NeverQuest/References

Cultural references

• The name NeverQuest is a reference to the online MMORPG game EverQuest, and possibly the game Neverwinter Nights.
• When Homer gets the keycard he says "My precious", which references Smeagol/Gollum from The Lord of the Rings.
• The mission has references to The Legend of Zelda:
  • Homer's outfit is a reference to the character Link.
  • Marge's outfit is a reference to Princess Zelda.
  • The pointy ears are a reference to the Hylian race having pointy ears.
• 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.
• One of the Mobbits sometimes says that he prefers Narnia, the fictional land of the C.S. Lewis The 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. And due to the similar looks of enemies, that is probably the case.

Trivia

• In the Xbox version, most of Homer's Duff bottle caps collectibles and Marge's discount coupons collectibles are hidden inside boxes or on top of high ledges. One of Marge's coupon appears in front of a food shop by making 30 kids sit on the tables outside. When they finish, the coupon gets out of the shop. One of Homer's bottle caps appears in the final battle by collecting all of the dragon's eggs (like a bonus level).
• In the maze, the camera positions on top, making this portion of the game resemble the arcade game Gauntlet. In fact, some of the narrator's quotes are taken from Gaunlet. And the enemies are Simpson versions of Gaunlet grunts and ghosts.
• This level and its tasks are completely different on each version.
  • In the PS2 version, Homer only has to hit the dragon using his Homer Ball boost to defeat it. The caves are very different, without coins or ledges with ladders. In the final battle, Homer has to jump to a rock on the lava, turn into Gumi-Homer, wait for it to raise and shoot gumis at the dragon.
  • In the Xbox version, when Homer hits the dragon, Marge has to tell her mob to attack it and repeat this three times. The caves are much bigger, with different puzzles to solve. In the final battle, the camera positions in front of the cave, as a 2D game, and Homer has to turn into Heli-Homer to float to the dragon and hit it, just like the NES game Balloon Fight.
• 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?"