Fans of "The Simpsons," the longest-running animated television series in history, have played through related video games worthy of yelling "Woo hoo!" (such as 2003's "The Simpsons: Hit & Run") and some deserving of a "D'oh!" (2002's "The Simpsons Skateboarding").

This fall, America's favorite yellow, four-fingered and dysfunctional family went interactive again with EA Games' "The Simpsons Game." It's suitable for holiday gift-giving — it's the best "The Simpsons" game to date, but you do need to be a fan to appreciate all the inside jokes.

With a zany story line crafted by the Emmy award-winning writers from the TV show, the Simpsons family — Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie — are aware they're trapped inside a video game, and so they use their newfound special powers to live out their fantasies and help save their town of Springfield. For example, the overweight father Homer can unleash a serious belch or change into a giant ball of fat to roll over enemies, while bad boy Bart, armed with a slingshot, can peg off baddies with ease or glide through the air with his Bartman cape.

Most missions let you play as one of two characters, and in some cases you'll need to use one in particular to take advantage of their abilities. When playing alone, the game's artificial intelligence controls the other family member, but at any time a second player can pick up a controller to start playing.

Not only have the TV show's cast members provided voice talent to the characters in the game, including all the Springfieldians you will come across in your adventures, such as Lenny and Carl, Chief Wiggum, Krusty the Crown and more than 100 others, but this video game also enjoys smooth "cel-shaded" animation that resembles the TV cartoon, even with the move to 3-D. The game offers 16 distinct "episodes" and more than 8,000 lines of dialogue.

The hilarious missions include running through Homer's dream in "Chocolate Land" at the beginning of the game; Marge and Lisa trying to get the violent video game "Grand Theft Scratchy" banned ("The Simpsons Game" parodies many other video games, including the World War II shooter "Medal of Honor"); stopping the Lard Lad statue, which has come alive, from wreaking havoc on Springfield; and a personal favorite in which Homer and Bart must run through an eating contest divided into different countries.

The game also is loaded with collectible items such as Duff beer bottle caps, "video game cliches" as discovered by Comic Book Guy, unlockable costumes and an optional time challenge mode to add to the game's replayability.

While a fan of the TV show will get a lot more out of "The Simpsons Game" than someone who is not, it's evident a tremendous amount of effort and detail went into this ambitious game.

The end result is an adventure more fun than crank-calling Moe's Tavern.

Make a difference. Donate to The Advertiser Christmas Fund.