Simpsons: Hit & Run
October 6, 2003
Of course, The Simpsons has been known for providing great television entertainment. However, the same hasn’t really been true for video games. There hasn’t been a remotely good Simpsons game since the 16-bit era. Almost two years ago, developer Radical Entertainment and EA gave us The Simpsons Road Rage, a clone of Sega’s Crazy Taxi with a Simpsons twist. Despite poor reviews, Road Rage sold fairly well. This time, Radical Entertainment with publisher Vivendi Universal/Fox Interactive has drawn off of the gameplay mechanics of another popular game for The Simpsons Hit & Run. Have they done a better job this time? Let’s see.
Hit & Run borrows heavily from the gameplay of Grand Theft Auto III. That already sounds like fun, but Road Rage was also based off of a really fun game. I’m happy to say that Radical Entertainment did a much better job this time though. Hit & Run is most easily described by saying, 쉴’s like GTA3, but with the Simpsons.hat’s true, but to give Radical some more credit, they did a great job of adapting the universe of the Simpsons to the gameplay presented in GTA3. The connection between The Simpsons characters and the GTA3-type gameplay doesn’t feel contrived. The Simpsons don’t seem out of place in this game. Probably the major reason for this is because the game’s story and dialogue were written by the actual writers of the TV series, and the voice acting is performed by the actual voice actors from the show. Not only does it give you an authentic experience, it means that the game is pretty funny.
As I said, The Simpsons universe has been well-adapted into the gameplay. They didn’t just give you Simpsons characters with the goal of stealing cars and committing crimes. In fact, the game isn’t very criminal at all. The violence is all cartoony. The worst you will see is a car exploding (after people safely jump out) or people being knocked down and then getting right back up. The story revolves around mysterious surveillance cameras that have been appearing around Springfield. As the Simpsons attempt to uncover the mystery, they’ll also become involved in the problems of many citizens of Springfield. To accomplish missions, you’ll have to use a variety of vehicles as well as explore on your own two feet. As Bart explains in the tutorial, you don’t actually steal other people’s cars; you’re just 죡tching a ride.e explains that the Simpsons have done so much for Springfield that no one really mines lending the Simpsons a hand. In practice, it basically amounts to carjacking, but you do actually see your character (like Homer) sitting in the passenger seat as the original driver of the car remains behind the wheel. Again, as I said, the game isn’t all that criminal. On foot, your characters have no access to weapons. The worst they can do is kick. Kicking is primarily used to break boxes and destroy the mysterious surveillance cameras. You can kick people too, but it doesn’t really serve a purpose. Although, you’ll hear some funny lines from the various characters. Most objects, such as signs, trash cans, small trees, and more around Springfield can also be destroyed. Of course, you can also destroy both your own car and other cars if you drive too recklessly. You can always 쨩tch another riderom the numerous cars in the general traffic flow, but that doesn’t mean that you can just go around on a destructive rampage. There is a circular Hit & Run meter in the lower-right corner of the screen. It gradually builds up as you destroy property and harm people, and it slowly decreases when you are not. As you might have guessed, harming people rapidly increases your Hit & Run meter while 쭥relyestroying property doesn’t cause as much of an increase. Once the meter is full, Springfield’s finest will be on your tail, ready to bust you for a 쨩t & runiolation. Although it is not an easy task, you can give the cops the slip by evading them until your Hit & Run meter decreases completely. That’s easier said then done because if you hit more people or objects as you try to avoid the police, it will prevent your meter from decreasing. Being caught isn’t that big of a deal though. You just have to pay a fine of 50 coins, and coins are not exactly the scarcest thing in Springfield. For the most part, it’s just an inconvenience. However, in some missions that involve following other cars, races, or time limits, avoiding a Hit & Run can be crucial.
Being a multiplatform game, Hit & Run doesn’t exactly dazzle you with the visuals, but they are adequate. Texture quality and geometry detail are not that great, but it doesn’t detract from the gameplay. Even with the average graphics, the framerate drops some times, but it generally stays at about 30 fps. Probably the most problematic area in terms of visuals is the character animations. Facial animations consist of open-close flap-jaws that make it seem like the characters’ lips are actually bird beaks when they speak. Some of the animations look fine while others seem out of place. Transition between animation routines is often abrupt and awkward looking. There is also some inconsistent art design that stands out. In many of the levels, you’ll admire the little details such as posters and signs, but every once in a while, you’ll come across an object that doesn’t fit. For instance, in the second level, you can see a cat that is just one flat color with what looks like arts-and-crafts googly eyes pasted onto its head. Particle effects are as simple as they could be and there is no lighting. Over all, the graphics seem on the simple side, yet they get the job done. On a design note, The Simpsons look a little odd in 3D. This is one game that I think everyone could agree would look good cel-shaded. For instance, Homer’s big, bulging eyes look just a little odd when seen in full 3D. Still, it’s just something that takes a little while to get used to.
The audio quality is not as good as the PS2 or Xbox versions because it has been compressed some more to fit on the GameCube disc. However, there is a good selection of Simsons music, some better than others. I’m just thankful for the variety. Of course, the voice work is excellent. Every character in the game is voiced by the actual voice actor from the TV show. That’s a good thing too because there is a lot of dialogue in the game. It’s also really funny since it was written by actual Simpsons writers. Aside from scripted cutscenes, there are also several lines that will be blurted out by the player’s character, pedestrians, and other drivers. While you will eventually hear everything a few times from repetition, I don’t think it gets annoying because they included enough different lines. It’s not like you’ll be hearing the same one or two lines over and over again.
The controls are pretty simple. It’s not a very technical driving game. You can accelerate, brake, or use the emergency brake to drift or skid into 180’s. You can enter almost any car at any time, barring mission restrictions. You can also exit any vehicle at any time to explore on foot. Each character can walk, run, kick, jump and double-jump. Again, the controls are straightforward and easy to use. The major problem with how the game plays are physics and collision detection. Basically, they are just sub-standard. Collision detection problems don’t affect the gameplay that much. It mostly just hurts the visuals. Sometimes you’ll see some NPC’s standing right inside each other or sometimes they go a little bit into the ground when knocked over. The physics affect the experience more importantly though. There is a problem with cars going over a horizontal surface to a steep surface. The car tends to stick to the steep surface (even a vertical wall) and it just looks ridiculous and slows you down a lot because you have to either try to go forward and reverse to free your car, or hit the D-pad which resets your car onto the road. At lease the developers gave the player a way out when the car gets stuck, but the necessity of such a function is not a good thing. Another strange thing about the physics engine is that the vehicles resist tipping over to the point of ridiculousness. Your car can literally be vertical on its side worse d your car will still tilt over to its normal position. I don’t know why the developer was so against having the car tip over on its roof. After all, destroying your vehicle happens a lot. You normally just 쨩tch a riderom another driver or pay to have your car repaired. They could’ve treated a flipped over car as a destroyed car.
Problems aside, the core gameplay is still a lot of fun. You will take control of several characters from the Simpsons as you progress through the game. Springfield is represented in seven different levels. Don’t let that fool you though, each level is pretty huge, and there is a lot to see and do. Each level has seven required missions that must be completed to move on to the next level. The seven main missions always involve driving. The missions come in a few basic varieties. There are timed driving missions where you must get from point A to point B before the clock runs out, there are races, there are missions in which you must follow a vehicle without letting it too far out of your sight, there are missions where you must destroy other vehicles, and there are also missions where you must collect objects scattered around while driving. The missions all involve the plot in some way. Some missions are clever and relevant, however, some missions are downright gimmicky. For instance, in one scenario, you must collect donor blood for Grandpa. However, it’s just scattered about on the streets and sidewalks. It makes no sense. Other missions are timed even though the plot provided no urgency. Basically, some missions have elements that are just there to satisfy the role of being a video game. It’s silly sometimes, but still, the missions present a good challenge and they are fun to complete – even when they don’t make sense. Each level also has one bonus mission and three races. They are not required, but they give you the opportunity to unlock new vehicles.
Speaking of vehicles, players should be quite happy with the variety. There are several different vehicles, each with different acceleration, max speed, durability, and handling. There are a lot of different cars driving around Springfield for you to just walk up and take mean get a ride from. On top of that, there are many different cars to unlock. You can use sports cars for speed and nice drifting through intersections, or you might want to try the fire truck so that you can just plow everything and everyone out of your way. You’re going to have to thoroughly explore each level if you want to unlock every car though.
That’s just where the on-foot exploration comes in handy. Of course, you’ll be taking your character on-foot to switch vehicles, but there are also several areas that you want to explore to find collectible items. There are some cool bonuses to unlock including extra character outfits, a multiplayer bonus game, many vehicles, and more. The extra character outfits are kind of fun because they are ones that has been seen in a past Simpsons episode. So you’ll want to step out of your car. A few missions require it, but mostly, it’s used for exploring the nooks and crannies of Springfield. There are some mildly challenging platforming excercizes, and mostly, exploring is about keeping a sharp eye out for areas that you might be able to go through, behind, or above. The controls work well, but the camera can be problematic some times. It gets stuck on objects, especially when your character is in tight quarters. However, since your character can’t die, you don’t have the frustration of losing because of a poor camera.
The level designs are impressive. Each level is huge and detailed with lots of buildings, people, and traffic. Although the framerate is not completely fluid, for the most part, you won’t be hampered by the framerate or draw distance. There are a lot of fun structures for both driving and being out of the car. As you drive around town, you should take notice of several different paths that act as shortcuts. A fire truck might have it’s ladder extended so that you can use it as a ramp, or you might be able to cut through a neighbor’s yard to skip a sharp corner. The roadways were well thought out and it can be fun to just drive around while exploring Springfield, or if you’re feeling a little more evil, it can be a lot of fun to try and cause multiple car pile-ups or to see how long you can avoid the cops. There are a lot of little buildings, rooftops, and other things for your character to explore on foot. You might even find a secret vehicle like a rocket car, or the broken down monorail engine. You’ll meet familiar characters and places from the TV series. It’s awesome how many people and places you can recognize from the show. It’s a real treat for fans of the TV series. You’ll find humorous references to various episodes all over each level.
That is one thing that the game has nailed down. The connection to the Simpsons is pulled off perfectly. It doesn’t feel like just another licensed game with the characters shoved into a generic setting. The game feels like it belongs in the Simpsons universe. The game is also just plain fun. There’s nothing wildly innovative, it’s just a Simpsons take on the familiar gameplay of GTA3, and they translated that successfully. Driving around recklessly trying to complete various tasks is just a lot of fun, and it also provides a good challenge. Besides great graphics, the other thing this game lacks is polish. If the developer put more time and effort into the game, it would have been excellent. The game concept is a solid one, and it’s a lot of fun. It just would have been nice to see all of the various camera, physics, and animation problems cleaned up. The game still does what it set out to do. It is a fun GTA3 clone. It just seems that the game could have benefited from more development time.
The back of the box says that 1-4 players can play, but don’t let that fool you into thinking that the game has a multiplayer mode. It’s more of a mini-game. After fulfilling certain requirements, you can unlock a bonus four player racing game that is just like the old Super Off-Road arcade game. Up to four players race on a track from an overhead point of view. It’s fun for a little while, but it’s not a full-fledged multiplayer mode. That said, there is still plenty to keep you busy for a while. Each level as a lot of areas to explore, and it is pretty fun trying to find everything and unlock all of the bonuses. Hit & Run is a lot of fun and I can recommend buying it. It will last you a while and it’s fun to show to friends. The core gameplay is fine. The only problem is that it could’ve been developed better to fuller completion to get rid of the rough spots that keep the game from being excellent.
CVG Report CardSimpsons: Hit & Run
Rating: B
Platform: GameCube
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