The Simpsons: Hit & Run

"It's the perfect Simpsons game."

If you're a fan of the Simpson's show or if you liked Simpsons Road Rage (See my review for Simpsons Road Rage) you should just go buy this game now. GO BUY IT!! You're wasting perfectly good smashing time. Now for you people who aren't too sure of buying this game, let's see if we can convince you.

Gameplay 10/10

Oh where in all the splendor should I begin? Basically it's GTA meets the Simpsons, in a less violent and even funnier way. It's a godly combo. In each level there are story missions to do but that's not all, you can go back to a level to replay missions and there's sub-story missions which have nothing to do with the story but are harder to complete. The missions are very GTA like in that they mostly consist of 'blow up this guys car before time runs out' or 'race this guy here' or 'collect all the items before time runs out'. As you probably figured out you'll be doing most all of your missions in your car. Each car has it's own statistics in speed, toughness, and handling. You start out with the family sedan which all Simpsons fans know and love. You can unlock more cars by buying them from people and collecting items. Each character has his or her own car that you must unlock by earning the level that the character plays in. Each character has his or her own set of missions and sub-missions and they're own car. Thruoghout the game you play as Homer, Bart, Marge, Lisa, and Apu. The sub-missions add a little more magic to the game. There are races, which I think are sort of self-explanitory, if you beat them all you get a new car, there are betting races, in which you bet money that you have earned by smashing things, killing wasps (see the story section for an explenation about the wasps), and even more smashing on a race. If you win you get more money, if you lose, you lose money (duh). There are gags in each level that you are supposed to find to get 100% complete. Gags are items or places in each level that are jokes out the Simpsons show. For example: in the kwik-e-mart there is the old guy who tried to cryogenically freeze himself, in the Simpson's backyard there is tiki man, Homer's tiki Idol, and in the Flander's back yard there's the family bombshelter. There are also cards to collect hidden throughout the levels which can unlock items if you get enough and each card will give you a little tid bit about an episode of the Simpsons. With the money you earn you can also buy new costumes for the characters which you may recognize from some classic episodes... The game is called hit and run for a reason, if you destroy too much too fast or run over too many pedestrians the police will start to chase after you and if they catch you they make you pay a 50 coin fee. 50 coins really isn't that much but if you're a pedestrian killer like me... it adds up. The police aren't too hard to out run in your car but if you're on foot you're in trouble. Unlike Simpsons road rage, you're car can be destroyed, don't worry, it can be fixed by finding a giant blue floating wrench. But if you don't want to find a wrench you can always steal a pedestrian car. (not at all like GTA is it?) if there are no pedestrian cars near you, you can find a phonebooth and have a car that you've unlocked pick you up. So I guess that finally sums it up for gameplay.

Story 5/10

There really isn't too much to say here, a bunch of giant wasps with cameras on their backs are invading Springfield. Mysterious black vans have also appeared with cameras and the Simpsons alone must determine the source.

Graphics 7/10

Not much else to say here either, there is little detail but since the simpsons is a cartoon there really isn't much you can do with the graphics. The framerate can be a bit iffy at times but overall there are no real problems. Although I think some cel-shading would have worked well in this game.

Sound 10/10

This is another aspect that makes the game so perfect. The voices are done by the same people that do the tv show it really adds a lot of depth to the game. Each character has dozens of things to say and most of which are very funny. The music is alright although when you're caught up in the mayhem of racing someone you tend to forget about it completely. The generic pedestrian characters are also quite funny. Overall there is basically nothing wrong with the sound in this game.

Replay value 9/10

The average person will at least get 20 hours out of this game on the first run through. Since you can replay the missions whenever you want it really adds to the replay of the game

Rent or buy? BUY!!!

This is one of the few games that I suggest you go out and buy. It's virtually flawless and hell of a lot of fun to play. It's fun, funny, and addictive, need I say more?

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/03