The Simpsons is one of those franchises that will probably be around forever. In one form or another, the Fox cartoon is alive and well, even after the Disney acquisition. Considering how wild 2020 was, it is worth noting it got a little wilder for fans of the Sega Dreamcast, or The Simpsons. A new game, an unreleased demo, called Simpsons Bug Squad, was discovered on a developer’s hard drive. Even wilder, the game is playable.
Even in gaming, the yellow tinged characters can stand out. It is a choice that has certainly helped the brand catch eyes.
Drop back to 2000, or so, and we almost got another game based in the fictional Springfield universe.
The key points are that this was a demo created in October 2020. It was intended for release on the Sega Dreamcast – date unknown. Shoot, until now, no one knew this was even an option to see release. There was literally nothing said about this game in the press. No one on the Internet knew about it until that forum post on Dreamcast-Talk.
That is why this is so interesting.
Based on the gameplay video released, Simpsons Bug Squad looks “odd”. Not very “Simpsons-y” in character you control.
The environments are decidedly based on the hit cartoon show. Over on the DreamcasticChannel on YouTube, you can see the game in action. You can grab the GDI copy on the forums.
It is interesting what they did with less than 16 megs of data here.
The demo shows Homer walking around the Simpsons house. Speaking of that house, apparently you can look around the kitchen and living room. That is not a lot but it is still interesting in what it shows off.
The television has an Itchy and Scratchy cartoon playing in the living room. The stove in the kitchen has 3D insides which might have lent itself to goals or challenges in the full game.
What other unknown games do you know about? Any that blew your socks off when discovering them? Let me know in the comments below.
This article was originally published on Retro Gaming Magazine.
