Alan has to work at the data center today so I bought the new Simpsons video game to entertain myself. I'd read reviews that the gameplay wasn't that great but that the typical Simpsons humour made it worthwhile. I was okay with that and thought it would be a fun, light sort of way to while away the time. I am a huge Simpsons fan so the fact that it wasn't anything groundbreaking in terms of gameplay and graphics didn't detract; I was sure I'd like this game and prepared to laugh my way through the afternoon.

Oh my gods, was I wrong. The camera angles are BEYOND horrible, making simple and straightforward things so difficult that it detracts from any amusement value. There is a lot of jumping (at least so far) which is not my favorite thing but not that bad, either - except that I have to do each jump several times because of the crappy camera angles. I drowned Homer twice in the freaking tutorial because of the lousy camera angles, but I don't think he minded because he drowned in a chocolate river.

At one point, I killed Bart at least a half-dozen times because I was trying to jump to the wrong (and hence unreachable) pillar, because I didn't see the lighted one to which I was supposed to be jumping. Later on in that same level, I got so frustrated that I shrieked out loud; Bart has to do a timed jump onto moving platforms, which wouldn't be so bad except that the player can't time it - you have to jump blindly and hope for the best, over and over and over and over until you just happen to time it correctly. This is exponentially more frustrating because you wouldn't have to jump blindly if you could look at the moving platforms which are right the hell in front of Bart, but you can't turn him so they're visible.

I think my characters have died more in the first four levels of this easy, light-hearted game than in entire playthroughs of Final Fantasy X.

I'm very disappointed. I was looking forward to an afternoon filled with laugh-out-loud moments, and instead it's taking every ounce of my self-control not to fling the disc across the room.

ETA: my two favorite Simpsons quotes, the first of which also appears in the game:

Homer (consoling Lisa): Honey! Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand!

*****
Bart: I'd sell my soul for a Formula One race car!
Marge: Bart! Stop pestering Satan!