Developer: Arc Developments Publisher: Flying Edge Release: 1992 Genre: Action
Bart vs. the Space Mutants is one of the biggest crushing disappointments of my youth. As a huge fan of the Simpsons I looked forward to the game’s release despite being a licensed title. I should have known better by then; both Rambo and X-Men (both coincidentally also from Acclaim) made me weary of tie in titles. Yet I still had hope. But despite a creative first level the awful controls and terrible level design ruined what could have been a decent title. The Sega Genesis port could have at least fixed some of the game’s problems. Instead it is just as bad if not worse in some categories. The Simpsons deserved better during that period.
Bart vs. the Space Mutants was created early in the show’s run. As the series premiered in 1989 and the game was initially released in 1991 for the NES that meant they had little to base it on. Even still the game’s premise was sound: Bart discovers aliens have invaded Springfield using his X-ray glasses. As he is the only one who can see through their disguise he sets out to foil their plans. The game had promise with a strong initial level that had creative use of mechanics and plenty of nods to the show. But its terrible control made it a chore to play. Even though it was a different development team they could, no should, have fixed this at the very least. Instead they opted for a straight port, warts and all.
The one area I hoped would be addressed in this edition of the game is the controls. On the NES both run and jump use the same button. This makes performing a running jump, a crucial skill, frustrating. Unfortunately the Sega game uses the same setup despite having three buttons. In fact it adds another annoying layer: to switch items you must pause the game to cycle through your inventory! This is the biggest missed opportunity to make this a more playable title. Don’t get me wrong, even if these issues did not exist there are still plenty of other problems that make this a game not worth your time.
The game has a strong start. The first level challenges you to cover all up a set number of purple objects, be it with spray paint, clothes, or water. It has an adventure game vibe as you use the coins collected to buy items to aid in this task. Cherry bombs can scare animals away, bottle rockets will switch signs, etc. There are even events that only occur at certain times on the clock. You have a generous amount of time to play around and do not need to hit every obstacle to complete the level. Had the entire game been more of this more would remember it fondly.
Unfortunately after the great initial outing Bart vs. the Space Mutants becomes a generic platformer with a Simpsons skin. It is at this point the control deficiencies cannot be ignored. Tying both run and jump to the same button will forever remain an idiotic decision. The game calls on precision platforming heavily and trying to perform running jumps consistently will make you question if the designers even played the game they were creating. This is an absurdly difficult game as a result and is more challenging here as there are less extra lives and still no continues. It reaches its peak in its final level, a long maze of platforming hell that nearly made me punch the wall in frustration.
One of the main reasons to bring games to a new platform aside from sales is to provide visual enhancements. Bart vs. the Space Mutants is disappointing in that regard. The sprites are slightly larger than their Nintendo counterpart and certain characters are more recognizable like Moe. But plenty of characters look worse than in the NES game. The color palette is more vivid but looks garish and ugly. The one area I have no complaint is the addition of parallax scrolling but you cannot help but feel they could have done more. This also applies to the music. The NES game infamously used the Simpsons theme song throughout the entire game. The Sega game has a few songs to break up the tedium. Unfortunately all of the music is bad. They even removed the theme song altogether! I will take the one repetitive them over awful music any day.
In Closing
Avoid Bart vs. the Space Mutants. Whether it is on the NES or the Sega Genesis this is a bad game. Even after all these years I still wonder what went wrong. Did they spend too long on the first stage and quickly cobbled together the rest of the game? The world may never know. What I do know is that you should not waste your time on this drek.
