Looks like Cyberpunk 2077 isn’t the only unfinished game with bugs in it!!!!!!
Cyberhackers have uncovered a tech demo for what was initially assumed to be a never-produced Simpsons video game for the Sega Dreamcast, titled The Simpsons: Bug Squad!. Produced by the now-defunct Red Lemon Studios in late 2000 to demonstrate its Toon Renderer engine to Fox Interactive, the demo consists solely of a roach clad in military gear that can jump around a cel-shaded Simpsons kitchen and TV room while Homer walks around. pcwzrd13, who got the demo to work, produced a video playthrough. Others, like Stranno, managed to get outside to the backyard, where Bart is also walking around.
Andy Campbell, a co-founder of Red Lemon Studios, clarified some things on Twitter:
Oh my! Not seen that for 20 years! We had a great coder who had developed an amazing cell shading engine for DC. I knew Fox pretty well, so this was a demo we created and I pitched to them. We were never commissioned, so this was technically never an official title in development
— Dr Andy Campbell (@spacebrodie) December 20, 2020
The ‘toon tech’ cartoon rendering engine came first. We then looked at pitching it to publishers. I knew the folks at Fox… so we modelled the Simpsons house and characters. Bug Squad was a separate idea initially we retrofitted to make it a cockroach running about. Memories!
— Dr Andy Campbell (@spacebrodie) December 20, 2020
Speaking of unreleased Simpsons video game stuff, series producer Matt Selman revealed last summer that his favorite Simpsons game to work on was an unreleased Mario Party-like game. The unexpected discovery of The Simpsons: Bug Squad! gives hope that perhaps we’ll get to see it someday, along with who knows what else…