“Excellent pinball , this has to be one of the top data east pins.....this was one of the pinball I just go after school and play it for hours my mom had to go get me from this little restaurant where they had it .....I waisted my lunch money in this pinball , it was so much fun . I want to own one of this in my collection .....”

“Leave it to Data East to destroy a perfect theme like The Simpsons. I'm a huge fan of the show, and this game had so much potential. But as typical with most DE pins, it's just not very fun to play. And since it was based on the first season of the TV show, and The Simpsons really didn't hit it's stride until towards the end of Season 2, there really aren't many memorable quotes from the show that could've been used.

TSPP totally made up for the god awful pin that is Data East's "The Simpsons".”

“Early Simpsons license pinball. Fast and often violent, with the ball frequently flying through the air sometimes breaking things. Mine is in good shape, but still has a few broken and missing plastics..

The audio and art is dated, only because there are Simpsons characters referenced in the game that haven't shown up in the show in 20 years, and Bart says thing that haven't been catch phrases for him since 1990. (Cowabunga, Dude!)

But, it's still a good pinball with some tight shots. The spinner shot is really hard, and the ramp shot, on my machine at least, isn't indefinitely repeatable.

I love the bumper caps, mirrored backglass, difficult multiball, and satisfying shots.

I don't like how large the outlines are. The right out lane is a drain magnet, and the left out lane is massive, but at least you have a kickback. Relighting the kickback, however, has a huge risk, as the targets to do so are directly over the same left out lane.

Overall, a really good game that some credit with starting the pinball renaissance of the early 90's...”

“Simpsons DE is a fun game that holds true to mischief and irreverent fun the theme of the TV show.

The Pros:
A fantastic PF layout that looks great with the artwork placed on top of it. A REAL MIRRORED BG with all of the characters from the show. The credit on the BG is named Matt Groening... The credits here nameK.O'C and Margaret Hudson. Well, whoever did the artwork on this take nailed it! 2 banks of drops and a tight spinner a the top of the PF with tricky saucers make for lots of great shots to be made on this table. The 3 mile island pop bumpers were so awesome, that they made it to the stern game. There are not many audio calls on this game, but this game was made in 1990 and what is put on the table sounds great. The build up on multiball requires skill and nerves. I actually like the character of this game much better. It's based on the first few seasons and has a much less formatted and refined look to it. It's more human and therefore Simpson-like. Looping the ramp when millions is lit is a hoot.

The Cons:
Make no mistake, this is a 1 ramp game. Not as bad as BK2K, but the left flipper is useless for higher scores. This is a fun game, not a true player. This is a shame, because the rules on this game could have been so much more... CALLING MYSTERY PROGRAMMER! The toughest shot on this table doesn't have a switch on it! Look at the lane to the right of the upper right vuk that leads to the donut lanes and you'll see what i mean. The double your score random award is never a good idea. Did DE ever test their games in competitive play before releasing them?

The Takeaway:
This game is what it is: A fun game with a great theme and a reminder that Bart used to be the star of this show. A good pinball game for a casual player or a simpsons fan that may leave an more demanding player looking elsewhere. I have to admit...as someone who considers himself a capable player (on a good day), I still can't resist it's charm and play it when I can.

... Sssspriiinklessss ...”

“The first Simpsons pin wasn't a whole lot of fun for me, but I did like it. It was very average, but not the worst pin I've ever played.”

“A not very fun Data East creation.”

“I really like 'The Simpsons'! There, I said it! I know that it is nowhere as deep as TSPP, but it is just plain & simple fun, based on a great theme & at an affordable price. If you have a smaller pinball budget but looking for fun nonetheless - look no further. Great artwork on the playfield, decent sounds & music. The speech may get old for a lot of folks as the quotes can get a bit repetitive, but if you're a true Simpsons fan, you'll love it anyway. I know I do.”

“This is a tough game, and one I feel is underrated. The theme is great. The game was made after the first season of The Simpsons, so it's somewhat limited in it's portrayal of the show.”

“Have owned this about a week and can say that my wife is hooked! Lot's of fun even if seemingly simple rule set and play. Large ramp that disappears into the backend of the machine is fun and not as easy to hit 2x in row as is necessary to "score big". Addictive but simple gameplay. Popup bowling pins sometimes get hit hard enough to launch ball into glass but no damage! Ball gets stuck behind closest cooling tower to player . . . game soon discovers that ball is stuck and runs all coils to clear it. Right drain does not often get used (good) but left drain sees lots of action, good news, in that is has a "return to play" plunger that puts the ball back in play. Overall a fun pin to play that scores lower than others in areas of: Sounds variation and game rule set.”

“I love the Simpsons so I really enjoyed the sounds and the music a lot. The pin looks nice with a nice playfield and cabinet art. The back glass is very colorful and looks great. The machine played ok but I'm fairly new to buying and really playing pinball machines and it seemed to me that games went really fast as the ball seemed to drain quickly. But I think for the price this seemed like a nice beginner pinball machine.”

“Love the theme, a decent enough game fun to play, vey basic rule set. Not sure about the lastability. Good entry level game.”

“Thank you Come again! ...great especially for that era...still plays well and is lots of fun”

“LOVE IT!”

“A very average game... woulkd be a lot better if the theme and artwork was something else!”

“The playfield was warped due to repairs it coulda been better taken care of but it was still fun to play.”

“Fun to play. Too expensive to buy.”

“Nuke tower jet bumpers are cool. Voice callouts are funny and represent the theme well. Other than that... yawn!”

“Don't Have A Cow Dude!
80s greatness of that era of the Simpsons.”

“The playfield is fairly open and it has a lot of great sounds from the characters. Multiball is real easy to get. The ball really does move fast on this game, although since the playfield is so open it does not make the game too challenging. Looks asthetically nice but the theme is more enjoyable then the pinball experience.”

“Not bad for a pre-DMD data east game. Grew up playing this one. Made after Series 1 of the simpsons so it has limited content. Plus annoying things like Barts T-shirt the wrong colour, characters looking slightly disfigured etc”

“i love the simpsons, plain and simple. not as good as pinball party, but simple enough for beginners!”

“For a simply laid out game, it has some surprisingly difficult shots. The artwork and quotes are good. The sound quality was not very good and seemed muffled, at least on the machine I played. There seemed to be a lot of unused space as the ball would often bounce around not hitting anything. It was fun while I was playing it but I'm not sure how long that will last at home once I master those few shots. There is one for sale near me and I am considering whether or not to buy it.”

“This was the first pin I ever owned, and it's still one I enjoy playing. For a Simpsons fan it has some nice episode references, some great voice work, and pretty good art on the backglass and playfield. There aren't tons of ramps or toys, but the single ramp provides a very fun mode (Millions Mode) that is very fun, especially in multiplayer games.

This game is kind of an in-between era game as it was at the end of the pre-DMD era. It plays much like the DMD games, and I think it's one of Data East's most enjoyable games. There are a few technical shots, and while it only has a 3-ball multiball, it's pretty satisfying to earn it.

This game isn't super technical, so real pros will eat it alive on the high score board, but casual players, especially Simpsons fans, should have some fun with it for quite some time. Heck, just the battle to stay the loop back champ (it tracks consecutive ramp shots) will make sure you fire it up every once in a while in a home setting.”