Krusty's Fun House

Acclaim Entertainment

Industry	Video game publishing
Founded	1987
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Products	Video games, including Krusty's Fun House

Krusty's Fun House is a puzzle video game inspired by the animated sitcom The Simpsons.

Gameplay

In this game, players take control of Krusty the Clown as he maneuvers through maze-like stages within his Krusty Brand Fun House. The main goal involves directing rats toward extermination devices by strategically interacting with various objects and barriers. Progress is hindered by adversaries such as snakes, Martians, flying pigs, and birds, while Krusty defends himself by hurling pies.

Each stage includes extermination mechanisms operated by different characters, including Bart, Homer, Corporal Punishment, and Sideshow Mel.

Development

The rights to The Simpsons franchise were held by Acclaim Entertainment, which released multiple titles beginning with The Simpsons: Bart vs. the Space Mutants. From 1991 to 1993, more than nine games based on the series were introduced, among them Krusty's Fun House.

The original concept came from Audiogenic, who was developing a home computer game akin to Krusty's Fun House. The initial project, named Rat Trap, was created by Patrick Fox and Scott Williams and featured a pink-haired boy leading rats toward a machine by placing blocks. It was launched in 1991 for platforms such as Atari ST, Amiga, and Commodore 64.

Douglas Hare served as the sole programmer for Krusty's Super Fun House. Initially working freelance on an original title for Audiogenic on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, he was later assigned by Acclaim to adapt Rat Trap into a rebranded version featuring Simpsons elements like Duff Beer advertisements and rat designs aligned with Matt Groening’s artistic style. Hare focused exclusively on the Super Nintendo edition.

Release

Launched in 1992 on numerous platforms—including Amiga, NES, IBM PC compatibles, Master System, Game Gear, Game Boy, Super NES, and Mega Drive/Genesis—Acclaim published the console versions while licensing the home computer editions to Virgin. The 16-bit versions for Super NES and Mega Drive/Genesis carried the title Krusty's Super Fun House, a name also used for the Amiga and DOS releases.

Two different versions of the Super NES and Genesis games exist; version 1.1 features altered music tracks in the second and fourth worlds.

Reception

Krusty's Super Fun House was well-received by critics in the industry. The Mega Drive edition earned an A− rating from Entertainment Weekly, while Computer and Video Games (Go!) awarded the Game Gear version a score of 91/100. Both Mega Drive and SNES versions received 90% from Mean Machines, and the NES version was rated 83/100 by N-Force. The Australian publication Nintendo Magazine System gave the Game Boy edition a 90% score, whereas Super Play rated the SNES version at 79%, describing it as a solid and enjoyable experience, especially suited for younger audiences.

In April 1994, Computer Gaming World characterized the computer version as an above-average arcade-strategy hybrid well-suited for brief gaming sessions. In 1995, Total! placed it 75th in their Top 100 SNES Games list, summarizing it as a reverse take on Lemmings, where players focus on eliminating characters on screen.

External links

• Krusty's Super Fun House at MobyGames