The game's Xbox 360 cover is used as the cover of The Simpsons Game manual found by Bart.
The Land of Chocolate (the first level of the game, which also serves as a tutorial), is the only level in the game to have just one playable character, in which case being Homer.
Though Maggie is technically a character in the game, she's an extension of Marge's character. The player can only control Maggie in levels featuring Marge as a playable character, where Maggie is used to crawl through vents.
The only playable character duo in the game that do not appear in the game is Bart and Marge (excluding the open-world areas where the player can control all four of the Simpsons).
This episode's title is a reference to the movie Batman Begins.
Bart's "Krusty Begins" Poster Trophy is also a reference to Batman Begins.
Bartman's utility belt features a game pad for a buckle, similar to the design used for the main character in the 1989 animated series, Captain N: The Game Master.
During the History of Man section of the museum, one of the targets involve apes surrounding a monolith, a likely reference to 2001: A Space Odyssey, a snippet that slightly resembles 'Also Sprach Zarathustra' can also be heard when the target is shot.
In the sewer level featuring a hidden doorway to a hidden chamber where one of Homer's Duff Bottle Caps is located, there is another doorway on the other side with a skeletal hand trying to grab a fedora hat. This is a reference to the iconic scene in Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark where Indiana Jones reaches for his fedora hat on the other side of a closing door right before it closes.
During the episode's first cutscene when the contestants line up for the race, Comic Book Guy says that "With great hunger comes great responsibility." This is a reference to when Spider-Man's uncle says "With great power comes great responsibility."
All of the countries (excluding Germany and Mexico) have their own national landmarks.
During the episode's ending cutscene, Groundskeeper Willie re-enacts and quotes the ending scene of Planet of the Apes where George Taylor falls to his knees upon seeing the destroyed Statue of Liberty, which Comic Book Guy points out as a reference.
Near the end of the level, there is a river featuring crossing crossing wooden planks and crocodiles, and a platforming stage similar to that of Frogger. Bart even points this out by yelling, "You older players should like this."
Bart's "Krusty Toothpick" Poster Trophy depicts Krusty pointing at the viewer and features the caption, "Only You Can Prevent Forests". This is a reference to Smokey Bear, an advertisement character for the U.S. Forest Service known for pointing at the viewer and featuring the caption, "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires".
Seymour Skinner is seen in this level standing in front of the Museum before Marge recruits him into the mob. This is a reference to how Skinner uses Dolph, Kearney, and Jimbo to rob the Museum for scientific visual aids in Bartman Begins.
In the game's Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, Lisa brings together a cube, a sphere, and a triangle, the arrangement of EA Games' original logo.
The real name of the EA Executive is never revealed. In fact, at one point, when his name would be normally addressed, his name is instead bleeped out.
At the end of the level, Kang and Kodos use the word 'space' to replace certain words, a nod to how The Smurfs would say 'smurf' instead of some nouns and verbs.
Marge's Hair Street Blues Hairspray Trophy references the American police procedural TV series, Hill Street Blues.
In the level's second room, the sound effect of the door opening and closing is used from the 1992 video game, Doom .
The boss at the end of the level is Nintendo character Donkey Kong (Or perhapshis grandfather, Cranky Kong, based on first appearance and game).
The door opening and closing sound from Doom can be heard in the second room.
Somewhere in The Blood Room there is a graffiti saying The BFG, possibly a reference to the BFG 9000 weapon in Doom.
Also in the blood room, there is a large vat with "Achtung! Blut!" (Attention! Blood!) on the side spewing green blood. This is a reference to Germany's often strict video game rating system.
There is also Fatality graffiti on the walls, used in Mortal Kombat games when the player successfully completes a finishing move called a Fatality.
The witch laughter from Worms (censored) theme plays near the blood meters.
Donkey Kong forming a thumbs up while sinking into the green liquid bears a heavily resemblance to the T-800's death in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
There are many posters of game publishers EA in this level.
All of the portal pipes are a reference to the Warp Pipes in the Mario games. In fact, the sound that Bart and Lisa make when going down one of these pipes is the same as the sound that is heard when Mario goes down a Warp Pipe.
The enemy football players can be heard chanting "4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42, HIKE!", a reference to "the numbers" in the TV show LOST.
When Bart and Homer succeed in defeating the Lard Lad Donuts mascot statue, Kang says "Shazbot!", the common expletive of the character Mork from Mork & Mindy
There is a poster for Sim Kitty, which is a reference of Sim City (also created by Will Wright)
There are also posters for Sim Sandwich (which was first mentioned in the episode "Little Big Mom"), mocking the wide range of games in the Sim franchise.
Similarly, he also briefly references the above game, mentioning that it was "his biggest flop", and that creating it also "ruined his life."
The chasm death cliché is a reference to Wile E. Coyote.
Homer's outfit is a reference to the character Link from The Legend of Zelda.
Marge's outfit is a reference to Princess Zelda from The Legend of Zelda.
The chests which contain different items are references to MMORPGs, along with fantasy games such as The Legend of Zelda.
Homer refers to Marge as being "a sexy MILF", which Marge corrects by saying that the word is "elf".
The Mobbits are parodies of the Hobbits from The Lord of the Rings. Marge will sometimes refer to them as "hairy toddlers", a sort of pun on the fantasy character name Harry Potter from the titular book series.
One of the Mobbits sometimes says that he prefers Narnia, the fictional land of the C.S. LewisThe Chronicles Of Narnia book series. It's either the Rod or Todd Flanders Mobbit that says this, since C.S. Lewis is a Christian book author.
Some of the characters and their costumes are from Earthland Realms, an online game in the Simpsons universe which parodies online MMORPGs.
Upon entering the maze area, Marge notices the camera switching to overhead POV (point-of-view). Homer states that this is just like his favorite old sword-and-sorcery game, Dig Dug - which is neither a sword-and-sorcery game nor even set in overhead POV, at least not until the sequel, Dig Dug II.
He possibly meant The Tower of Druaga, a fantasy adventure game also made by Namco, or more likely Gauntlet by Atari Games, due to the similarity of how its "narrator" points out things like not shooting the food.
Sometimes, in the final part of the level where Homer, Marge, and the Mobbits confront the Dragon, Marge asks "Which one of you is gay again?"
Also, in the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, the "boss fight" against the Patty and Selma Dragon is a spoof on the arcade game Joust.
Poochie wears a shirt with a logo in the style of Rockstar Games' logo, the maker of the Grand Theft Auto series.
This is the only level of the game to use the word "Bitch" in gameplay. (Will Wright said "bitch" in a cutscene in Bargain Bin) However, Marge used that to refer to female dogs.
The Itchy and Scratchy gang members respectively resemble the Crips and Bloods in real life with their blue and red clothes.
The altered radio song is a recording of "That's What Friends are for", a 1985 song by Dionne Warwick.
In the background, people can be heard yelling "We shall surrender like we've never surrendered before!" and "I have surrendered, therefore I am!". They are presumably Cheese-eating surrender monkeys.
The Castle is named Castle Duffenstein, an obvious reference to Wolfenstein 3D.
Upon entering the church, Homer will sometimes say that he prefers "Castle Smurfenstein", possibly a reference to the computer game Castle Wolfenstein. The interior of the church resembles the decor of Wolfenstein 3D, an FPS predecessor of Doom.
The trophy Bart collects in this level is the movie "Saving Krusty's Privates", a parody of Saving Private Ryan.
The first part of the level is a reference to Call of Duty.
The title refers to the Super Happy Smile Time Family Wish Show, the Japanese game show in "Thirty Minutes Over Tokyo".
In the first cut scene, Homer states that he won't eat any sushi unless it's chocolate covered (and if there's no sushi in it). However, sushi is a food in the level and Homer will eat it.
At the beginning parts of the level, Homer will say how much he hates sushi when he eats it.
At the end levels, Homer seems to enjoy sushi more.
The level makes some references to Pokémon with the game within a game "Sparklemon" featuring references such the "Sparklemon Capturing Ball" (a reference to Pokéballs).
The Flying Boat has a figurehead resembling Hello Kitty.
The Flying Boat seen in this level is a reference to the Flying Airship - a recurring feature in the Final Fantasy series.
One of the lines said by Comic Book Guy fire sumos is "Just a flesh wound", a recycled line from Final Fantasy IX which is, in itself, a reference to the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. The line is indicated as such with Comic Book Guy laughing at the fact that he is taking it from Final Fantasy IX and not Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
The fire sumos make a reference to Cyndaquil, the Fire-type starter Pokémon from the Johto region.
The floating head talks to Homer and Lisa about the evil Rin Sha corporation this is probably a reference to the Shin-ra Company of Final Fantasy VII.
Defeated fire sumos sometimes say "Every light must fade, every heart returns to darkness", a line stated by Ansem from Kingdom Hearts.
Upon noticing Matt's piles of money, Bart says that the creator is "like Richie Rich, except straight".
In order to open Matt Groening's mansion door, the player has to do a Simon-type memory game, using floor pads that each play a different note. The song successfully pieced together is none other than The Simpsons Theme, which plays as the door opens.
Homer can say that he has an urge to sit on a couch, or has an urge to send money to Danny Elfman, who composed the Simpsons theme.
Upon entering Matt's office, Comic Book Guy points out the Evil Genius cliche as being "a rip-off of Lex Luthor," a constant adversary of Superman.
Matt introduces himself to the Simpsons by saying that "Your creator is TV's most beloved animation visionary!". Homer replies with "Seth MacFarlane!?"; Seth is the creator of rival cartoon sitcom Family Guy. During the battle between Bart, Homer and the many clones of Bender and Zoidberg, Matt sometimes says that he wished he invented Family Guy.
Matt's mansion has Futurama-like transportation tubes running along the ceiling.
During the boss battle of the level, Homer and Bart will have to face several copies of Bender and Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama.
While creating these "warriors of the future" Matt says "Say hello to my little friends!", a famous line from Scarface.
Insults thrown at the pair include "You were just too weird for network television!" (referring to Futurama's cancellation) and "You're my least favorite Billy West character!".
During the level's opening cutscene, all five members of the Simpson family are seen walking up the drive. When the gameplay starts, only Bart and Homer are present. Marge and Lisa reappear after that fight with Matt Groening, but Maggie doesn't.
The 'Video Game Engine Self-Destruct Button' is concealed behind a painting of Marge in the likeness of the Mona Lisa.
Another painting (seen only in the gameplay) resembles The Scream with Homer in it, and two statues resemble a Patty and Selma version of the Venus de Milo.
The trophy Bart collects in this level is the movie "Krusty Klownface", another reference to the movie Scarface.
In the DS version, at one point Bart jumps on notepads with the Simpson Family's Tracey Ullman Shorts designs.
This level has the most fourth wall breaks.
Matt Groening's secretary pronounces his name wrong and says "Groaning" instead of "Groening", but he says he is not sure how his name is pronounced. This was also brought up in "My Big Fat Geek Wedding".
In Bart's first level on the DS version, when fighting Benjamin Franklin, Lisa uses lightning on Franklin's kite referencing to a made up reason on how he passed away.
At the beginning of the episode, the Moe-orc (his name being a pun on Mohawk) says "Oh, for the love of Sauron", another reference to Lord of the Rings.
The bearded dwarf that jumps on the sofa and cries "Here we gooo!" is a reference to Mario, done in the same style as his voice actor Charles Martinet in Super Mario 64.
The fact that Lisa uses her Hand of Buddha to build a tower to Heaven may be referencing the Bibical story of the Tower of Babel.
William Shakespeare is guarding the gates of Heaven. Bart complains about his "John Grisham fancy talk". The music that plays during his boss fight is "Anvil Chorus", a composition by Giuseppe Verdi, from the opera "Il Trovatore", also by Verdi.
In the PlayStation2 and Wii versions of the game, the Hii is called "I am", as in "I am He" (another way for God to say "that's me"). "I am" is the literal translation of Jehovah, God's original.
In the final battle, the music playing is The Scorpions' "Rock You Like a Hurricane" done in a Dance Dance Revolution-style remix.
When God is pleading Bart not to destroy his save games (on the ∞Mb memory card), he pleads "I'm on the final boss fight of Oblivion, I can't start again from the beginning!". The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion has hundreds of hours of gameplay.
Bart calls God "Birkenstocks", a maker of sandals.
God says Planet Earth got a score of 96 on Meta-Metacritic.
