The Simpsons Game (Xbox 360)

The Simpsons have never had a good track record with video game spinoffs. From Bart's Nightmare to Bart vs. the Space Mutants to... Christ, did every late 80's/early 90's Simpsons game star Bart? Anyway, the Simpsons arcade game was the only good one, and the Simpsons Game doesn't do anything to change that.

The one thing this game has going for it is the writing, which was done by actual Simpsons writers and is sharp throughout the game. They never miss an opportunity to lampoon video games, running the gamut from modern games like Grand Theft Auto and God of War, to switching up the actual gameplay into parodies of old-school classics like Space Invaders, Gauntlet, and Missile Command.

Unfortunately, while the humor is strong, the gameplay is not. Combat is clunky, mainly entailing button-mashing and hoping you don’t get hit too much. The platforming, like many 3D games, is hit-or-miss, in the sense that you’re never sure if you’ll make it to the platform you’re aiming for. One of the elements of the game involves Comic Book Guy popping up to make fun of game clichés when you encounter them. The obvious question is: if they’re clichés, why include them in the first place?

Playing through the Simpsons Game is a frustrating experience saved only by the quality of the writing. You’d do better to look the game up on YouTube and watch someone else play it to see the funny bits.

2 out of 5