Some people came for the huge ball pit, others loved the Baja racing game they had set up in the arcade, but one specific game (also found at the nearby Fuddruckers) ate so many of my quarters as a child it may actually rival that of my student loan debt: The Simpsons Arcade Game. Cheese’s? There was one not to far from where I grew up, so just about everyone’s birthday party took place there. Despite the global pandemic and ongoing GPU shortages, PC gaming has never been more vibrant and exciting, and throughout the week we’ll be reflecting this with a selection of in-depth articles, interviews and essential buying guides.Publisher: Konami / Devleoper: Backbone Entertainment / Platform: PSN, XBLA

Welcome to TechRadar’s PC Gaming Week 2021, our celebration of the greatest gaming platform on Earth.

There hasn’t been one since Tapped Out in 2012, which probably tells us everything we need to know. Whether there is enough appetite for more Simpsons games though, is a different question. Virtual Springfield and The Simpsons: Cartoon Studio, in particular, could do so much more now, than they managed back in the 90s. You can see what they were trying to achieve, despite the limitations of the technology. While not every game on this list is a classic, none of them are utterly unplayable. This is a game which, if remade now, could be absolutely incredible on a VR headset. Despite this, Virtual Springfield did really well in achieving its ambitions, especially given the technical limitations of the time. But it came at a price Vortex Media Arts, the company behind the game, went bankrupt about two years into development. Little touches, like an episode of “Self-Colonoscopy with Dr Nick” on the telly, are classic Simpsons. Remember, this was 1997 after all, so the work that went into making a 3D representation of the town back then should not be underestimated.Īs you travel around, you can really feel the attention to detail. When you play Virtual Springfield, you can appreciate the scale and scope of the game. You also encounter major characters, with dialogue written and performed exclusively for this game. This included iconic venues such as Springfield Elementary, Town Hall and the Kwik-E-Mart, among others.

The ambition was to create a 3D version of Springfield for exploration by players. The last of The Simpsons PC games from the 1990s, Virtual Springfield is another title that was arguably ahead of its time.

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