- Back to: The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants.
Version comparisons
Title screen
Couch
Bart vs. the Space Mutants was originally released within the first two seasons of The Simpsons - when quality control was more relaxed. This mostly static couch scene (Maggie's mouth moves and the characters blink in the Mega Drive version, but not in the 8-bit editions) sees Marge with a pink dress, while Santa's Little Helper has no body. Despite this, non-Sega versions have the couch in the wrong room (in addition to having the wrong colours), so these are still the more accurate of the ports. The Master System and Game Gear versions are also missing some of the scenery.
The 24-pixel black border at the bottom of the Mega Drive version would usually suggest this game is recycling Atari ST or IBM PC graphics (where 320x200 resolutions are more common), but this is not the case - these graphics are unique to the Mega Drive version.
TV copyright information
In the Mega Drive version of the game, the space mutants poke their heads from the left and right hand side of the television. While the Simpsons' TV is usually purple, it was brown in the opening of season 1 (albeit with five green switches, not grey).
Level introduction
Every version of the game has slightly different looking space mutants and a slightly different machine, but the dialogue is the same. The Game Gear repositions the space mutants to better suit the smaller screen.
The Mega Drive features an extra scene where the space mutants are seen having just left their ship.
Level 1 start
Despite the significant upgrade in technology, the Mega Drive version of Bart vs. the Space Mutants looks suspiciously like its 8-bit counterparts in-game, save for some extra background detail. The biggest difference is the larger screen resolution, allowing for more of the level to be seen at any one time.
References
