Oct 30, 2007

Not so much a cohesive game as a series of "episodes" with co-op play in mind, The Simpsons Game is nonetheless consistently funny, occasionally inspired, not too taxing and diverse. A bit like your average episode of the TV show then, which is why this is head and shoulders above the spin-off games that have clouded Springfield's finest down the years.

It starts with a typically bizarre Homer dream involving chocolate rabbits, and from there goes all post-modern when Bart discovers a manual for The Simpsons Game that gives his family superpowers.

What follows is a torrent of videogame-related in-jokes, references and sly digs at clichés, most of which hit the funny bone square-on, while the few that don't pass by so quickly there's barely any time to notice. Highlights are the backlash started by Marge and Lisa against the Grand Theft Scatchy game, the Tomb Raider-esque museum in Bartman Begins, and the Medal of Homer level with its own version of Castle Wolfenstein; there are more subtle parodies if you keep your eyes peeled and your ears tuned to the snappy dialogue.