We best begin with a disclaimer: This reviewer loves 'The Simpsons' cartoon more than Homer loves doughnuts. More than Bart loves Krusty. More than Mr Burns loves crushing the hopes and dreams of his downtrodden workforce. You get the idea.

Here's the point: those who are indifferent to the animated world of Springfield might find The Simpsons to be a rather average 3D platformer. The rest of us Simpson-philes, however, will find the game elevated by its spot-on humour and highly polished production values.

Springfield looks splendid in high definition, and being able to wander around the faithfully replicated town, which serves as a hub for the various levels, is a joy in itself. Every conceivable character populates the pavements, complete with their associated catchphrases ("worst... catchphrase... ever!") plus a script and cut-scenes which are as funny as an episode of the cartoon itself. And we can't pay it a higher comedy compliment than that.

Expect a ton of in-jokes (such as Lenny worrying about his ill-fated eye), not to mention a number of film and game parodies (Lisa's introductory level turns into a game of Frogger at one point). In short, this is a fabulously classy interpretation of The Simpsons.

And it plays well enough, too. Leaping, flying, rolling and exploding through the game's levels is an enjoyable experience, and the four Simpson characters (Maggie being bundled in with Marge) possess a varied set of powers. Homer embraces brute force with a power that turns him into a giant blob that can smash through obstacles, whereas Lisa prefers a more tactful approach, stopping time in her Buddha trance and levitating objects around.

Each level consists of a series of jumping tests and basic puzzles, played by two characters. Normally the second character is computer controlled (though you can switch between them at will), but another person can join in at any time and play co-operatively via split-screen.

However, all isn't perfect in this virtual Springfield. The 3D camera is painful at times, switching views awkwardly and generally making the trickier platform sections unnecessarily frustrating. It's worse still when playing split-screen with a friend, as your field of vision becomes quite claustrophobic.

Despite these difficulties, The Simpsons is designed to be an easy going game, although as a result the challenges it presents tend towards the overly simplistic. There isn't much in the way of knotty puzzling here, and if you aren't trying to find all the secrets and hidden collectibles, taking your time and absorbing the comedy atmosphere, it's going to seem like a pretty superficial game.

Still, in our humble opinion, that would be your unfortunate loss.

Definitely recommended for Simpsons devotees. It's not the greatest 3D platform game ever made, but it's perfectly playable, and the theme and flavour of the cartoon is captured brilliantly.