Probably shouldn’t piss off the world.
PLAYERS: 1
PUBLISHER: Acclaim
DEVELOPER: Imagineering
GENRE: Platformer
RELEASE DATE: December 1991
Less than a year after the atrocity that was Bart Vs. The Space Mutants comes Bart Vs. The World, a slightly better, if still underwhelming use of the coveted Simpsons license. This go-round, Bart wins a contest put on by Krusty the Clown and (wait for it)… The Simpsons are going to China! And the North Pole! And, if you have patience, Egypt and Hollywood; not really “The World,” just a few choice locales. Mr. Burns has rigged the contest to make Bart and the rest of the Simpsons win. Why? To rid his life of the Simpsons forever. But why does Mr. Burns hates the Simpsons so much? He’s traditionally ambivalent towards the family, and for a number of years, could never remember Homer’s name. But it doesn’t matter, the story is merely a poor excuse for the game to begin.
Bart Vs. The World has mediocre platforming gameplay, sans objectives (outside of collecting any miscellaneous crap you can find). Jumping is, once again, needlessly difficult, though I do feel it’s a bit improved over Space Mutants. Still, learn how to jump with Bart in China, or you may as well put the family vacation on hold. Each area you visit has two levels and a smattering of mini-games. The mini-games aren’t necessary to completing each location, but you’ll want to do them anyway. If you win, you get collectible Krusty heads. Get enough Krusty heads at the end of each stage and you’ll get more lives – lives you will need if you’re thinking about going to Hollywood.
Bart Vs. The World is such an improvement over Space Mutants that one might be deceived into believing that it’s a good game. It isn’t. The levels are boring, frustrating, and apart from the Great Wall of China skateboarding portion, forgettable. Like in Space Mutants, the graphics have a washed-out, graininess, and the music is the Simpsons theme put on a nightmarish loop. Consider Bart Vs. The World like a modern-day Simpsons episode: a few decent bits, surrounded by an otherwise terrible script that couldn’t be less amusing if it tried.
C-
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3 replies on “#572 – The Simpsons: Bart Vs. The World”
This and Space Mutants were both disappointing to me. I rented them on the weekends, played them, and more or less forgot about them after beating them both.
Beat the game?! God among men.
This, like the previous Simpsons outing was shit. Again, gauging I may have been a little too young for the title at the time I still found it needlessly difficult and devoid of ‘fun’.
The SNES game, Bart’s Nightmare or something was at least different and sometimes interesting at time.
Big ol pass on this one in my opinion. 🙂
Sleepyweasel
As a kid I used to live on an isolated peninsula and was so bored out of my mind i beat Bart Vs The World getting the “special” ending.