The Simpsons: Hit & Run

"Awesome game featuring the Simpsons"

Being a fan of the Simpsons, I had to pick this one up. I had missed out on The Simpsons Road Rage, so I wasn't sure what to expect from Hit and Run.

Graphics 9/10
One word. 3-D. Beautifully stunning looks, amazingly realistic backgrounds, and vivid colors. If you liked the look in the Simpsons episode where Homer goes into a 3-D world, you'll like the graphics.

Music/Sound 10/10
Catchy. Very catchy music, a different “theme song” for each character plays whenever that character is in a car. I love the music in this game. As for the sound, that's great too. The voices from the show are the same as in the game. Each character has their own set of funny lines, including the characters you don't get to actually play with, such as Snake, Chief Wiggum, Cletus, Professor Frink, and Grandpa. Overall, this category is perfect in my opinion.

Gameplay 8/10
The Simpsons Hit and Run has a creative, original storyline made by the scriptwriters of The Simpsons. A new brand of cola, buzz cola, is gaining popularity in Springfield, but there's trouble brewing. And there are mysterious black vans and cameras in the form of wasps all over town. It's up to the Simpsons family and Apu to get to the bottom of this. What sets this game apart from Road Rage is the fact that you can walk, however walking is really, really slow. The game has 7 levels, each with 7 missions to complete. Each level, you'll control a different character, going through as Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge, Apu, Bart again, and Homer again. In addition to completing each mission, there are 7 collector cards to collect, 20 wasp cameras to destroy, a certain number of gags to find, 3 different outfits to buy, 5 vehicles to buy, a bonus mission to complete, and 3 street races to win in each level. This will take you a long time, as I've had it since the beginning of October and finally beat it this morning. Once you've collected all 7 collector cards in a level, a bonus game track will be unlocked. Bonus games are races, with the whole track in a bird's eye view. This makes it very hard to turn the right way and see your car. Very, very hard. I don't play it too much. However, once you've gotten all the bonus tracks unlocked, you unlock a bonus surprise. This will give you 100% in the game.

Replay Value 8/10
Since this game lasts a long time because of all the stuff to do, you'll be playing it for a long time. It can get boring after a while, but if you can't stand something being incomplete, like me, you'll stick with it. After 100%, there's not much to do except the bonus games *_*

Buy or Rent?
This is a definite buy. If you rent, you will not have enough time to enjoy the full experience of this great game. It's definitely worth spending 50 bucks on. Definitely.

RATINGS
Graphics-9/10
Music/Sound-10/10
Gameplay-8/10
Replay Value-8/10
Overall-9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/29/03