The Simpsons: Hit & Run

"DO'H! This must be by Fox!"

I had very high expectations for this game and unfortunately I was disappointed by the game. It's overall a great concept and is actually very well executed, but some factors bog it down worse than weighing three hundred pounds to work at home. As a longtime Simpsons fan, this game is a big let-down.It isn't the best Simpsons game ever as EGM hyped it. While not the worst episode ever, it doesn't beat the classic arcade game or the Cartoon Maker.

The main factor that made me not like the game was the horrible, tedious missions. This is why I don't like GTA and the style of game, but I hoped the crew here could get it right. There are a lot of missions, about fifty, as listed on the back of the box...ugh. I hoped that the missions could be exciting and diverse like the ones in Armored Core(PS) or Tie Fighter(PC). This is where it falls apart...drive here,race here, avoid Police Chief Wiggum, collect a gajillion items,lather,rinse,repeat, ad nauseum. I wanted to enjoy it, but the missions (Apu's in particular) leave so little margin for error you'll wonder if even somebody with a degree in hyperbolic topology (i.e. Professor Frink) could conjure up a way to beat them. They are not fun challenging, just tedious. I must warn you that I broke a controller in this game.

Anyways, the game has enjoyable moments, like some funny mission dialog that isn't repeated like ever other one. My favorite dialog is with Grandpa in his jeep, ''nineteen-dickety-two''...But anyways, I like the exploration and the various cars (Car built for Homer,WWII Vehicle,Zombie Car) and some extra objectives like the cards.

Here's my breakdown:

Graphics: 8/10
Graphics are nice, if not great, and are fairly smooth(though my screen occasionally had a stutter and blip.). The cars and characters are fairly well detailed and don't look bad or anything. The town is detailed, but things aren't in the right place sometimes (as Comic Book guy would have probably pointed out) and there are a lot of lame generic stores...no Leftorium here.what is most disappointing is the cars you don't own...You can hitch a ride in them but they are flat textured like something from a PS1 game. Ugh.That's what drags them down.The GameCube is capable of better than this (Metroid,Resident Evil,TimeSplitters 2).

Sound: 8/10
What else can I say? The voices are there (though Hans Moleman doesn't quite sound right) by the show's actors,although in an annoying twist of fate, they love to repeat things over and over...anyways, it has average quality effects, nothing really special here. Music is pretty good (Bart and Lisa's levels, and the Tim Burton-esque...oops! Revealing too much!).

Story: 5/10
The story is set up all right, but is kind of lame and cliche.It obviously wasn't good enough to be an episode, so it's second-rate material. Cinemas are kind of funny...

My Verdict:
Anyways, my point is to rent or borrow first. The game is fun from an exploration perspective, but is unfortunately too tedious and repetitive to be a classic. I borrowed it from a buddy rather than buying it myself (Woohoo!)so I don't feel bad about plunking down fifty bucks. At least it has replay value in the extra objectives.Again, I suggest a rental first. Be careful and see if it's what you're looking for.Maybe you'll like it if you catch on to the control a wee bit faster. If you're a die hard Simpsons fan, wait till the price drops or you might have a cow, man.It can be enjoyed, but I hope you have cheats...
The missions can be so tedious not even a cool dude like me broke a controller.

Plain and simple, PLAY BEFORE YOU BUY,MAN!

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 02/21/04