Software:Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly

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

Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly is a 1991 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", although the game was released nearly a year before that episode aired. Critics gave the game mixed to negative reviews.

Plot and gameplay

Bart and Lisa go to spend the summer at a camp, which turns out to be the dangerous Camp Deadly run by Mr. Burns's nephew, Ironfist Burns.[1] His intentions are to make sure that the children suffer and have as little fun as possible, refusing to allow them to leave until they are thoroughly miserable. 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. Bart can retaliate by throwing food, but if caught he will be made to eat his entire arsenal.[2]

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. Bart will find Mort in a trap and choose to free him. The fourth stage is dinner break and is the same as the lunch break stage, albeit with increased difficulty. If Bart made the decision to free Madman Mort in the prior stage, he will reappear at a particularly difficult point in the dinner stage to come to Bart's aid. The following 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 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, Ironfist captures Lisa, and Bart later finds them both at a power station supplying the camp with power. 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.[2] The end scene shows Bart and Lisa joyfully reunited with Maggie, Marge, and Homer.

Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly is a side-scrolling 2D platform game. It is single-player-only, and the player controls Bart.[3] Lisa's role in the stages is giving Bart boomerangs to use against the various enemies. His default weapon is spit wads,[4] and in the cafeteria stages, the barely edible food offered at the camp.[3]

Development and release

The game was developed by Imagineering and published by Acclaim. While the game was still in development, Nintendo Power gave out a walkthough in its October 1991 issue.[5] There are quite a few differences between the game's beta and final versions, in which the madman the player rescued in one part was "Madman Krimmel Krogan", whose appearance looked similar to Jason Voorhees from the Friday the 13th series before his design was changed to the long-haired, overall-wearing, maskless Madman Mort in the final version. Also, the Mount Deadly the player is scaling in another part was named "Mt. Milehigh" before its name was changed to make it more fitting in the final version (as well as the preceding dialogue between Bart and Lisa on how to escape Camp Deadly).[5]

The game was released in 1991 in North America and Europe for the hand-held console Game Boy. The game was released in Japan under the name Bart's Survival Camp (バートのサバイバルキャンプ, Bāto no Sabaibaru Kyanpu) on February 26, 1993.[6][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

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
Famitsu19/40[7]
Nintendo Power3.4/5

Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly has received mixed to negative reviews. Nintendo Power gave it a 3.4/5 rating.[citation needed] 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."[3] 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!"[9] However, the Channel 4 video game programme GamesMaster gave the game an 89% rating. GamePro gave the game an average review, writing, "With just three lives and no continues, The Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly [sic] is a tough nut to crack. Then again, Bart's never made anybody's life easy. If you're a Bart fan who loves a challenge, chances are you'll find yourself returning to this weird and wicked camp, time and time again."[10][lower-alpha 1] In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of 19 out of 40.[7]

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]

Notes

  1. ↑ GamePro gave the game two 4/5 scores for graphics and sound, two 3/5 scores for gameplay and fun factor, and 5/5 for challenge.

References

  1. ↑ "It's Bartmania (advertisement)". Boys' Life 82: 2. January 1992. ISSN 0006-8608. https://books.google.com/books?id=iPgDAAAAMBAJ&dq=%22+Escape+from+Camp+Deadly%22&pg=PA2. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Imagineering (1991). Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly. Game Boy. Acclaim. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly". Archived from the original on 2013-01-05. https://archive.today/20130105101630/http://simpsons.ugo.com/?cur=escape-from-camp-deadly&gallery=true. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  4. ↑ "Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly". MobyGames. http://www.mobygames.com/game/bart-simpsons-escape-from-camp-deadly. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly (Walkthrough)". Nintendo Power (Nintendo of America) 29: 60–63. October 1991. https://archive.org/details/NintendoPowerMagazineTheSNESEra/Nintendo%20Power%20029%20%28Oct%201991%29%20Star%20Trek/page/n69/mode/2up. Retrieved 2022-08-02. 
  6. ↑ "Bart Simpson's Escape From Camp Deadly Tech Info". http://www.gamespot.com/gameboy/action/bartsimpsonsescapefcd/similar.html?mode=versions. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 "バートのサバイバルキャンプ" (in ja). Famitsu (Enterbrain). https://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=13258&redirect=no. Retrieved 2022-09-15. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Mackey, Bob (2009-05-06). "Retro Revival Retrospective: The Simpsons Part 3". Ziff Davis. http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?publicUserId=5631527&bId=8987784. Retrieved 2010-08-03. 
  9. ↑ Williamson, Matt (1992-07-12). "New Boys In Town Change The Picture". Rocky Mountain News: p. 126. 
  10. ↑ Feline Groovy (November 1991). "Bart Simpson's Escape from Camp Deadly". GamePro (IDG) (28): 78. https://retrocdn.net/images/0/02/GamePro_US_028.pdf. Retrieved 2022-08-02. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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