The Simpsons Game (PS2/PSP/Wii)

mh:awesomegames:The Simpsons Game is a platform game based on the animated television series mh:besttvshows:The Simpsons and loosely on mh:greatestmovies:The Simpsons Movie. Released for the mh:awesomegames:Nintendo DS, mh:awesomegames:PlayStation 2, mh:awesomegames:PlayStation 3, mh:awesomegames:PlayStation Portable, mh:awesomegames:Wii and mh:awesomegames:Xbox 360. The game was developed by EA Redwood Shores and published by mh:crappygames:Electronic Arts.

The article is based on versions co-developed with Rebellion Developments.

Why They Eat Shorts

 * 1) Free roaming in Springfield was completely removed which kills the interactivity with the Springfield world. Which makes absolutely no sense, since the PS2 had the power to hold a free roaming Springfield for Hit & Run back in 2003. Even a prototype for The Simpsons Game on the Xbox released in 2004 shows that you can explore around a tiny Springfield.
 * 2) Controls are confusing in the PSP and Wii versions due to PSP's limited buttons/Wii Motion controls with no standard controls support for Wii.
 * 3) All power-ups are replaced with shields that can be used for all the Simpsons, which kills the variety.
 * 4) Costumes are present but the Simpsons wear them in some of the levels and you cannot change costumes in the closet, also killing the variety.
 * 5) Toned down graphics compared to the HD versions.
 * 6) Low-quality audio.
 * 7) In the level Game Over, you play as Homer and Bart at the beginning, but you play as Bart and Lisa for the rest of the level. Also in the Dance Battle part, The arrows are now Left, Right, Up, Down, instead of Left, Down, Up, Right, which can confuse players. The PSP version also removes the Hand of Buddha section in the middle of the level.
 * 8) Due to hardware and memory limitations, almost all levels in the game suffered from huge cuts with some segments even missing completely (e.g. African part of Medal of Homer is completely gone along with the little fight with Burns in the end of the level, living Krusty dolls do not appear in Shadow of the Colossal Donut even though they appear in the ports' cutscenes and during the Dance Battle part (PSP only), Mob Rules has very few people that Marge can command, the Space Invaders parody segment in the Invasion of the Yokel-Snatchers stage is gone, The Day of the Dolphin stage is notably shorter and the boss in dumbed-down along with the bosses at the end of Enter the Cheatrix and Neverquest, etc.). In fact, these ports suffered from the cuts so bad that sometimes the game takes away the control of the Simpsons for brief intervals in order to complete parts of the game for you, like replacing boss battles in the Big Super Happy Fun Fun Game level with gameplay cutscenes.
 * 9) Marge only gets 3 levels and Bart gets more levels than Homer!
 * 10) Collecting packages is useless because the energy bar increases with the health bar.
 * 11) No lip-syncing or eye expressions when the characters are talking.
 * 12) There is no verbosity in the settings like in the Xbox 360 and the PS3 versions, so that means the characters' voice lines constantly repeat. Also worth mentioning that because the free-roaming in Springfield was completely removed, many of the game's funny lines are also absent in these ports.
 * 13) Awful screen crunch when playing co-op in the PS2 version.
 * 14) The Simpsons must find special ammo for their separate moves (food replenishes Homer ball uses).
 * 15) Some weapons/tools that the Simpsons use have unlimited energy and do not need special ammo, removing challenge of finding ammo/energy. This causes Lisa's sax to be way too overpowered causing easy kills on enemies, Marge can add more members to her mob without needing energy and Bart using his slingshot without needing special ammo but only using it to act like it's a replacement for the lasers that Robo-Bart (Bart's Power-up) uses in HD versions, and Homer does not have his burp ability to stun enemies, he can only charge up his burp.
 * 16) When using Helium Homer, Homer's voice doesn't go high pitched unlike the PS3/Xbox 360 version.
 * 17) The no death trophy is pointless because there are 3 levels that have clichés that forces you to fall into water, chasms and lava.
 * 18) There is a black screen that quickly fades in and out whenever you switch characters, this also removes Bart's Bartman disguise whenever you use his Bartman powers then switch to another character. This wasn't in the PS3/Xbox 360 version since whenever you use Bart's Bartman powers then switch to someone else, Bart retains the disguise.

Redeeming Qualities

 * 1) The Simpsons get a new jump kick move which is helpful.
 * 2) The Wii version has exclusive bonus mini-games.
 * 3) Five Characters in Search for an Author is way longer.