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Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly (Game Boy)

Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly review

Game: Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly
Platform: Game Boy
Genre: Action (Platformer)
Developer: Imagineering Inc.
AKA: Bart no Survival Camp (JP)

Reader review by JoeTheDestroyer

April 27, 2011

Ignorance. It's a form of bliss that younger gamers have at their disposal that prevents them from realizing a game like Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly is a banal platformer. I played this game as a youngster and gobbled up every minute of its underwhelming antics. But adulthood kills that rosy sheen. Standards improve and memories are betraying, and games like Camp Deadly take their rightful place amongst the other gaming misfits.

It's here we witness the evolution of Bart Simpson from a burgeoning platformer star into a burnt out has-been. I seem to remember the kid's movements being swift and easy to handle. His performance in Bart vs. the World was decent even despite the buggy platform collision detection that hampered the experience. Two years pass and it feels like Bart has let himself go. Where we know that Mario worked his legs out between games, Bart seemed to be drinking away his salary without honing his skill. Where this vibrant youth could tangle with the best of them before, he now moves like he's mired in oatmeal. Movement in the game is slow, almost delayed, and the slo-mo jumping is a hypnotic experience that should not be witnessed by the inebriated.

Let's put Bart's new anti-talents the test!

The once peaceful forest is now the arena of a survivalistic struggle. Bart and Lisa must escape the clutches of Ironfist Burns and his army of Wayne Campbell clones. It's in this camp that Bart will leap with an elephant's grace over creeks made of TV static and throw boomerangs at monstrous mosquitoes. It's a land of monotony where the same situations present themselves without new dressing. The same leaps, same enemies, same problems reappear without added difficulty, and it's something that even a physically impeded platformer star like Bart can handle.

Escaping the woods to the mess hall offers no solace. There the platforming is nixed and an all out food fight ensues. While this sounds like an exciting battle royale involving food and foolery, it's merely a scene of straightforward side-scrolling with the occasional press of the B button. Leave it up to Imagineering to make murdering someone with a hamburger or piece of broccoli feel tedious.

Withdraw from the violent buffet and it's....back into the forest! The madness never ends as the same levels are recycled as often as the situations. From the forest to the sewers back to the forest only to return to the mess hall... The greatest challenge I ever faced in this outing was staying interested. Even within the Simpsons franchise, there are far better experiences and challenges to be had.

But in my younger years I still hadn't developed the ability to recognize a poor gaming experinece. I didn't realize that the sound emanating from the speakers was really Danny Elfman being murdered in 8-bit, nor did I care to notice the warning that the developers placed in the beginning--the first item you grab, a tiny flag flapping in the wind, nets you exactly 666 points. It's like someone at Imagineering wanted you to know this game is of the devil.

And poor Bart's gaming career continued the downward spiral. It's pretty consistent that as long as he is the sole focus of a game's premise, it will blow. His further escapades in climbing a beanstalk, having a nightmare, and donning a virtual reality visor were no more exciting than this no-so-great escape. But I'm sure you already knew that. It's not as though the lackluster quality in early Simpsons games is an uncommon appraisal.

Rating: 3/10

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