Overall, the game is fun, it captures the essence of the Simpsons
The games presentation (based on my PS2 experience) is quite amazing. The environments are Simpsons to a 'T'. The game is exactly like the cartoon and it really works for the game. The voice acting, cinematics and the play of each character are true to the show and the characters we know and love.
Super powers are thrown in for each of the characters and my son and I found this extra "cool", especially when my son was "Bart Man". I wish there had been more upgrades for them, but overall the powers were nicely associated to the characters and worked quite well through the game.
The story was fun to play and watch, albeit weak at times. I especially enjoyed watching Mr. Burns state "[cut all the good trees down for toothpicks]". I enjoyed many of the segments, both from the game play and cinematics perspective as it wrapped the overall package up.
Where the game really shined was the humour. The "clichés" were well thought out and when they are hit on the head you begin to think of games you have played (i.e. Saw blades, Key Cards and invisible barriers). These clichés were extra funny when the developers pointed out the "duh" factor. In addition, this games also pokes fun or pays homage to other games. The first one that had me laughing was the "Mario level" where you are playing a super Mario brothers type level and end up fighting Ken and Ryu (too old a reference?). The second homage were to the WWII games (Medal of Honour and Call of Duty), it was fun, especially from the white flag French perspective ;-).
Now, here comes the critical part. The game, while fun from the humour and excellent presentation stand point falls prey to some common pitfalls. First off, the game becomes somewhat boring after some time with repetitive game play. While this isn't bad initially, as the game progresses and you use the same character over and over, it really gets to you (although Marge is underused). The other thing that had me either frustrated, dying many times from falling or unable to find my goal was the poor camera. The camera sucks, end stop. You are trying to make a jump and you can't see it, so you fall and die. You are looking for what you have to do, but cannot pan around properly to see your goal.
I like the fact that I can play co-op with my son, however, when compared to other co-op games that we have enjoyed (i.e. X-men, Fantastic 4, Marvel Ultimate Alliance and Justice League), the split screen presentation is poorly executed. While the other aforementioned games offer a "complete" view of the screen with both players in it, this games offers a vertically split multiplayer screen that does not allow for enough of a horizontal view of the playing field which can be very frustrating on MANY occasions.
Overall, the game is fun, it captures the essence of the Simpsons from the character, environment, presentation and humour point of view, but it fails from some simple game play elements (camera and repetitiveness). Having said that, I still recommend the game for any fan of the Simpsons, but if you aren't familiar with the show, you might be disappointed as you may not "get it".