History VideoGame / TheSimpsons

* AdaptationalVillainy: Mr. Smithers, who robs a jewelry store for a mere diamond and attacks by throwing handfuls of bombs around with reckless abandon. [[JustifiedTrope This is due to the video game taking place in the early days of the show, before he received character development and he was only established to be Mr. Burns' right-hand man.]]

* AdaptationalHeroism: Nelson and Sideshow Bob appear in the fifth level, offering a slingshot and PowerUpFood to the family respectively.

* PowerUpFood: Occasionally, characters like Sheri and Teri, Millhouse, or Sideshow Bob show up with things like chicken, hamburgers or the like that refill your LifeMeter. Also, hitting a tree can sometimes cause an apple to fall that does the same thing. You even get special responses when you grab them:
-->'''Marge:''' Whoo! Look out, World!\\
'''Homer:''' [[SignatureLaugh Heh heh heh heh heh!]]\\
'''Bart:''' Alright, let's go for it, man!\\
'''Lisa:''' All right!

-->'''Marge:''' This burns me up.\\
'''Homer:''' Yeesh! I'm fried!\\
'''Bart:''' I'm toasted, man!\\
'''Lisa:''' Hey! No fair!

* ColorCodedMultiplayer: Not the characters themselves, but the status displays of each player are uniquely colored depending on the character.
** Marge - Red.
** Homer - Blue.
** Bart - Green.
** Lisa - Orange.
*** In the Japanese 4-Player version, the colors of Bart and Lisa's status displays are switched.
*** In the 2-Player version, player 1's character select cursor is red while player 2's is blue.

** Bart is wearing a blue shirt instead of the signature red shirt he's well-known for (though he wears his red shirt in the intro).

* ElevatorActionSequence: The secret passage from the Discount Cemetery leads to a slowly descending elevator that leads to Moe's Tavern.

** The fat thugs in the second half of the cementary qualify, Homer himself to a lesser extent.

** If you look at a spritesheet, Marge's rabbit ears also show up occasionally.

* GameGourmet: Weaponized foods (drinks) aside, you can restore your life with apples, oranges, corn, burgers, donuts, roast chickens, hot dogs, and pies. Some items are obtainable from fruit trees or [=NPCs=], while others are simply strewn about.

Due to Acclaim's home console license for ''The Simpsons'' in the 8-bit and 16-bit eras, it was not ported to any of the major consoles of the era. However, it was ported to the UsefulNotes/{{Commodore 64}} and as a [=DOS=] title, but due to obvious technical limitations, they couldn’t live up to their bigger brother. Thanks to MAME technology, the game can be emulated in all its original glory on modern computers. Outside of MAME, an online-capable port of the game was released as a downloadable title for UsefulNotes/{{Xbox Live Arcade}} and UsefulNotes/{{PlayStation Network}} in early February 2012, just ahead of the [[MilestoneCelebration 500th episode]] of the series. Unfortunately, it's been delisted from both services.

--->'''Mr. Burns''': (''bursts through the wall of his office'') Welcome to your ''grave'', suckers!
* AdaptationalHeroism: Nelson and Sideshow Bob appear in the fifth level, offering a slingshot and PowerUpFood to the family respectively.

-->'''Smithers:''' Welcome to ''my'' world!

** The rabbits from Matt Groening's ''ComicStrip/LifeInHell'' comic strip, appearing in the pre-level bumpers and even as enemies (well, mooks dressed as them at least)! And as a gag, Marge’s XRaySparks animation reveal her to be a rabbit in disguise.

--->'''Marge''': Whoo! Look out, World!\\
'''Homer''': [[SignatureLaugh Heh heh heh heh heh!]]\\
'''Bart''': Alright, let's go for it, man!\\
'''Lisa''': All right!

* StrawNihilist: Lisa's quote in the intro is "embrace nothingness" (which doesn't make sense, especially long before she became a Buddhist). It may be a reference to the episode "Moaning Lisa," but is more likley a case of EarlyInstalmentWeirdness.

* GoodOldFisticuffs: While Marge has a vacuum cleaner, Bart has his skateboard, and Lisa [[WhipItGood uses her jump rope]], Homer decides to let his fists (and feet and flying cross body dives) do the talking.

* VocalDissonance: Mr. Burns and Smithers have very different voices than in the show. It can be quite jarring to long-time viewers.

* WhipItGood: Lisa's jump rope serves as her weapon.

* EarlyBirdBoss: Werner von Brawn has unpredictable attack patterns which makes him a surprisingly difficult first level boss.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: For the franchise as a whole, though in all fairness the cartoon was still in its infancy (the show was only in its second season when this was released, and all indications are that the team working on the game only had the first season and some pre-production and merchandising material to work from), so it's understandable that many aspects of the game are inconsistent with what has since been established in the cartoon.

* SlapstickKnowsNoGender: Lisa and Marge are just as susceptible to slapstick as Bart and Homer are.

A game inspired by it, ''The Simpsons Arcade'', was released by EA Games for the [=iPhone=]. This game had a different plot: Though Burns and Smithers are still the villains, they now have a scheme involving putting a chip in a donut and recruiting ten other recurring characters as bosses: [[BadCopIncompetentCop Chief Wiggum]], [[SleazyPolitician Mayor Quimby]], [[NewJobAsThePlotDemands the Squeaky Voiced Teen]], [[BadBoss Roger Meyers, Jr.]], [[GratuitousSpanish the Bumblebee Man]], [[KentBrockmanNews Kent Brockman]], [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Sideshow Mel]], [[DepravedKidsShowHost Krusty the Clown]], [[TheAhnold Rainer Wolfcastle]], and Rich Texan. Homer ends up bumping into Smithers as he is moving the donut, and, assuming it to be a normal donut, goes throughout six levels fighting the twelve members of the conspiracy to get it. Reception was decent, but it was criticized for having a name that might dupe people into thinking they’re buying ''this'' game. That's not to say they don't put nods to the original arcade though.

* DualBoss: The two thugs you encounter throughout the first three stages of the game. They can do a CombinationAttack just like player characters.

** Bart is wearing a blue shirt instead of the signature red shirt he's well-known for.

* StrawNihilist: Lisa's quote in the intro is "embrace nothingness" (which doesn't make sense, especially [[HilariousInHindsight long before she became a Buddhist]]). It may be a reference to the episode "Moaning Lisa," but is more likley a case of EarlyInstalmentWeirdness.

* VisualPun: When you defeat [[StraightGay Smithers]] in the Japanese version, he drops a bunch of healing fruit. This could also be seen as HilariousInHindsight, as the running joke about Smithers' homosexuality had yet to be developed in the show itself.

A game inspired by it, ''The Simpsons Arcade'', was released by EA Games for the [=iPhone=]. This game had a different plot: Though Burns and Smithers are still the villains, they now have a scheme involving putting a chip in a donut and recruiting ten other recurring characters as bosses: [[BadCopIncompetentCop Chief Wiggum]], [[SleazyPolitician Mayor Quimby]], [[NewJobAsThePlotDemands the Squeaky Voiced Teen]], [[BadBoss Roger Meyers, Jr.]], [[GratuitousSpanish the Bumblebee Man]], [[KentBrockmanNews Kent Brockman]], [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Sideshow Mel]], [[DepravedKidsShowHost Krusty the Clown]], [[TheAhnold Rainer Wolfcastle]], and [[CorruptHick Rich Texan]]. Homer ends up bumping into Smithers as he is moving the donut, and, assuming it to be a normal donut, goes throughout six levels fighting the twelve members of the conspiracy to get it. Reception was decent, but it was criticized for having a name that might dupe people into thinking they’re buying ''this'' game. That's not to say they don't put nods to the original arcade though.

** Mr. Smithers throws {{Cartoon Bomb}}s around the arena when you fight him.

* BadassCape: Mr. Smithers wears one in this game. It conceals his plethora of CartooonBombs.

* BadassCape: Mr. Smithers wears one in this game. It conceals his plethora of cherry bombs.

* StrawNihilist: Lisa's quote in the intro is "embrace nothingness" (which doesn't make sense, especially [[HilariousInHindsight long before she became a Buddhist]]). It's just another bit of that EarlyInstallmentWeirdness. Though it may have been a reference to the episode "Moaning Lisa".

* VocalDissonance: Mr. Burns and Smithers have much different voices than in the show. It can be quite jarring to long-time viewers.
* WeakButSkilled: Sort of played, Lisa logically shouldn't even be as physically strong due to being the youngest playable character at a single digit age, but with the help of her jump rope she can hit just as hard as her father using his fist. When she gets the mallet she is shown visibly having a problem holding it up (though it doesn't really affect her movement while holding it) and she hits just as hard with it as anyone else in her family.
* WeaponizedBall: A bowling ball (in bag), in waiting at the first boss. Homer puts a little wind-up into his throw if he takes it as well. There's also a billiard ball to throw in stage 4.

* WouldHurtAChild: Mr. Burns, Smithers along with the rest of the enemies have no issues with attacking and hurting Bart and Lisa, as well as physically grabbing and kidnapping Maggie.
** WouldHitAGirl: Likewise, they have no problems hitting Marge and Lisa.

* TheOtherDarrin: Creator/HarryShearer didn't lend his voice to this game, so Smithers and Mr. Burns have noticeably different voices.

** It's quite out of character for Smithers. He is usually shown to do the right thing in spite of his devotion to Mr. Burns. In one episode he didn't even want Burns taking candy from a baby. He's unlikely to go along with kidnapping one!

* CutLexLuthorACheck: Burns is the richest man in Springfield. Can't he just buy that diamond?
** JustifiedTrope: Burns is often shown to be tight-fisted as well as rich. He once complained about being ripped off because he was paying $3 a year in tax. He probably wanted the diamond to add to his riches rather than simply because he liked the diamond and didn't want to pay for it even if he could easily afford it.