Gaming Target - Game Boy: The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror

Written by Matt Swider on May 17, 2001

Review: Cooler than Millhouse, but not as hip as Disco Stu.

Hi-didly-ho gamereons! Most of us have watched and loved The Simpsons series on Fox through the years, and despite many recent failed attempts, THQ has decided to take on the license and create a Game Boy Color title based on the hit TV show. Not many Simpsons titles have matched up to the Fox's quality programming; to date, it seems that the classic Konami arcade game, which released more than ten years ago, is the only one to achieve that goal. However, with THQ behind the desk, will The Simpsons: Night of the Living tree House Horror find itself to be my Monty Burn's УExcellentФ, or merely another УWorst Game EverФ according to the Comic Book Guy?

From Software Creations, the developer of the numerous Rugrats games for Game Boy Color, comes an action title, with each level featuring a different Halloween episode from the TV series. Trying to avoid becoming a dull platform hopping title, this game offers a variety of challenges, giving each level a slightly different form of gameplay from Bart's 2D sidescrolling, to Maggie's flying through the second level, to Marge overhead gun shooting rampage, and so on. Yet, sadly, the mixture doesn't sit well, as some areas of the game are better than others. After a while, you will find yourself bored, playing through many of the levels just to finish up and head to the next one, rather than enjoying what the stage has to present.

Quite a few gamers within a younger audience will pick up this Simpsons game; however, will be greatly frustrated, as the game seems to be a bit challenging and its design flaws make it that much harder to complete. Another problem facing this game is the fact that THQ, as the company regularly does, opted to use passwords save method, instead of including battery-save feature. This makes playing through the game much more of a task and will further make playing seem less fun at times.

Though the attempt to include the variations of the Simpsons Halloween tune throughout the game seemed like a wise idea, you will be itching to turn the volume down as the soundtrack gets very annoying and repetitive after just a couple plays. With no sound effects to give the characters the ability to speak, the audio department has left out a major section that makes the TV series so funny and enjoyable to watch.