TITLE: The Simpsons Hit and Run NTSC
PUBLISHER: MS
DEVELOPER: Radical Entertainment
DATE RELEASED: 09/16/2003
Players: 1-4
ESRB: T
Me being a huge Simpsons fan, it was hard to not be excited when this games release was announced. I was a little apprehensive at first of course because of all the horrible games made based on this franchises name, with the one exception being the Simpsons 4 player arcade game.
At first offset this game looks and plays a lot like a GTA rip off. This is because you are free to roam each level and steal/borrow any car in the game. Although it does owe a lot of its game play mechanics and even button layout to the GTA series, after playing a while you will see that it has a feel all its own.
The game itself is split up into 7 levels in which you play a different character from the Simpsons, including Bart, Lisa, Marge, Homer and Apu. Each level is setup as a different section of Springfield with locations from the various episodes. The object of the game is to walk or drive your way around Springfield performing different tasks in the over all goal of finding out why the town is being infested with mechanical bees and mysterious black vans. To accomplish these goals you will find yourself racing from place to place on timed runs, destroying rouge vehicles, and sometimes collecting various objects for different Springfield residents. When you dont feel like following the goals you can rampage your way around Springfield destroying mechanical bees, doing side races, collecting hidden cards, or just checking out the landmarks. Throughout the game there are various things that you can do to collect coins to purchase vehicles or character outfits. You get coins by destroying buzz cola vending machines, wooden crates, mechanical bees or just about anything you can run into. You have to watch out how much damage you do because you have a damage meter and if it goes to high, Chef Wiggum will be there to pull you over and you will lose 50 coins.
Good Points: There are a lot of great points to this game. The main thing is that there is so much to do in each level other than the selected goals. In each level you can win or purchase different cars that can be used on any level of the game. Also each character can purchase different outfits, some that must be worn for different missions. Just running around town and checking out the various sights from the episodes proves to be very fun. There are also small gags you can do in different levels, as well as many different characters to interact with from the series. The sound is one of the strongest points in the game, as each characters voice is done by the original voice actors. The graphics although they are nothing spectacular are very nicely done 3D versions of their 2D counterparts.
Bad Points: It is hard to pick out things that detract from the enjoyment of the game but if I had to pick it would be this. Throughout the game you will have some goals that involve you to race other cars. Sometime when you rub into one of the other vehicles they tend to get almost stuck together for a short period of time. Also I found that sometimes these races were too easy, as the opposing car would get stuck against a wall or pinned between cars thus allowing you to win the race without effort.
Overall I found this game to be extremely exciting. For a Simpsons fan it was nice to see a game that was put together so well after so many missed tries. If you are a fan of the Simpsons cartoon this is a must own game. The score I gave this was an 8/10. This is mainly due to two factors. One, if your not a Simpsons fan you may not find anything original about this game. Second, although there is so much to do in each level of the game I dont see myself having a big impulse to replay it once I have completed everything. Support the developers and buy this game.