Virtual Bart is one of the many The Simpsons

The Simpsons

The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...

 licensed games. It was released for the Super NES

Super Nintendo Entertainment System

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...

 and Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994 by Acclaim

Acclaim Entertainment

Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...

. The official guide to the game (Virtual Bart: Official Game Secrets) was written by Steve Schwartz (Prima Publishing, 1995).

Gameplay

At a science fair, Bart wanders into a virtual reality exhibit and must pass all the "virtual worlds" (levels) to escape the machine. Passing a set of virtual worlds grants an ending sequence, and completing all the levels without losing all lives remaining wins the game. The format is similar to the previously released Bart's Nightmare

Bart's Nightmare

Bart's Nightmare is a 1992 video game developed by American company Sculptured Software based on the television show The Simpsons. It was released to the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and the Super Nintendo Entertainment System.-Plot:...

, save for the lack of a hub world

Level (video gaming)

A level, map, area, or world in a video game is the total space available to the player during the course of completing a discrete objective...

 from which the levels were accessed. Gameplay for most of the levels consisted of standard platforming elements; others took advantage of the SNES' Mode 7

Mode 7

Mode 7 is a graphics mode on the Super NES video game console that allows a background layer to be rotated and scaled on a scanline-by-scanline basis to create many different effects. The most famous of these effects this can create is the application of a perspective effect on a background layer...

 abilities. The levels were as follows:

• "Dinosaur": Bart is a dinosaur that somewhat resembles a coelophysis
  Coelophysis
  Coelophysis , meaning "hollow form" in reference to its hollow bones , is one of the earliest known genera of dinosaur...
  
  , on top of Mt. Springfield in the primeval era. The player must survive the various platforming hazards while fighting off other dinosaurs and neanderthalic versions of various Simpsons characters. Homer, as a caveman, is particularly persistent, and appears as a boss along with Moe, attempting to knock Bart into a freezing lake. Sending the two into the lake ends the stage; an ending is played of a frozen Homer on display at the Springfield Museum of Natural History, sighing "D'oh" as Dr. J. Loren Pryor passes by with a plateful of donuts.
• "Baby": Bart "relives" his infancy, escaping from his bedroom at the Simpsons' residence to explore. The player must guide Baby Bart through complex platforming sequences while avoiding hazards and animals. Bart eventually ends up in a live circus act, and is safely launched back home via cannon without his parents realizing his absence (at least Marge).
• "Pig": Bart is an escaped pig at Krusty the Klown's pork factory. The player must rescue Bart's swine brethren while again surviving platforming hazards and fending off clowns and corporate thugs. After defeating the owners of the factory, an ending sequence plays of Pig-Bart freeing all the captive pigs.
• "Water Slide": Bart slides down a massive, surreal waterslide tube at a waterpark, dodging hazards and other waterpark patrons. The slide sometimes forks, with only one path the correct one. Taking the wrong fork will either force the player back (courtesy of a pudgy Homer blocking the way), or ejected from the slide into a bizarre death such as falling off a cliff or being eaten by a lion. Reaching the end of the level grants an ending sequence of a triumphant Bart soaking the twins Sherri and Terri. Blinky the Three-Eyed Fish makes a cameo as both a hazard and a marker for the level's progression meter.
• "Vandal": Bart, from his hiding spot, must hurl tomatoes and eggs at his Springfield Elementary classmates, striking each one. Running out of time and/or throwing objects with classmates remaining results in failure, as does hitting any passing adult (the exception is Principal Skinner
  Seymour Skinner
  Principal W. Seymour Skinner is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer. Born in Capitol City, he is the principal of Springfield Elementary School...
  
  , who can be hit in the posterior when he is bent over).
• "Post-Apocalypse": A spoof of the Mad Max
  Mad Max (franchise)
  The Mad Max franchise refers to a series of futuristic films, taking place in the "Mad Max Universe", that tell a story of breakdown of society, murder, and vengeance. The first Mad Max was an Australian action film directed by George Miller and written by Miller and Byron Kennedy, released in 1979...
  
   films, Bart is a road warrior attempting to survive a post-nuclear holocaust Springfield. The level plays similarly to such game classics as Road Rash
  Road Rash
  Road Rash is the name of a motorcycle-racing video game series by Electronic Arts, in which the player participates in violent illegal street races. The game was originally released for the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, but was ported to several other systems. Six different games were released from...
  
   and Mach Rider
  Mach Rider
  is a futuristic driving video game created by Nintendo. It was first released on October 18, 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, as one of the 18 initial launch games. A month later, on November 21, the title was released in Japan. On March 15, 1987 it was released in Europe and Australia...
  
  . The player bikes through a highway while fighting off persistent attacks from Jimbo Jones, who throws bombs at Bart from his ATV, and the more troublesome Kearney, who attempts to beat Bart with a chain when he pulls alongside him, as well as ramming Bart's motorcycle with a chariot-like vehicle. Bart may defend himself by kicking the bullies when along side their vehicles, or by shotting water balloons when behind them. Otto and his bus also act as an obstacle, driving the opposite way of Bart in an attempt to hit the player, which causes tremendous damage. Completing the level sees Bart return to his home on Evergreen Terrance. Bart's family is revealed to have been long dead, reduced to a group of skeletons on the living room couch. An uncaring Bart shoves their bones out of the way as Krusty's post-apocalyptic TV show is about to air ("Hey, surviving kids!").

If the player runs out of lives, game over occurs (with Bart getting embarrassing nausea from the virtual-reality machine). If the player successfully passes all of the levels, a final ending sequence shows Bart safely escaping the machine, while a gullible Homer tries the machine himself to immediate disaster.