Bart’s House Of Weirdness is one of the earlier Simpson’s licensed games released early in the show’s run when it was at the height of its popularity. It’s a Dos run game that never caught on as much as the other titles in the Simpson game universe because of the lack of a multi-platform release. It’s an adventure game at heart, loosely following the story in the ‘Do The Bartman’ video (with shots taken from it in the opening scenes).
Marge and Homer confine Bart to his room after he pulls one prank too many.
You then have to escape and collect the three ‘cool’ items (cool shoes, cool shades and the cool hat) in order to save Krusty The Clown. True to its name, it’s a very weird game as Bart’s wild imagination plays a big part. There are six adventures in the game: searching for Maggie’s ball, where you walk all over Springfield, in the sewers and on rooftops; a battle with space mutants in Bart’s imagination (again, as in the much loved NES platformer); a level where you have to find 5 coins in order to buy a ticket to see a movie; a trawl through your basement in which you meet the babysitter bandit; an attic level with a spider boss and a bizarre trip through
Itchy and Scratchy Land.
You have many weapons such as spray paint, a burp gun, slingshot and water balloons which all work on the enemies in different ways. Whilst it is an adventure game, it works as a regular side-scrolling, duck and jump platformer but suffers with its level of depth on screen. When you’re firing your gun it’s hard to judge if you’re on the same plain as the enemy and often you miss. Once you’ve finished all the missions and collected the cool items you go to Krusty’s Jungle Land to find Krusty and once again (if you’ve played the other early Simpson games) defeat Sideshow Bob.
Kind of a mix of ‘Bart’s Nightmare’ and ‘Bart vs. The Space Mutants’. The graphics are faithful to the cartoon but the frame rate is low and choppy. A lot of the time it’s hard to figure out what to do next, with confusing gameplay being used instead of any real challenge. Lots of little extras make the game more interesting though such as the talking Krusty Doll or the Sideshow Bob punching Bag. To save the game you must use the dresser drawer in his bedroom.
