The Simpsons' famous Waterworld arcade joke is now a fully playable game
Ay, Caramba!
Bart and Milhouse often have a rough time of it throughout The Simpsons' many episodes and seasons. The duo can regularily be seen getting into all sorts of exploits that often result in them losing girls, getting wedgies and a myriad of other such fiascos. Remember that time Bart sold his soul to Milhouse? That was certainly an unfortunate time for the spikey-haired skateboarder.
However, one of the most disappointing moments for Milhouse came in an episode known as "The Springfield Files."
This episode, a crossover with the X-Files, focuses primarily on Homer's conviction he has seen an alien - something that, of course, Agents Mulder and Scully immediately hot-foot it to Springfield to sort out. But that is not what we are here to talk about. Rather, I want to remind you all of the arcade game Milhouse plays in this episode - Kevin Costner's Waterworld.
This game is a little jab at Kevin Costner's widely-panned film Waterworld, in which he plays a lone drifter known as The Mariner. In The Springfield Files, Milhouse can be seen inserting 40 quarters into said game and taking on the role of The Mariner himself. However, Milhouse only gets to take one step in the game before the machine proclaims he must deposit 40 more quarters to keep playing - something he swiftly does.
Well, dear reader, if you ever watched that particular episode of The Simpsons and thought that looked like a game you too would want to try one day, I have good news - you now can.
Twitch streamer and indie game developer Macaw45 has created a full, and free, PC game inspired by Kevin Costner's Waterworld (the fake one). This time however, you can take more than one step, with the game including bosses and little secrets for players to find.
"I've always been fascinated by the fake video games that were occasionally seen in The Simpsons, and the Waterworld one always stuck out to me as a kid," Macaw45 explained.
"Of course it's just a short joke poking fun at how expensive the production of the movie was at the time, but this fake game itself with its gigantic Kevin Costner character on the screen who takes a single step before the machine asks for more quarters always made me so eager to know 'what would be beyond that one screen you see in the show...'"
If you are keen to have a play around yourself, you can download the game now through itchio - something that I have done, so if you'll excuse me, I have a mariner to see to.