The Simpsons Skateboarding

The Simpsons Skateboarding is a sports video game based on the animated sitcom The Simpsons. It was released for the PlayStation 2 in North America on 12 November 2002 and Europe on 6 December 2002. The game was developed by Mass Media and The Code Monkeys and published by Fox Interactive and Electronic Arts. The story and dialogue were written by writers from The Simpsons, with all character voices supplied by the cast. The game received generally negative reviews from critics.

The Simpsons Skateboarding
North American box art
Developers	Mass Media The Code Monkeys
Publishers	Electronic Arts Fox Interactive
Artists	William Brand Daniel Hughes Paul Hunter
Writers	Tim Long Matt Selman
Composer	Christopher Tyng
Series	The Simpsons
Engine	RenderWare
Platform	PlayStation 2
Release	NA: 12 November 2002[1] EU: 6 December 2002
Genre	Sports
Modes	Single-player, multiplayer

Gameplay

Springfield has been converted into a skate park for the Annual Skate Tour, full of skate-able objects and landmarks from the television series. Players are able to choose one of the nine characters available and complete for the grand prize. All of the characters' voices were recorded by the actual voice actors from The Simpsons. Each character has over forty unique moves. Players can test their skills in either a two-player head-to-head skate off, or in one of the fast and furious modes: Freeskate, Skate Fest, Trick Contest, and a game of skateboard H-O-R-S-E, unlocking additional characters, locations, and skateboards. Players can also choose to learn all the skateboard moves and tricks before they begin the actual game in the Skillz School mode.^[1]

Development

The Simpsons Skateboarding was developed by Mass Media and The Code Monkeys, and published by Electronic Arts (EA Games) under license from Fox Interactive. Before EA made an official announcement about The Simpsons Skateboarding, an advertisement for the game was featured on the back page of the instruction manual for The Simpsons: Road Rage, and on in-game billboards, which was released in 2001. There were no mention of a console in the advertisement and no gameplay details were revealed. In November 2001, EA representatives said they were not ready to comment on the product.^[2] On 16 May 2002, a few days before the E3 Media and Business Summit, they released their first piece of information about the game.^[3] All of the characters' voices were recorded by the actual voice actors from The Simpsons.^[1][4]

Reception

Reception

Aggregate score

Aggregator	Score
Metacritic	38/100[5]

Review scores

Publication	Score
AllGame	2/5[6]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	7/10, 5/10, 3/10[7]
Eurogamer	2/10[8]
Game Informer	1/10[9]
GameSpot	3.9/10[10]
GameSpy	0.5/5[11]
GameZone	3/10[12]
IGN	2.5/10[13]
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine	1.5/5[14]
X-Play	3/5[15]
Maxim	5/10[16]

The Simpsons Skateboarding received "unfavorable" reviews according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[5] It was criticized for its chunky graphics, poorly recorded sound and music, lack of skateboarding tricks, and poor controls whilst the in-game dialogue were mixed.

Andrew Reiner of Game Informer said: "Never before have I seen a developer put forth such an effort to secure the Worst Game of the Year award. I'll even go as far to say that this may very well be the worst PlayStation 2 game on the market."^[9] Kevin Murphy of GameSpy said that "The Simpsons Skateboarding should be a case study in bad game design."^[11] One reviewer in Electronic Gaming Monthly said it would please fans of the series, the other two felt it was an average skateboarding game while the other felt the stiff controls hampered the game.^[7]