CES 2010 Hands On: The Simpsons Arcade for iPhone, iPod Touch
by at January 7, 2010 5:24 pm
Sections: 2D, Action, Adventure, Arcade, CES, Conventions, Developers, Features, Fighting, Game-Companies, Genres, Handhelds, iPhone & iPod Touch & iPad, Originals, Publishers, Smartphones
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I’ve been a huge fan of The Simpsons for as long as I can remember. The Simpsons Arcade Game was even one of the games I wanted to see a modern remake of. EA Mobile took what made the original arcade game fun and shrunk it down for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
The Simpsons Arcade is a 2D side-scroller based around a misadventure of Homer Simpson. One day while leaving Moe’s Tavern he spots a donut. When the donut starts rolling away, Homer chases after it without knowing the donuts terrible secret. The donut contains a flash drive that exposes a scheme that involves some popular Simpson’s characters. A silly story, yes, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from a Simpson’s game.
You control Homer’s movement with a virtual directional pad on the left of the screen. You also have two buttons on the right side of the screen for punching and jumping. Homer fights various suited goons in front of some of Springfield’s landmarks. Occasionally an icon with Bart, Lisa or Marge’s face will appear on screen that acts as a super move for Homer. For example Bart will jump on Homer’s shoulders with a slingshot and fire automatically in the direction Homer is facing, and Marge will cause Homer to flail around punching things (thanks to a nail gun attack by Maggie).
The action is broken up by having segments in which Homer must dodge bombs thrown by Mayor Quimby and other mini-games I didn’t get to see. Tilt controls are used when Homer gets a Marge power up and you must slap Homer across the face to awaken him when you run out of energy.
Unfortunately The Simpsons Arcade is single player only. There’s no local or internet based cooperative play like the original. I asked an EA Mobile representative if downloadable content will appear in future and was told they don’t announce DLC before it’s completed. However the representative did point out their continued support of Command and Conquer: Red Alert on the iPhone so maybe there’s still hope.
Overall The Simpsons Arcade is a very pretty game to look at. The animations are crisp and smooth without any slowdown. The virtual d-pad was acceptable but not perfect by any means. That small gripe won’t spoil the experience for you.
The Simpsons Arcade is available now for $4.99 from the App Store.
Read [Gamertell at CES]
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