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Crazes like The Simpsons never seem to last very long. Do you remember yearning for that Chopper bike, wanting it so badly that you were willing to sell your Granny for the chance of a ride on one? And now you've dumped your trusty Chopper for that mountain bike - fickle, aren't you? I mean, how much Bart merchandise do you see in the shops now? About as much as you see Bros merchandise, that's how much! [I dunno, I reckon there'll be a Bart resurgence when it finally gets shown on terrestrial TV here in the UK - Ed]

So/is this game a quickie cash-in that's in danger of being spurned as untrendy old hat or something that has it got the playability to make a game worth getting in its own right?

Bart stars in the game of the telly series, looking as true to the cartoons as he ever could (lurve that haircut!). The plot involves space mutants (as you might have guessed) who have taken the form of, er, anything they fancy. Bart has to turn all the purple alienised things into normal red Simpsonised things. He does this by any means he can. More often than not, all he's got to spray the items with is red paint to "normalise" [I thought you said Simpsonise them last time - that doesn't sound very normal to me! - Ed] then, but redding some purple things will take a different approach.

A few people have been taken over by the invaders too. Exorcise the aliens from their bodies and they're so reet chuffed reward you with a coin (ah, is human life so cheap?). Collect enough dosh and you can purchase essential de-purplising items from the shop. Your skateboard comes free, though which is is dead handy, 'cos in some of the sections our mellow yellow hero has to speed along the streets of Springield on his trusty wheels avoiding aliens and dogs.

Each of the five levels is a humungous beast, so in terms of sheer size, at least, you get value for money. And though The Simpsons are past their sell-by date [In your opinion - Ed], the game plays wonderfully.

It's a mix of puzzles, tricky timing and skilful joystick handling. The graphics could be more detailed at times and it's sometimes difficult to know what you can and can't jump onto. But on the whole it's a great, fun jaunt.

More fun than fiddling with your Uncle's swivelable satellite dish, trying to point it east to pick up obscure German weather programs.