Three ‘Simpsons’ In-Show Video Games Now Playable in Real Life
Another sign that The Simpsons transcends television: Video game developer GumpyFunction has created real-life versions of three fictional video games written into the long-running animated series. As A.V. Club reports (via Reddit), hardcore Simpsons fans can now laugh their way through approximations of Kevin Costner’s Waterworld (inspired by the gag from Season Eight’s “The Springfield Files”), the Battletoads-styled Escape From Grandma’s House (from Season Two classic “Bart Gets an F”) and the 8-bit punch-up Larry the Looter (from Season Three’s “Radio Bart”).
“I spent about two years learning how to use GameMaker:Studio, and these were the results!” GumpFunction wrote in his Reddit post. “Each game is a recreation of a video game featured within the Simpsons universe. I always wanted to play some of them so I thought I’d just make them myself.”
While these three rank among the funniest fake Simpsons games, the show’s writers have been prolific in writing various games into episodes, amassing over 70 across 26 seasons. In 2013, Complex created a breakdown of the whole list, which includes titles like “Cat Fight,” “Bowling 2000” and “Touch of Death.”
In other Springfield news, Simpsons executive producer Al Jean teased in an interview earlier this week that Homer and Marge would “legally separate” in the show’s upcoming 27th season, after Homer is diagnosed with narcolepsy and falls in love with a pharmacist played by Girls creator-star Lena Dunham. But that depressing plot point appears to have been a gag: On Wednesday, the show tweeted out a photo of an angry-looking Bart writing “Homer and Marge are not breaking up” repeatedly on a chalkboard; another post featured a picture of the couple with the caption “¡Marge y Homero para siempre!” (“Marge and Homer forever.”)