Nintendo

The Simpsons: Bart's Nightmare is a game released onto the SNES based upon the popular Simpsons cartoon series. In it, Bart falls asleep while doing his homework. In his dream, Bart must collect various pages of his assignment by passing various platforming stages based upon his alter egos within the series. The game has been noted for its difficulty.

Plot[]

Bart Simpson falls asleep while studying and dreams of a strange universe where TVs and fairies roam the streets. The player must find Bart's lost homework and progress through the various levels to keep the homework pages and eventually wake up.

Gameplay[]

The game is split in two parts. The first is set on a street (probably Evergreen Terrace, but referred to as Windy World). Bart walks around and has to find pages of his homework while avoiding enemies such as living post boxes and various characters from the show. Power-ups that Bart can collect include bubble gum (with which he can blow bubbles to repel enemies or collect floating blue Zs to restore his health), watermelon seeds (which he can spit at enemies to defeat them or make them change direction), pillows (which create a new health bar for him if he runs out of Zs), and his skateboard (which temporarily increases his speed as well as restoring and extending his health bar the longer he is on it). Jimbo and his gang will coerce Bart into strolling with them, causing Bart to lose control of his movements and have to move with them, taking damage as he does. Hitting a flying saxophone will summon Lisa Simpson with pixie wings to sprinkle fairy dust on Jimbo and his gang and transform them into rats, freeing Bart. However, if Bart is by himself, the Lisa pixie will turn him into a frog who cannot attack. If Bart catches a kiss blown to him by an old lady, it will revert him to his human form.

Development[]

Reception[]

Entertainment Weekly wrote that "Falling asleep while doing his homework, Bart has to battle with the demons of his subconscious—imagining himself as, among others, a rampaging green Bartzilla and a caped Bartman. A surreal blast." Super Gamer reviewed the SNES version and gave a review score of 73% writing: "It looks as good as the cartoon, but sadly playability is irritatingly tough and not as imaginative as the graphics."

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