The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror is a Simpsons-themed video game created in 2001 by Fox Interactive, Software Creations, and THQ Inc. for the Game Boy Color based off of the show's Treehouse of Horror Halloween Episodes.
It's Halloween night, and the Simpsons are telling ghost stories in Bart's treehouse. When Homer's pathetic attempt at telling a scary story ends up boring the entire family to sleep, they find themselves having an out of body experience, landing in the world of the Treehouse of Horror, where every day is Halloween. The only way to escape is to get to the top of the tree, which is accomplished by making it through the levels of the game, each one based off of a classic TOH segment.
Tropes:
- Adaptational Badass: In the original "King Homer" segment, King Homer was so unfit that when he tried to climb the skyscraper, he couldn't even make it up one floor before becoming too exhausted to continue. In this game, he successfully makes it to the top.
- Adaptational Protagonist: Several levels have the player playing as a different Simpson family member than the protagonist of the original Treehouse of Horror short.
- In "Fly vs Fly," the original protagonist was Bart. In "Flying Tonight," it's Maggie.
- "Plan 9 From Outer Springfield" combines the plots of "Dial 'Z' for Zombies" and "The HΩmega Man." In the first short, the protagonists were Bart and Lisa, while the latter one had Homer. In "Plan 9," however the protagonist is Marge.
- "Bart Simpson's Dracula" had Lisa as the protagonist, with Bart acting as a Decoy Protagonist. In "Vlad All Over" however, the protagonist is Homer.
- In "Nightmare Cafeteria," the protagonist is implied to be Bart given that the ending reveals it to be his nightmare. In the level based on the short, however, the protagonist is Lisa.
- Adaptational Villainy: In Treehouse of Horror V's "Nightmare Cafeteria" segment, Willie tried to save the Springfield Elementary kids from being eaten by the teachers and staff (and ended up with his third axe to the back of the special for his troubles). In the level based of the short, he's part of the staff actively hunting down Lisa.
- All There in the Manual: The plot of the game is only explained in the game's instruction manual that comes with it.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Each level has the player take control of a different Simpson family member. Homer is the only Simpson to be playable in multiple levels, and even then he has a different appearance each time: normal Homer in "Vlad All Over", robot Homer in "If I Only Had a Body" and King Homer in "King Homer".
- Big Fancy Castle: The fourth level, "Vlad All Over" takes place in the Vampire Mr. Burns' castle.
- Body Horror: The second level, "Flying Tonight" has Maggie take up Bart's role in "Fly vs Fly."
- Brats with Slingshots: In the first level, "Bad Dream House", Bart can use his slingshot to defeat enemies.
- The Cameo:
- Several Blinky's show up as enemies in the sub-basement of "Bad Dream House."
- One of the obstacles Maggie needs to maneuver around in "Flying Tonight" are boxes of Mr. Sparkle detergent.
- Credits Gag: Much like the segments from the show the game is based on, this game's credits sequence has the game's programmers being given spooky names like Trevor "Brain Dead" Bent and "Murderous" Matt Green.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Principal Skinner shows up as the second-to-last boss in "Plan 9 From Outer Springfield" before becoming the main villain in "Nightmare Cafeteria."
- Eternal Engine: The fifth level, "If I Only Had a Body", takes place in the Nuclear Power Plant. Here, Homer's head is on a robot body, and he must find the five pieces of his human body while dodging the workers and hazards.
- Gainax Ending: The game ends with each member of the family falling out of the tree, only to be abducted by an alien spacecraft (presumably Kang and Kodos') before cutting back to the title screen.
- Gotta Rescue Them All: "Nightmare Cafeteria" sees Lisa sneaking around Springfield Elementary trying to find the keys to the cages holding Bart, Milhouse, Martin, Uter, and one of the Sherri/Terri twins before they're eaten while trying to avoid getting caught by Principal Skinner, Groundskeeper Willie, Mrs. Krabappel, Miss Hoover, Mr. Largo, and Lunchlady Doris.
- Haunted House: The first level sees Bart needing to rescue Santa's Little Helper from the attic of one.
- "King Kong" Climb: Given that the final level is "King Homer," this trope is obviously coming. And unlike in the actual episode, Homer makes it to the top this time.
- Macro Zone: In "Flyin' Tonight", Maggie is shrunk down to the size of a fly and must navigate the Simpson family's kitchen in order to activate a matter transporter that will turn her back to her normal self, dodging Venus flytraps, bees, spiders, and pots that cook green goop.
- Power-Up Food: Collecting donuts restores lost health, with how much depending on how many bites have been taken out of it. A whole donut fully restores the health bar, one with one bite in it restores two hearts on the bar, and one with multiple bites restores one heart.
- Puzzle Boss: Unlike the other bosses in the gamenote , Vampire Mr. Burns in "Vlad All Over" doesn't have a health meter to drain to defeat him. Instead, Homer has to jump on the curtains in Burns' basement coffin room, opening them up and letting sunlight into the room, gradually forcing Burns into the corner upon which Homer opens the final curtain, bringing sunlight down onto Burns and disintegrating him.
- Rise to the Challenge: In "Vlad All Over", there's a section where thorny vines start growing, and will instantly kill Homer if he gets caught in them. Homer must climb to the top of the castle as the vines grow.
- School Setting Simulation: The sixth level, "Nightmare Cafeteria" is based on the "Treehouse of Horror V" episode segment of the same name. In this level, the children of Springfield Elementary School are being held prisoner by the faculty, and Lisa has to find the keys to their cages and rescue them without being caught by the faculty before time runs out.
- Shout-Out:
- The first level's boss is an anthropomorphic broomstick.
- Homer's robot body in "If I Only Had a Body" resembles Bender's body.
- The Unfought: Despite being behind Homer's predicament in "If I Only Had a Body", Mr. Burns does not appear at all in the level. Possibly justified, since he was just fought in the previous level.
- Vampire Episode: The fourth level, "Vlad All Over" is based on the Treehouse of Horror IV episode segment, "Bart Simpson's Dracula". In this level, Homer must seek and defeat the vampire Mr. Burns in his castle.
- Zombie Apocalypse: "Plan 9 From Outer Springfield," a combination of the plots of "Dial 'Z' for Zombies" and "The HΩmega Man" sees the entirety of Springfield become zombies except for the Simpsons. Playing as Marge, the player needs to make it back to the Simpsons' house blasting zombies and fighting bosses based off of zombie versions of Apu, Moe, Principal Skinner, and Krusty the Clown along the way.
