And in any case the Kwik-E-Mart is the quintessential convenience store run by the Indian-American Apu Nahasapeemapetilon. Before the movie came out many 7-11s started carrying special merchandise that capitalized on the special products that only exist in Simpsons land, but a select twelve in the US and Canada actually full-out BECAME Kwik-E-Marts: and Chicago got one of them! The Simpsons Wrestling parodies the so-called business of sports entertainment with 22 characters (13 of which are playable) from the fictitious town of Springfield. Including the immediate family of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie Simpson, you can wrestle as.
- Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart Locations
- Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart 2017
- Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart Online
- Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart Employee Simpsons
Overview
Aliens from another planet have challenged Springfield to a wrestling match! As unbelievable as it sounds, it is not another story from I. P. Freely or one of his friends. It’s assumed that the aliens spied upon Jebediah Springfield years ago when he wrestled that bear but because their planet is light years away they haven’t been able to get here until now to present the challenge. Now it’s up to the townspeople to find someone that can wrestle like Jebediah to take that challenge.
The Simpsons Wrestling is really nothing like a traditional wrestling match other than the 3-count pin to finish the round. Like other aspects of The Simpsons, this game is totally wacky and promises to be a lot of fun for fans of TV show. Join up with the whole Simpson family as well as other characters to duke, rake, Chihuahua, Skateboard, Belch, and Squishee it out to see who will take on Kang and Kodos and save Springfield.
Gameplay, Controls, Interface
Simply put, this is a fighting game with simple controls that will make your fingers very tired. Although it is called The Simpsons Wrestling, it’s not really too much like wrestling at all since it seems any sort of objects are legally allowed in the ring and anything goes. For instance, Groundskeeper Willie will use his rake to 'garden' you up whereas Bart can ride his skateboard and Mr. Burns will even throw in some explosive radioactive material while Smithers takes you on. Although each character has different and unique attacks, they are all controlled pretty much the same and seem to have the same amount of toughness (I guess it would be a bit too easy for Bumblebee Man to take on Lisa otherwise, don’tcha think?).
When you start the game, you have Homer, Marge (with Maggie), Bart, Lisa, Groundskeeper Willie, Apu, Krusty the Clown, and Barney to choose from. Each character can jump and has three main attacks: low, medium, and high power. You have an energy bar that determines which attacks you can execute and as you attack more the bar will deplete. You can also grapple your opponent and use one of the attack buttons to do a different style attack and bouncing against the ropes and hitting a button at the right time will execute a third set of attacks. There really are no actual combos aside from one that will knock over your opponent with four quick low power attacks in a row. In addition, you will receive one letter in the word 'Taunt' which shows up by your energy and health bars. When 'Taunt' is full you can execute a taunt which makes you invincible for a short amount of time. There are power-ups that appear in the ring from time to time that can restore partial or a big chunk of energy or health or give you a 'Taunt' letter or speed you up. Each match consists of three rounds (this can be set in the options menu for more or fewer, though). The best of the three wins the match. Like normal wrestling matches, the round is won when you pin and hold your opponent for a count of three. Since there are no referees the character him/herself will do the count.
Like the gameplay, the controls are also fairly simple. There are three attack buttons (one for each attack), a jump button, grapple button, and pin button. There aren’t any button combinations aside from jumping and using an attack button and no secret special moves to figure out, which really makes this game quite accessible to beginner players as well as the more seasoned wrestler. The controls are reasonably responsive and easy to manipulate which is a huge plus in my book as so many of these types of games require super fast reflexes and well timed button presses to pull off particular moves.
Don’t get me wrong, though -- just because the controls are fairly simple for this style of game, it doesn’t mean the game is easy. There are three difficulty levels: New Challenger, Defender, and Champion Circuits. The Defender Circuit is locked out until you defeat the Challenger one. Likewise the Champion will be unlocked after defeating the Defender Circuit. The differences between these can more or less be rated as easy, medium, and hard by an average gamer’s standards. As you work your way through these circuits you will fight and unlock some hidden characters such as Bumblebee Man or Moe who can be used in later matches.
Although the game supports the vibration function if you have a Dual Shock controller, it is off by default and when I turned it on, I rarely felt anything at all which was disappointing. In fact, I even went back to the in-game options and main menu options a couple times to confirm if it was on at all. There is an interesting feature related to this, however, which is that you can turn the vibration on, off, or on for only player one or on for only player two. The other options include setting the number of rounds, loading up unlocked features, checking out the credits and adjusting the game’s various volumes for effects, voices, and music.
Please note that due to the characters available and the nature of this game, there are some potential matches that may seem to promote domestic violence (Homer vs. Marge for example).
![Crossword Crossword](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/simpsons/images/7/7d/Apu_Nahasapeemapetilon.png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/250?cb=20140822054756)
Multiplayer
The Simpsons Wrestling has two-player support as long as you have a second controller. It will not allow you to even set up a two-player game unless the controller is attached.
Graphics
This game looks very true to form for a Simpsons title -- it is very cartoon-like in nature and the graphics reflect this. The characters themselves are fairly large at all times and are rendered with great detail (which may be a little too much to ask when looking at Groundskeeper Willie without his shirt on!!). One of the big plusses about the characters is that they do not look very blocky or polygon-like at all. The animation is nice and smooth. As you move around in the ring the camera will follow in a strafing fashion and will zoom in or out as necessary to keep you both on screen at all times.
There are several different rings and backgrounds that you can fight in, from Evergreen Terrace to Moe’s to the nuclear power plant to the Kwik-E-Mart and several others. Unfortunately you don’t always get to see the background as the camera is focused more on the action in the ring, but when you do you will see well done renderings of various parts of Springfield. The characters standing in the background are more two-dimensional than those wrestling.
Audio
This is one of the best parts of The Simpsons Wrestling. The sound effects are pretty average for a PlayStation game. Some of the music sounds just like that from the TV show (and probably is taken straight from it, to boot). It’s the voices that are king in this department, though. All of the voices in the game are from the original voice talents on the TV show, which is a huge plus in my book. Nothing is worse than getting a game based on some of your favorite cartoon characters and having the voices sound nothing like the TV show. Each wrestler has his or her own phrases and taunts and some are even tailored to their opponent. In addition, some of the characters in the background will say something now and then as you get somewhat close to them.
Documentation
Standard issue stuff here, you may want to take a look over it to get the gist of the controls and get an explanation of the various power-ups. This is also the only place where you’ll find the story behind the game.
Originality / Cool Features
I don’t know that I can say that The Simpsons Wrestling is so much original because if you strip out all the great graphics and sounds all you have a simple fighting game with no timer. Fortunately since the great graphics and sounds ARE there, you do have a fairly original theme slapped on a genre of games that has countless clones. Like many other fighting games, each player has his or her own pseudo-special moves but I liked the general simplicity of the controls and that you don’t need to execute some difficult controller combination to execute a cool looking maneuver.
Bottom Line
Overall I found this to be a fun game. If you are a fan of The Simpsons and of fighting or wrestling games then you’ll very likely want to check this out. There’s a good chance that people who don’t like fighting games much but that DO like The Simpsons may find some enjoyment with this game too if for nothing else than the funny taunts and such. Just don’t touch it at all if you can’t stand The Simpsons (but if that’s the case, why are you still reading this anyway?). It’s fairly simplistic controls and great artwork, sounds, comments, taunts, and varied attacks between characters contributed a lot to my desire to go back for more and made the game accessible to a wide variety of skill levels which is why I give this game a score of 85.
Overall rating: 6
'Homer and Apu' | |||
---|---|---|---|
The Simpsons episode | |||
Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 13 | ||
Directed by | Mark Kirkland | ||
Written by | Greg Daniels | ||
Production code | 1F10 | ||
Original air date | February 10, 1994 | ||
Guest appearance(s) | |||
Episode features | |||
Chalkboard gag | 'I will not go near the kindergarten turtle' | ||
Couch gag | The family's heads pop out from behind the couch, with Maggie's head popping up last out from a cushion on the couch. | ||
Commentary | David Mirkin Greg Daniels Mark Kirkland David Silverman | ||
Episode chronology | |||
| |||
The Simpsons (season 5) | |||
List of The Simpsons episodes |
'Homer and Apu' is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons' fifth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on February 10, 1994. In the episode, Homer participates in a hidden-camera investigation of spoiled food being sold at the Kwik-E-Mart. The chain's corporate office fires Apu and replaces him with actor James Woods, who is doing research for an upcoming film role. Apu misses his job, so he and Homer travel to India to persuade the head of the Kwik-E-Mart corporation to rehire him.
The episode was written by Greg Daniels and directed by Mark Kirkland. James Woods made a guest appearance as himself. The episode features cultural references to films such as The Hard Way, JFK, and Lawrence of Arabia.
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics. It acquired a Nielsen rating of 13.3, and was the highest-rated show on the Fox network the week it aired.
Plot[edit]
At the Kwik-E-Mart, Apu scribbles out the expiration date on a package of ham instead of throwing out the spoiled food. Homer contracts food poisoning after eating the expired ham. When he recovers, Homer complains to Apu, who gives him two five-pound buckets of expired shrimp to placate him. Homer eats the shrimp and becomes ill again. While recovering at home, Homer sees the Channel 6 investigative news program Bite Back with Kent Brockman. Lisa suggests asking the show's producers to investigate the Kwik-E-Mart.
Kent gives Homer a giant novelty hat containing a spy camera to expose Apu for selling expired food. Homer panics and discards the hat after Apu mistakes its electronic buzzing sound for a bee, but the camera catches Apu dropping a hot dog on the floor and returning it to the roller grill. Apu is fired by corporate headquarters — despite complying with their unsanitary food-handling policies — and is replaced by actor James Woods, who is doing research for a role in an upcoming film.
When Apu arrives at the Simpsons' house, Homer thinks he is trying to strangle him, but Apu's posture is merely the traditional form of apology in the Indian village where he was born. Apu hopes to work off his karmic debt for selling Homer expired food by performing work for the Simpsons. At first, Homer is reluctant to accept Apu's help, but soon the family appreciates his dutiful behavior.
Apu still misses his job at the Kwik-E-Mart, so Homer accompanies him to the head office in India. There they meet with the head of the Kwik-E-Mart corporation, who grants them only three questions. When Homer wastes the questions on inane banter, the man refuses to help Apu. This time an enraged Apu chokes Homer before they return home disappointed.
When Apu returns to the Kwik-E-Mart to 'face his demons,' a robber bursts into the store with a gun. He shoots at Woods, but Apu saves him by leaping in the bullet's path. At the hospital, Dr. Hibbert says Apu survived because the bullet ricocheted off another bullet lodged in his chest from a previous robbery. Grateful for Apu's heroism, Woods gives him his job back and leaves to 'battle aliens on a faraway planet' in his next film.
Production[edit]
James Woods guest starred in the episode.
The episode was written by Greg Daniels, and directed by Mark Kirkland. It was the first full episode of the show that Daniels wrote.[1]The Simpsons writers Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who were show runners during the previous two seasons, came up with the idea for the episode. They left the idea with David Mirkin, who took over the job as show runner during this season. Mirkin said he was 'very excited and intrigued' with the idea of the episode. Soon thereafter, he assigned Daniels to write the script because he knew that Daniels would 'step up' and 'throw himself into it'.[2] In an interview with the Chicago Tribune, Mirkin stated that when he took over the show, he wanted to 'bring it back' to character and story; unlike the previous season, which got 'so fast-moving and so full of cutaway gags'. Mirkin added: 'I explored the characters a little more, took them a little further. I had one of the first episodes where Homer was really tempted by another woman, 'The Last Temptation of Homer', and Bart having a girlfriend even nastier than himself, 'Bart's Girlfriend', plus more of a focus on side characters. We did the first episode to really feature Apu as a main character. Those were my goals.'[3] Kirkland said he was grateful that he got to work with a 'wonderful crew' on the episode, including Bob Anderson, who he thought was a 'wonderful' director. Kirkland said that Anderson assisted him on the episode and did 'fine animation throughout'.[4]
When Mirkin took over as show runner, he listed actor James Woods as one of the people he would most like to guest star on the show. Michael Caine was originally supposed to be the actor in the episode who takes over Apu's job at the Kwik-E-Mart, but he rejected the role. The story was therefore rewritten so that Woods received Apu's job instead.[2] When the season was in production, producer Bill Oakley wrote on the online fan forum alt.tv.simpsons that David Bowie was being considered for the guest role in this episode.[5] Woods was one of animation director David Silverman's favorite guest stars.[6] Mirkin said he provided one of the 'most fantastic' performances ever on the show, and commented that he 'nailed' all of his lines and was 'so funny, right at the top of his head'.[2] Mirkin said that when most guest stars come in to record their lines for the show, they are a little nervous because they have never done voice-over before. Mirkin noted, however, that Woods was a 'fearless guy' and he was 'so excited to do it because he was a huge fan of the show'.[2] Silverman noted that in addition to his humorous ad-libbing, Woods's tendency to hesitate while speaking was 'great for animation', explaining that it made the character feel more realistic.[7] 'Homer and Apu' features the popular Simpsons song 'Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?', sung by Apu and the Simpson family. The song was written by all of the show's writers in the writer's room, and it was composed by Alf Clausen.[1] The song later appeared on the soundtrack album Songs in the Key of Springfield, which was released on March 18, 1997, and compiled many musical numbers from the show.[8]
Cultural references[edit]
![Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart](/uploads/1/2/5/6/125610045/463937581.jpg)
The episode features cultural references to many American and British films. Woods becoming a convenience store clerk to prepare for a film is similar to Nick Lang (Michael J. Fox) becoming a police officer in the 1991 film The Hard Way, which Woods also starred in (this is a reversal of roles: Woods played the cop that Lang was saddled with in the film).[9] When Kent asks Homer if he is willing to go undercover to 'nail' Apu, Homer replies: 'No way, man, get yourself another patsy!' This is a reference to a line in the 1991 film JFK.[9] The scene of Homer and Apu riding on mules to the Springfield Airport, with their luggage strapped to the mules' backs, is similar to a scene from the 1962 film Lawrence of Arabia.[2] In his Kwik-E-Mart job interview, the interviewer asks Woods why he would want to work at the Kwik-E-Mart, to which he replies: 'To be honest, in my upcoming movie I'm going to be playing this tightly-wound convenience store clerk and, I kind of like to research my roles and really get into it. For instance, in True Believer I actually worked in a law firm for two months. And then, the film Chaplin I had a little cameo in that. I actually traveled back in time, back to the twenties, where... Well, I've said too much,' referencing the 1989 film True Believer and the 1992 film Chaplin.[10]
Reception[edit]
Ratings and critical reviews[edit]
In its original American broadcast, 'Homer and Apu' finished twenty-sixth in the ratings for the week of February 7–13, 1994, with a Nielsen rating of 13.3. The episode was the highest-rated show on the Fox network that week.[11] The song 'Who Needs The Kwik-E-Mart?' was nominated for an Emmy Award in the 'Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics' category.[12]
Since airing, the episode has received mostly positive reviews from television critics.
The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, wrote: 'One of the very best, with the gags coming thick and fast. We particularly like the spy camera concealed in Homer's massive stetson, Apu and Marge's trip to the Monster Mart, and 'Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?', possibly the cleverest song in the series. And the Christians harassing people at the Indian airport, and Homer's wastage of three questions, and James Woods' parting words to the Simpsons, and the footage of Apu doing a hummingbird impression...'[9]
Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart Locations
DVD Movie Guide's Colin Jacobson said: 'The first episode to focus on Apu, this one works well. Our glimpses of Apu’s sleaziness and culture are entertaining, and the 'Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?' tune is one of the better musical numbers [of the show].' Jacobson went on to say: 'Also count James Woods as one of the all-time best guest stars, which is likely why he gets many more lines than the average cameo voice.'[13]
Total Film's Nathan Ditum named Woods' performance in the episode the 19th best guest appearance on The Simpsons.[14]
Patrick Bromley of DVD Verdict gave the episode a grade of A+ and commented that it features one of the best musical numbers in the show's 'history of great musical numbers'.[15]
Adam Suraf of Dunkirkma.net named it the best episode of the season, and added: 'I don’t know what it is about this episode — the 'Who Needs the Kwik-E-Mart?' song number; James Woods filling in for Apu at the store; or Homer's wise line 'I've learned that life is one crushing defeat after another until you just wish Flanders was dead' — but the entire affair is inspired. [...] It's in the little details that make this episode the year's best, and solidifies The Simpsons as the funniest sitcom of all time.'[16]
AskMen.com ranked 'Homer and Apu' as number six on its list of the top ten The Simpsons episodes.[17]
Bill Gibron of DVD Talk gave the episode a score of 5 out of 5.[18]
Analysis[edit]
The episode has become study material for sociology courses at University of California Berkeley, where it is used to 'examine issues of the production and reception of cultural objects'.[19] In the book Leaving Springfield, Duncan Beard said the episode served as a parody of the peculiarities of the American convenience store. Beard particularly cited the Muzak and the dinging bell as Homer and Apu entered the Kwik-E-Mart in India, and the sign that read, 'The Master Knows All (except combination to safe)'. Beard said, 'Here the show presents its own instance of the global culture of consumer capitalism, transplanted intact and indistinguishably unaltered from the suburbs of America to a mountain top in some indefinable region of the post-partitioned Commonwealth nation of India, purely for the purpose of parodically criticizing the banality of quick-stop stores.'[20]
Paul Cantor, who analyzed the episode in his book Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization, said, 'The Simpsons could offer no better image of the bizarre logic of contemporary globalization than a worldwide convenience store empire run by an enlightened guru from the sacred mountains of India.' Cantor also specifically cited the 'Master Knows' sign, which he said combined the perceived wisdom of the East with the business acumen of the West.[21]
Tasleem Shakur and Karen D'Souza write in their book Picturing South Asian culture in English that 'Homer and Apu' typifies the key articulation of the character of Apu juxtaposed to Homer, 'something like his alter-ego', where Homer is the all American, Duff drinking, rather lazy nuclear plant worker, and Apu is the immigrant, clean living, hard working, small businessman. Their friendship, the authors added, is typically of a strong degree of mutual respect and a kind of admiration for what the other represents.[22]
References[edit]
- ^ abDaniels, Greg (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode 'Homer and Apu' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ abcdeMirkin, David (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode 'Homer and Apu' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^Klein, Joshua (September 9, 2005). '1994 vintage `Simpsons' sets a tough standard – Homer's head houses DVDs'. Chicago Tribune. p. 7.
- ^Mark, Kirkland (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode 'Homer and Apu' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^Siegel, Alan (September 26, 2013). 'Best Message Board Ever'. Slate. Retrieved August 30, 2019.
- ^Silverman, David (2004). The Simpsons season 5 DVD commentary for the episode 'Homer and Apu' (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^'BBC Interview with David Silverman'. Retrieved 2007-08-17.
- ^'Songs In The Key Of Springfield – Original Music From The Television Series'. Amazon.com. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^ abcMartyn, Warren; Wood, Adrian (2000). 'Homer and Apu'. BBC. Retrieved 2008-08-17.
- ^Groening, Matt (1997). Richmond, Ray; Coffman, Antonia (eds.). The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family (1st ed.). New York: HarperPerennial. p. 134. ISBN978-0-06-095252-5. LCCN98141857. OCLC37796735. OL433519M..
- ^'How They Rate'. St. Petersburg Times. February 18, 1994. pp. 11–12.
- ^'Emmy Awards: 1994'. Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
- ^Jacobson, Colin (2004-12-21). 'The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season (1993)'. DVD Movie Guide. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
- ^Ditum, Nathan (March 29, 2009). 'The 20 Best Simpsons Movie-Star Guest Spots'. Total Film. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
- ^Bromley, Patrick (2005-02-23). 'The Simpsons: The Complete Fifth Season'. DVD Verdict. Archived from the original on 2009-01-16. Retrieved 2009-01-24.
- ^Suraf, Adam (December 18, 2004). 'The Simpsons: Season 5'. Dunkirkma.net. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
- ^Weir, Rich. 'Top 10: Simpsons Episodes'. Askmen.com. Retrieved 2009-03-30.
- ^Gibron, Bill (December 23, 2004). 'The Simpsons – The Complete Fifth Season'. DVD Talk. Retrieved 2009-01-09.
- ^Thomas B. Gold (2008). 'The Simpsons Global Mirror'(PDF). University of California Berkeley. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2009-04-07. Retrieved 2011-07-18.
- ^Beard, Duncan (2003). Leaving Springfield: The Simpsons and the Possibility of Oppositional Culture. Wayne State University Press. pp. 286. ISBN0-8143-2849-0.
- ^Cantor, Paul (2003). Gilligan Unbound: Pop Culture in the Age of Globalization. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 98. ISBN0-7425-0779-3.
- ^Shakur, Tasleem; D'Souza, Karen (2003). Picturing South Asian culture in English. Open House Press. p. 170. ISBN0-9544463-0-5.
Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart 2017
External links[edit]
Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart Online
Wikiquote has quotations related to: 'Homer and Apu' |
- 'Homer and Apu' at The Simpsons.com
- 'Homer and Apu episode capsule'. The Simpsons Archive.
- 'Homer and Apu' at TV.com
- 'Homer and Apu' on IMDb
Simpsons Wrestling Kwik E Mart Employee Simpsons
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