LogFAQs > #950001967

#50. The Simpsons: Hit & Run (Gamecube, 2003)
Video games were inordinately unkind to The Simpsons over the years. Sure, you had the Arcade game, but even that at its core was a mediocre quarter-eating beat em up that only had value BECAUSE it was a Simpsons game, AND it wasn't completely horrible. Except it never had a console port until the more modern console generations. Yeah, bit of a hot take on that game, sorry. Also some of it runs pretty ugly- the main characters look good, but there's a ton of not-simpsons related stuff and it looks out of place- thinking about "Moe's bar" 1000 feet underground for example. The bosses include a wrestler? a Krusty hot air balloon? 2 gangsters? A bear? okay??

And then came The Simpsons: Road Rage. A decent Crazy Taxi clone, for as good a game as Crazy Taxi can be. It did not look very good, but it had enough characters and quotes to be okay. The lines wound up getting repeated a lot though, and all the Simpsons-related content felt very thrown in as if they were just references and nothing more. Here's... Chief Wiggum, saying some recycled line from the show as he picks up... Comic Book Guy, who wants to be driven to...Patty and Selma's apartment. Great. There were some specific interactions but not many. Mostly with Homer.

Simpsons Hit & Run really hit (pun) it out of the park though. This time, in GTA guise, with an actual story (not the greatest story, but it's enough for a video game plot-something something mind control soda) but the characters, the dialogue, the locations, and the missions are all now finally thoughtfully laid out and actually pay respect to the show. There's some legitimately funny stuff you would watch and laugh at as if it were a prime-era Simpsons episode. The neighborhood layout feels right too, and more guessed at in Road Rage.

The game is divided into a couple parts, where each time you're playing a different character, in a different part of town, as the story naturally lends itself to lead you to playing as the different characters. There's some references to well known Simpsons content, but the game stands largely on its own legs which works great. The gameplay is solid too. It's GTA, you know what you're getting. Mission-based driving gameplay. Drive through the items Homer stole from Flanders and return them to him. Stop at the Kwik-E-Mart. Take out Mr. Burns' surveillence bees. Drag race with Snake, while keeping your infamy meter low enough so Wiggum doesn't bust you. It's fun, controls well, and obviously is well-voiced. The platforming sections run a bit wonky- generally any time you need to get out of your car it plays a little slow, though that's how you get most of the collectibles, and it's still decently fun. There's a lot of different costumes and vehicles - that's where a lot of the straight references come into play and those are fine because they have nothing to do with the plot really.

I also enjoy the Ralph Wiggum run minigame races. The kid knows how to countdown a race. Those are probably the most frustrating parts of the game though gameplay-wise, oh well.

All things said. Finally a Simpsons game that feels like what one should've been. It all works and if you love the Simpsons, it's a must-play. Not really required though if you're not!



Hint: A 3DS game that is only probably on Arti's list besides mine.

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