Krusty's Super FunHouse review - Super Nintendo

With a name like his, you might be forgiven for thinking Krusty the Clown spent his days living in a squat wearing a leather biker jacket, drinking cider and not bathing, but he is in fact a jolly children's TV presenter.

Krusty also owns Springfield's main tourist attraction (apart from the temperamental nuclear power plant), his very own Super Fun House. Sadly, there are a number of visitors who have chosen to make their stay more permanent, namely a colony of rats and Krusty wants rid of them before they ruin business. He has enlisted the help of the Simpsons family and some of his own hapless employees, and situated each one at the controls of one of his hi-tech rat traps. Now it's Krusty's job to lure the rats to their doom.

This is not as simple as it sounds, being a Fun House, Krusty's pad is composed of many platforms, pipes which suck rats through to the other end of their length, aliens, flying pigs and other hazards, all of which conspire to stop the rats meeting their maker. The thing is that the rats can only climb anything which is their height or lower, so Krusty must position blocks to help them on their way. Being stupid, the rats obediently plod along in one direction until they hit a solid or tall object, upon which they about face. Kill every rat in each room of the Funhouse and Krusty's financial future is assured, fail and the lovable funster will probably end up back in the slammer.

What the Mean Machines staff thought

From the screenshots, Krusty's Super Fun House looks like yet another SNES platform game, but in reality it has a lot more going for it. The graphics are detailed and colourful and move very smoothly and the number of fittingly cheesy soundtracks accompany the game perfectly. All the work that has gone into the presentation pales in comparison to the game itself, however. Krusty works as a sort of Lemmings in reverse, with the on-screen Krusty acting as guide to the rats. The difficulty level is beautifully graded, so each level gets progressively harder, ranging from really obvious to if-I-don't-complete-this-level-soon-I'm-going-to-go-mad, although the frustration level is surprisingly low, probably thanks to the jolly comedy theme of the game and hilarious background details. Running just a little aster than the still-excellent Megadrive game, Krusty's Super Fun House is a truly essential purchase which should take pride of place in your shopping list over the usual tired shoot 'em ups.

Like the Megadrive version, Krusty is a superb puzzle/platform game. The gameplay is horribly addictive, the graphics are full of neat touches and the very jolly tunes and effects suit the offbeat atmosphere perfectly. It's one of those games that really makes time fly - you sit down and start playing and then the next time you look away from the screen, you suddenly realise you've been playing for hours. There's little more I can add to what I said in the Megadrive review, except that this is a puzzle game that no self respecting Super NES owner should be without.

Have your say about this review

amanda - 07 Apr 2009, 01:40 GMT

i bought this game off ebay it looked like it would be fun but when i tryed it out i got so lost i didnt know what to do or where to go i need help

Dan - 08 Apr 2009, 12:49 GMT

Amanda, your destiny lies with Gamesmaster and appearin on one of his tips sections fer sure.

Krusty's Fun House was also know in Middle-England as Krusty's Fusty Anus, starring a certain Mr. Broughton who also doubled as a private detective, alias "Columbo".

And the game itself was shite.

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