Yeah, The Simpsons is another show my wife insists on watching every day, and I don't mind it SO much, but it's gotten REALLY awful. I've said many times - and stand by it - that people complaining about The Simpsons having gone to sh*t annoys me more than the show itself does, but that's more about the fact that people never shut up about it and we all KNOW already it's a bad show.
But that doesn't mean they're wrong. It's f*cking terrible now. There's a daily marathon on FX and sadly they insist on running far more newer episodes than old ones. I've seen the ones about Lady Gaga and Moe's stupid dish rag and the one where Homer starts a '90s grunge band more than I ever wanted to, and it amazes me that once upon a time we thought that the episode where Skinner turned out to be an imposter was surely as bad as it could ever get. Pretty much every single episode they make nowadays makes that old chestnut seem like a classic. And that's just terrible.
I get that it's "comfort food" and just a show people watch because it's always on, and seemingly always has been on, but there's just no point to it anymore.
The only thing worse than new Simpsons episodes... are those awful NES Simpsons games.
But yeah, obviously I played the hell out of them as a kid like everyone did, although I only ever rented them. As a kid, you don't understand that some games are bad, and when you're not having fun you kinda think it's just you. But those were some of the first where I started to realize that some things are just poorly-made. "This CAN'T be me, I kinda think these games are bullsh*t."
And just like new Simpsons episodes, we just put up with those terrible games because "Hey, it says 'Simpsons' on it." I wish people could overlook brand loyalty more than they do. But I guess people aren't wired that way.
As for Top Gun, I kinda think I thought it was the opposite as a kid, I had the game before I had even heard of the movie.
Movies about ambiguously gay Air Force pilots were not at all on my radar as a little kid. I'm pretty sure Little Kid Me assumed the movie was somehow based on the game, and not the other way around.
I never even knew they made a Top Gun 2 game. Although I certainly wouldn't have been looking for it.