The Simpsons have seen many gaming adaptations, almost since the beginning of the series 18 years ago. In fact, the yellow family got their first game as early as 1991; there are still fond memories of dropping coins into The Simpsons: the Arcade Game.

The Simpsons have been a part of no less than 22 game adaptations, covering every genre from beat-em-ups to racing to extreme sports.

The original 4-player arcade game was so well-loved it’s possible to still find it some places, though it doesn’t get the attention that it used to. After tackling arcades, Simpsons went to everything else – everything from computers to consoles to handhelds. There were 5 games on the SEGA Game Gear alone!

Let’s have a look at the lovable series:

In the beginning...

1991: The Simpsons: The Arcade Game

It was an arcade game in the early 90s. The plot was simple – Maggie picked up a diamond, and Smithers grabbed her (instead of simply the diamond), resulting in a chase. The game was most notable for featuring so many characters that are exclusive to the game, notably the purple-suited goons. After all, the show was only 2 years old when the game was released, and there weren’t as many characters yet! Still easily playable and fun today, even if the graphics are dated.

Attack of the Bart games

With 8 Bart games in the early 90s, the troublesome kid certainly got to stretch his legs.

1991: Bart vs. the Space Mutants, Bart vs. the World, Bart Simpson’s Escape From Camp Deadly, Bart’s House of Weirdness

The first Bart game was released on a slew of platforms – many different types of home computers, as well as the Game Gear, NES, Genesis, and even more obscure systems such as the ZX Spectrum computer. With a wacky plot that deviated greatly from the series, it was not entirely well received.

His second game, taking on the entire world, was much better received by critics. Released for all of the day’s gaming platforms – NES, Genesis, Game Gear, and Game Boy - it saw a plot that was far easier to understand than the nonsensical space mutant affair earlier in the year. The Simpsons family won a vacation around the world, but Mr. Burns saw it as an opportunity to get rid of the troublesome family, and it was up to Bart to stop him.

After the two multi-platform affairs, Bart’s escape from a deadly summer camp came only to the Game Boy. It was similar to a plot for an episode, but strangely, the episode in question didn’t air until a year later.

Finally, the oddest game (and arguably one of the most difficult to find anywhere) was a DOS-only game that had Bart escaping from being cooped up in his room to get into all sorts of trouble, starting at the movie theater, moving on to fight (more) space mutants, Itchy and Scratchy, and ending with saving Krusty the Clown from Sideshow Bob.