Bart vs the Space Mutants (Second Review)


Title		Bart vs the Space Mutants (Second Review)
Game Type       Platform
Company		Acclaim/Ocean Software (1991)
Players		1
Compatibility	All
HD Installable	Yes (With Aminet Patch)
Submission	Seppo Typpö (groucho@pp.inet.fi) Profiled Reviewer

Review
Of all the animated TV series, 'The Simpsons' is without doubt one of
the most popular. It comes as no surprise some game companies try to
exploit this phenomenon by producing some officially licensed games based
on the popular characters.

"The Simpsons - Bart vs The Space Mutants" is one of these games. It is a
horizontally scrolling platform game with arcade and puzzle elements. The
game revolves around Bart Simpson, the family's only son who has recently
discovered that Space Mutants are invading Planet Earth (or more closely,
his home town, Springfield).

While trying to save Springfield and the rest of the Earth, the player has
to guide Bart over the five levels of the game, all of which have
different tasks for you to accomplish. To aid his mission, suitable
objects and helpful Simpson family members can be found in each level.
Bart has a limited number of lives (three) but more can be collected
during the missions.

The game has some strong points - the puzzles on each level are quite
clever, elevating the gameplay above the ordinary jump-collect
objects-shoot tactics. The levels are generally well designed and guiding
Bart under precise joystick control is pure pleasure.

The game's only flaw comes from the number of lives and its effect on the
gameplay. 'Bart vs Space Mutants' is a nice little game but it could have
been so much better if Acclaim would have concentrated a little more on
the puzzle elements and a little less on pixel-perfect arcade action.
Persisent players will play this game through but many players will find
the going too hard and will give up, missing a good portion of this clever
game.

Overall, "The Simpson - Bart vs The Space Mutants" is one of the better
license games. The graphics are nice, the music is suitably funky and
there's an animated intro, too. With slightly better tuning in the
gameplay this could have been a classic, now it is merely a very good, but
difficult platform game.



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