Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly

Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly is a platform video game for the Game Boy. Developed by Imagineering, it was published by Acclaim Entertainment in North America and Europe in 1991. The game was released in Japan in 1993. In Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly, the player controls Bart from the television series The Simpsons as he escapes from an unpleasant summer camp run by ruthless counselors. The plot is similar to that of The Simpsons episode "Kamp Krusty". Critics gave the game mixed to negative reviews.

Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly
Cover art
Developer(s)Imagineering, Inc.[1]
Publisher(s)Acclaim Entertainment
Designer(s)David Crane
Mark Klein
Barry Marx
Composer(s)Mark Van Hecke[1]
Platform(s)Game Boy[1]
Release
  • NA: November 1, 1991
  • EU: December 1991
  • JP: February 26, 1993
Genre(s)Action platformer[1]
Mode(s)Single-player

Plot and gameplay

Bart and Lisa go to spend the summer at a camp, which proves to be the dangerous Camp Deadly run by Mr. Burns's nephew, Ironfist Burns.[2][3] His intentions are to make sure that the children suffer and have as little fun as possible. In the first stage of the game, Bart and the other children play capture the flag in a forest, as part of the camp's morning activity. Bart is harassed by camp counselors and bullies Blindside Bill and Rebound Rodney, and must make his way through nests of angry bees and other obstacles. The second stage takes place during lunch break at the mess hall, where the counselors throw knives and forks at Bart.[4]

Another game of capture the flag follows in the next stage as the afternoon activity. While playing, Bart must avoid counselors, bullies, killer hornets and traps set out for the escaped madman Mort. The fourth stage is dinner break and is the same as the lunch break stage. Later that day, Bart and Lisa decide to escape from Camp Deadly, both because it is too dangerous and because they cannot stand it anymore. However, Ironfist Burns overhears their plans. At night, in the next stage, they escape by climbing to the other side of a mountain called Mount Deadly. The game's final stage takes place in a forest on the other side. Partway through, Lisa is kidnapped, and Bart later finds her at a power station with Ironfist Burns. Bart defeats him and frees Lisa. Together, they find and flip a switch at the station that shuts off the power at Camp Deadly and puts an end to their stay there.[4]

Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly is a side-scrolling 2D platform game. It is single-player-only, and the player controls Bart.[5] Lisa's role in the stages is giving Bart boomerangs to use against the various enemies. His default weapon is spit wads,[6] and in the cafeteria stages, the barely edible food offered at the camp.[2][5]

Development and release

The game was developed by Imagineering and published by Acclaim. It was released in 1991 in North America and Europe for the hand-held console Game Boy. The game was released in Japan on February 26, 1993.[7] It was the first Simpsons game to be released on a portable console.[8] The plot of Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly bears a strong similarity to the Simpsons episode "Kamp Krusty" in the sense that they both revolve around Bart and Lisa staying at an evil summer camp. However, that episode did not air until 1992, a year after the game was released.[8]

Reception

Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly has received mixed to negative reviews. Nintendo Power gave it a 3.4/5 rating in 1991.[9] UGO Networks gave the game a negative review, commenting that "this uninspired train wreck of a Game Boy title fails on nearly every level, but most of all simply because it's a snore-fest. It's your basic side-scrolling platformer with little to no connection to the source material and lasts only about few hours at best. During the game you come across bullies, camp counselors and even a few wild animals, battling them with spitballs, a boomerang and, in the lunchroom level, food. This one is for completists only."[5] Matt Williamson of the Rocky Mountain News gave the game a C+ grade and commented that "Escape from Camp Deadly tries too hard to be a Nintendo game. It's hard, I know, to try to make game graphics more primitive, but please, guys, the more complex you make the graphics, the more confusing a game gets!"[10] However, the Channel 4 video game programme GamesMaster gave the game an 89% rating.

In 2009, 1UP.com editor Bob Mackey reviewed the game in 1UP's official Retro Gaming Blog. He wrote: "Camp Deadly drops the limited adventure elements of Bart Vs. the Space Mutants in exchange for some much simpler platforming with vastly improved controls [...]. The simple jumping and shooting is nothing to write home about, but Camp Deadly would have at least been a semi-competent early Game Boy game if not for the interminable waves of enemies it constantly throws at you. Here we see a common problem with Game Boy titles: the developers were clearly designing Camp Deadly with a big-screen mindset. Enemies teleport in from the edge of the screen and, given how little space there is to actually maneuver, you sometimes have less than a second to react."[8]

References
  1. "Bart Simpson's Escape From Camp Deadly". GameFAQs. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  2. "Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly". IGN. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  3. "Boys' Life". Vol. 82. Boy Scouts of America. January 1992. p. 2. ISSN 0006-8608. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  4. Imagineering (1991). Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly (Game Boy). Acclaim.
  5. "Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly". UGO Networks. Archived from the original on 2013-01-05. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  6. "Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly". MobyGames. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  7. "Bart Simpson's Escape From Camp Deadly Tech Info". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2013-01-24. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  8. Mackey, Bob (2009-05-06). "Retro Revival Retrospective: The Simpsons Part 3". Retro Gaming Blog. 1UP.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2014. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  9. "Bart Simpson's Escape From Camp Deadly Reviews". GameSpot. Retrieved 2010-08-05.
  10. Williamson, Matt (1992-07-12). "New Boys In Town Change The Picture". Rocky Mountain News. p. 126.
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