It was kind of easy for this game to stand out amongst a very popular and competitive genre at the time, by having a very unique license to it, who in the world doesn't know The Simpsons? And then you put then on the street to brawl and beat some bad guys up, with very funny animations and clever weapons to pick up. Just a amazing idea that grabbed so many people when they were walking by a arcade machine and saw the familiar characters.
A very fun game, and one of the first ones I've ever played in a arcade machine. Traditional beat'em up gameplay in a creative design.