through the air with his Bartman cape. Most missions let you play as one of two characters, and in some cases you'll need to use one in particular to take advantage of their abilities. When playing alone, the game's artificial intelligence controls the other family member, but at any time a second player can pick up a controller to start playing.


Is it any good?

 

This video game enjoys smooth "cel-shaded" animation that resembles the TV cartoon, even with the move to 3-D. The game offers 16 distinct "episodes" and more than 8,000 lines of dialogue. While a fan of the TV show will get a lot more out of The Simpsons Game than someone who is not, it's evident a tremendous amount of effort and detail went into this ambitious game. The end result is an adventure that's more fun than making a crank call to Moe's Tavern.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about how The Simpsons animated TV show was considered very offensive back in the early '90s -- Bart's underachieving attitude, Homer's language (which upset his religious neighbor, Ned), and some violence and gore -- but is this as big a deal today? Does the game push the envelope as the show did in its day, or is it now seen as clever, irreverent social satire? Does the game feel like an interactive episode of the show?


This review was written by Marc Saltzman
Teen, 18 years old
February 9, 2011
 
the end is hard.

Flag as inappropriate 
Parent of 13 and 14 year old
August 27, 2010
 

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Kid, 13 years old
August 2, 2011
 
Fun game
Geeky, cheezy adventure game. The Simpsons fans will love it!

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Kid, 11 years old
March 15, 2011
 
This is very good. Violence: The Simpsons game includes a frequent amount of punching and kicking. Sex: Kodos says: "killing humans is like s-x" Language: there is one use of "son of a b--ch" and "b--ch" Consumerism: Bart buys a video game called: "Grand Theft Scratchy" Alcahol: Lots of drinking.

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Kid, 12 years old
February 9, 2011
 
Good for mature kids 10+
I really like this game. I have been a simpsons fan for a long time and this was really enjoyable. Though it does have some more inappropriate language towards the end, I think that simpsons fans will enjoy it.

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Kid, 13 years old
October 23, 2009
 
Off 9- Iffy 10-12 On 13+
Seems pretty cool, but probably not that appropriate 4 me.

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Kid, 10 years old
January 25, 2011
 
WORST GAME EFER
warning do not play the last level

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Kid, 11 years old
May 19, 2011
 
its okay
if you watch the show there will be nothing wrong with it

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Teen, 14 years old
April 21, 2010
 
A zany adventure for kids of 9 and up
This is a simple brawler clashed with an adventure game. It is really good as it easy to play. Although it does include lots of fighting (Nothing graphic) and when they die the spirit goes to heaven, Homer tries to get it on with Marge in one of the cutscenes, there is a lot of cursing including "b***h", you will notice a EA and Starbucks pop up, they portray god as a drinker and the Simpsons are very bad role models.

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Parent of 5, 7, 12, and 17 year old
March 10, 2010
 
fine for older kids, but the language is iffy.
My 6 year old son really likes this game, but it wasn't until late into the game that the language got bad... where Bart says things like "Kick ass" and Homer makes references to being "too drunk". But there was one point late in the game that there is a parody of "Grand Theft Auto" where Marge says "Where's my Bitches!"... I get the joke, but my son doesn't need to hear that. If there was a way to turn off (or tone down) the language, it would be ok.

Flag as inappropriate 

This review was written by Marc Saltzman
Platforms:Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 2, PSP
Available online?Not available online
Genre:Action/Adventure
Developer:Electronic Arts
Release date:November 1, 2007
Price:$29.99+
ESRB rating:T for Alcohol and Tobacco Reference, Animated Blood, Cartoon Violence, Crude Humor, Language, Suggestive Themes

This review was written by Marc Saltzman

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About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

 

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