Virtual Springfield
1997 1 CD-ROM
Win 95/98 Mac

Although not technically an adventure game, Virtual Springfield shares many of the same characteristics of an adventure. The closest thing I can compare it to would be Monty Python's Complete Waste of Time. The game is a spinoff of The Simpsons television program, and you travel through a 3D rendering of the city of Springfield and visit different locations you would see in the show.

The main "goal" is to find 74(!) "collector" cards hidden in the town which each represent a character from the show. If you collect all the cards you recieve a final card, which gives you a web address giving you additional information about the show and the game. As you would expect, the address no longer works.

What I liked:
The voices in the game are all the same actors that provide the voices on the show. The game does succede at humor when it does try to make a joke. Unfortunelty, this is not very often.

The game does have a couple of puzzles and "mini" games. These are only minimally fun.

What I didn't:
The navigation is horrible. You spend most of the "playing" time traveling through the streets of springfield, which I imagine didn't even look that good in 1997. When you click the mouse you travel a great distance, turning corners and flipping you around each way. It is nearly impossible to go to a building you might see because the navigation will take you past them. There is a cheat to go buildings through the map, which I found myself doing almost immediatley.

The game does not have many places to visit and you will see all the interesting things in 4 hours. Tops. Maybe less. Not much going on here.

There are 74 collector cards to collect.. and only about 10 spots to find them.. So at the end, if you want to "finish", it will consist of traveling back to previously visited places and pickign up cards, which may or may not be there. I quit before I got to the end. It took me an hour or two to collect 30. I have better things to do with my time. Or, at least I should!

Bottom Line:
This game can be quite fun for a big Simpsons fan (like me). I also have a feeling that it will become quite collectible one day, considering the huge number of Simpsons collectors. However, stay away if you are only a casual fan, or not a fan at all.

I've drifted through this game several times. Haven't tried to pick up the cards. Just walked around the streets to see what is going on. I agree, it's entertaining if you're a Simpsons fan but there isn't a whole lot of there there.

In the past few years my family has laughed at the Simpsons on more occasions than in any other discrete event in our lives (although The Daily Show is threatening to become just as addictive and funny). Who needs conversation and laughter around the dinner table when you can have an even better time watching The Simpsons?

And to think I actually refused to let my children watch The Simpsons when it first came out! I had read somewhere that the Simpson kids are bratty and precocious while the Simpson parents are clueless. This is absolutely wrong, of course. In fact the girls and women in The Simpsons are competent and brilliant while the boys and men are clueless, which is a much more acceptable scenario.

Becky - you are so bad

I love the Simpsons. I have so many favorite Homie-isms it's hard to think of just one.

Great choice for a review Taf4. I have looked at this for more times than I care to admit - but passed it by. Hmmm Syd has it and I don't...

Let's see if I drive now - I can get to CompUSA before closing...

Laura