- The Simpsons Wrestling Characters
- Wrestling Characters List
- Simpson University Wrestling
- Simpsons Wrestling Download
A Sony Playstation Video Game Review
- The Simpsons Skateboarding is a skateboarding video game based on the animated sitcom, The Simpsons that was released for the PlayStation 2 in North America on November 13, 2002. The game was developed by the The Code Monkeys and published by Fox Interactive and Electronic Arts. The story and dialogue were crafted by writers from The Simpsons.
- May 17, 2006 The Simpsons Wrestling Review In the end, wit and charm are the two most redeeming features of The Simpsons Wrestling, as it simply can't survive on its gameplay alone.
PlayStation 2 In The Simpsons Skateboarding, Bart's not the only one on the skateboarding scene. The Annual Skate Tour has come to Springfield, and the entire town has gone skate-crazy for halfpipes, ramps, and rails. In five game modes, you can choose from eight unlockable characters.
By Aldo
![Simpsons Wrestling Characters Simpsons Wrestling Characters](https://tiermaker.com/includes/image-resizer.php?url=https://tiermaker.com//images/tier-lists/1554129405.png&w=300&h=300)
![Characters Characters](https://p7.hiclipart.com/preview/737/959/600/bart-simpson-homer-simpson-lisa-simpson-marge-simpson-moe-szyslak-bart-simpson.jpg)
But, this article isn't about WCW, or the WWF for that matter.
This page does have to do with wrestling, but it's more about consumer protection. Allow me to explain.
Let's say you're walking down the street and you end up meeting me by chance. I tell you that a new wrestling game is coming out for the Sony Playstation, and if you had to pick between that and WCW Nitro, you'd want to pick Nitro. Naturally, your reaction is to laugh and call me a blithering idiot.
Well, a new wrestling game has come out by Fox Interactive, and it's called Simpsons Wrestling. If you couldn't tell by the title, it's professional wrestling, Simpsons style. And guess what? If you had a choice between this and WCW Nitro, you would probably be better off with Nitro!
Okay, if you haven't played Nitro (or its bastard offspring, WCW Thunder), let's just say that as a wrestling game, it makes a great drink coaster. Everyone has the same moves and animation, the game slows down with more than two people on the screen and you can literally win matches in less than a minute. So, why am I saying that Simpsons Wrestling is worse than Nitro? Read on.
(Note: ratings for each category are done using the DDT Digest Spice scale, with DUD being the low score and five Spices being the highest.)
GAMEPLAY
You get to select from Springfield's finest, with several hidden characters that have to be unlocked. The matches are one-on-one, with no tag team option. You do get to select how many falls you must win to take the match, though.
After some loading time, you finally get to play. You'll note that not only do you have a life bar, but a stamina bar as well. I'll explain this in a bit.
Anyway, time to wreck havoc on your foe! Unfortunately, your character cannot do much in terms of wreaking havoc. You get a ground attack, which differs per character. For instance, Homer can punch, while Groundskeeper Willie swings a mean rake. There is a special move that can be done with the 'O' button, but you must have full stamina or you can't pull it off. Again, this differs per character. So, if you're Barney Gumble you'll belch at your enemy, leaving a cloud which does damage. Krusty The Clown swings a mean mallet, but is hard to control while doing so. Oh yeah, you lose stamina when you punch as well, so after about ten or so swings, you're blown up like The Warrior and have to not attack in order to raise your stamina. Maybe if they gave the characters Blow Away or something...
In addition to the above, you can grapple your opponent, but the only thing you can do is whip him to the ropes. No headlocks, takedowns, suplexes, etc. And it's not like you can throw a dropkick or a clothesline on the rebound. Another drawback is that even though you're inside a ring, you can't climb the turnbuckle for an aerial attack. You can jump from the mat, but all you can do is bounce over and over on your opponent's head. No planchas or hurricaranas here, not even a flying axehandle.
So, your moveset is limited to four or five moves, or to be more accurate, less moves than Lex Luger has in his arsenal. But, that's okay because I'll just go outside, grab a chair, and... no wait. You can't exit the ring. And you can't grab foreign objects, so you're limited to what your character possesses, and even then the damage output is the same. Thus, that rake of Willie's does no more damage than an attack from Bart.
There are also random power-ups that will increase your speed, stamina or life. Furthermore, you can collect items that spell out the word 'TAUNT.' Once this is fully spelled, you basically throw the script out the window and no-sell your opponent's moves for a short period. Oh, I'm sorry, I meant you become invunlerable. :-)
What it boils down to is that you have to basically punch your opponent enough times to bring his/her life bar down to nothing. Then you cover your opponent for the pin. But, there are two problems here:
- Like most wrestling games, there are no visible referees. In Simpsons Wrestling, this is alleviated by having the pinning wrestler count the fall. Why the characters count normally instead of giving themselves the ol' fast-count is beyond me.
- The characters in Simpsons Wrestling fall down one way — on their stomach! You can't turn them on their back, so despite the fact that your opponent is laying face down, you can still cover for the pin. Folks, there was a REASON why Reverend Slick would tell Kamala to turn his opponent's body over after splashing his back in 1993.
And there within lies the problem. There is absolutely NO strategy to this game whatsoever. You run up to your opponent and punch away, and when you get low on life, you stay back, hope for a life power-up and attack with your special move when there's an opening. Vince Russo's WCW had more wrestling than this pile of garbage in a box. Yes, this is supposed to be a parody on wrestling games, but there's no wrestling to speak of! None! And the brawling is not only horribly done, but almost non-existant, as well!
GRAPHICS
The Simpsons Wrestling Characters
Graphics is a mixed bag, really. On one hand, the graphics are not very sharp, and other wrestling titles such as WWF Smackdown!2 look much better. But, we're trying to recreate The Simpsons here, so in that aspect the graphics are good. The backgrounds are okay, but not fully three-dimensional. The characters are well done, though, and they look almost exactly like the TV show. Each character gets their own background, so if you're fighting on Krusty's turf you're in a circus tent, and you fight Apu in front of the Kwik-E-Mart. However, there are no moving objects, and the people in the crowd are drawn two-dimensionally, so they look like cardboard fold-outs.
SOUND
Much like Flair vs. Steamboat being the only good thing about WrestleWar '89, the sounds are the only thing worthwhile about this title. While the background music is rather generic, and the effects bland, the voice acting is superb here. The people who do the voices for the TV show supply the voices for the game, as well. So, when Lisa speaks, you're hearing Yeardley Smith, not some cheap imitation. There are supposedly 250 different phrases supplied by all the characters put together, and some of the phrases are specific towards certain characters. Because of this, you may hear the same phrase mentioned twice within five minutes, though. Kent Brockman (the news anchor) does some light commentary, but it is nowhere near as in-depth as WWF Warzone.
WRAP-UP
Usually, whenever you see a video game based on a license from pop culture, you can be assured of total crap. (See any THQ game prior to their wrestling games for PSX and Nintendo 64 for the precedent.) Well, Simpsons Wrestling delivers this and more. Easily one of the worst games I ever played, with no gameplay or strategy whatsoever. You can tell by the lack of moves and the not-so-great graphics that this title was an obvious rush job by Fox Interactive to cash in on the Simpsons brand name while it lasts. It's a shame, too, because had the developers taken some time to outfit each character with different moves and changed the game engine to allow out of ring fighting with goofy weapons, we could have had a winner on our hands. Sadly, Simpsons Wrestling is just a weiner.
Don't bother with this game unless you eat, breathe and shit Simpsons. Even then, stick to renting this drivel.
OVERALL RATING:
The Good: Voice acting.
The Bad: Everything else.
The Ugly: Had I bought this title instead of renting it with a friend, I'd be out another $40.
Thank you for reading. As a side note, if you're interested in finding video game reviews from the people that matter (you and I), there's only one place to go: Right Here.
See you later!
Back to DDT Digest
Overview
Aliens from another planet have challenged Springfield to a wrestling match! As unbelievable as it sounds, it is not another story from I. P. Freely or one of his friends. It’s assumed that the aliens spied upon Jebediah Springfield years ago when he wrestled that bear but because their planet is light years away they haven’t been able to get here until now to present the challenge. Now it’s up to the townspeople to find someone that can wrestle like Jebediah to take that challenge.
The Simpsons Wrestling is really nothing like a traditional wrestling match other than the 3-count pin to finish the round. Like other aspects of The Simpsons, this game is totally wacky and promises to be a lot of fun for fans of TV show. Join up with the whole Simpson family as well as other characters to duke, rake, Chihuahua, Skateboard, Belch, and Squishee it out to see who will take on Kang and Kodos and save Springfield.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
Simply put, this is a fighting game with simple controls that will make your fingers very tired. Although it is called The Simpsons Wrestling, it’s not really too much like wrestling at all since it seems any sort of objects are legally allowed in the ring and anything goes. For instance, Groundskeeper Willie will use his rake to 'garden' you up whereas Bart can ride his skateboard and Mr. Burns will even throw in some explosive radioactive material while Smithers takes you on. Although each character has different and unique attacks, they are all controlled pretty much the same and seem to have the same amount of toughness (I guess it would be a bit too easy for Bumblebee Man to take on Lisa otherwise, don’tcha think?).
When you start the game, you have Homer, Marge (with Maggie), Bart, Lisa, Groundskeeper Willie, Apu, Krusty the Clown, and Barney to choose from. Each character can jump and has three main attacks: low, medium, and high power. You have an energy bar that determines which attacks you can execute and as you attack more the bar will deplete. You can also grapple your opponent and use one of the attack buttons to do a different style attack and bouncing against the ropes and hitting a button at the right time will execute a third set of attacks. There really are no actual combos aside from one that will knock over your opponent with four quick low power attacks in a row. In addition, you will receive one letter in the word 'Taunt' which shows up by your energy and health bars. When 'Taunt' is full you can execute a taunt which makes you invincible for a short amount of time. There are power-ups that appear in the ring from time to time that can restore partial or a big chunk of energy or health or give you a 'Taunt' letter or speed you up. Each match consists of three rounds (this can be set in the options menu for more or fewer, though). The best of the three wins the match. Like normal wrestling matches, the round is won when you pin and hold your opponent for a count of three. Since there are no referees the character him/herself will do the count.
Like the gameplay, the controls are also fairly simple. There are three attack buttons (one for each attack), a jump button, grapple button, and pin button. There aren’t any button combinations aside from jumping and using an attack button and no secret special moves to figure out, which really makes this game quite accessible to beginner players as well as the more seasoned wrestler. The controls are reasonably responsive and easy to manipulate which is a huge plus in my book as so many of these types of games require super fast reflexes and well timed button presses to pull off particular moves.
Don’t get me wrong, though -- just because the controls are fairly simple for this style of game, it doesn’t mean the game is easy. There are three difficulty levels: New Challenger, Defender, and Champion Circuits. The Defender Circuit is locked out until you defeat the Challenger one. Likewise the Champion will be unlocked after defeating the Defender Circuit. The differences between these can more or less be rated as easy, medium, and hard by an average gamer’s standards. As you work your way through these circuits you will fight and unlock some hidden characters such as Bumblebee Man or Moe who can be used in later matches.
Although the game supports the vibration function if you have a Dual Shock controller, it is off by default and when I turned it on, I rarely felt anything at all which was disappointing. In fact, I even went back to the in-game options and main menu options a couple times to confirm if it was on at all. There is an interesting feature related to this, however, which is that you can turn the vibration on, off, or on for only player one or on for only player two. The other options include setting the number of rounds, loading up unlocked features, checking out the credits and adjusting the game’s various volumes for effects, voices, and music.
Please note that due to the characters available and the nature of this game, there are some potential matches that may seem to promote domestic violence (Homer vs. Marge for example).
Multiplayer
The Simpsons Wrestling has two-player support as long as you have a second controller. It will not allow you to even set up a two-player game unless the controller is attached.
Graphics
This game looks very true to form for a Simpsons title -- it is very cartoon-like in nature and the graphics reflect this. The characters themselves are fairly large at all times and are rendered with great detail (which may be a little too much to ask when looking at Groundskeeper Willie without his shirt on!!). One of the big plusses about the characters is that they do not look very blocky or polygon-like at all. The animation is nice and smooth. As you move around in the ring the camera will follow in a strafing fashion and will zoom in or out as necessary to keep you both on screen at all times.
There are several different rings and backgrounds that you can fight in, from Evergreen Terrace to Moe’s to the nuclear power plant to the Kwik-E-Mart and several others. Unfortunately you don’t always get to see the background as the camera is focused more on the action in the ring, but when you do you will see well done renderings of various parts of Springfield. The characters standing in the background are more two-dimensional than those wrestling.
Audio
This is one of the best parts of The Simpsons Wrestling. The sound effects are pretty average for a PlayStation game. Some of the music sounds just like that from the TV show (and probably is taken straight from it, to boot). It’s the voices that are king in this department, though. All of the voices in the game are from the original voice talents on the TV show, which is a huge plus in my book. Nothing is worse than getting a game based on some of your favorite cartoon characters and having the voices sound nothing like the TV show. Each wrestler has his or her own phrases and taunts and some are even tailored to their opponent. In addition, some of the characters in the background will say something now and then as you get somewhat close to them.
Documentation
Wrestling Characters List
Standard issue stuff here, you may want to take a look over it to get the gist of the controls and get an explanation of the various power-ups. This is also the only place where you’ll find the story behind the game.
Originality / Cool Features
I don’t know that I can say that The Simpsons Wrestling is so much original because if you strip out all the great graphics and sounds all you have a simple fighting game with no timer. Fortunately since the great graphics and sounds ARE there, you do have a fairly original theme slapped on a genre of games that has countless clones. Like many other fighting games, each player has his or her own pseudo-special moves but I liked the general simplicity of the controls and that you don’t need to execute some difficult controller combination to execute a cool looking maneuver.
Bottom Line
Simpson University Wrestling
Overall I found this to be a fun game. If you are a fan of The Simpsons and of fighting or wrestling games then you’ll very likely want to check this out. There’s a good chance that people who don’t like fighting games much but that DO like The Simpsons may find some enjoyment with this game too if for nothing else than the funny taunts and such. Just don’t touch it at all if you can’t stand The Simpsons (but if that’s the case, why are you still reading this anyway?). It’s fairly simplistic controls and great artwork, sounds, comments, taunts, and varied attacks between characters contributed a lot to my desire to go back for more and made the game accessible to a wide variety of skill levels which is why I give this game a score of 85.
Simpsons Wrestling Download
Overall rating: 6