The Simpsons is one of those franchises that just won’t die. The TV series has been in syndication now for nearly half my life, currently in the 16th season, though many would argue that the show has lost its touch in the past few years. The show’s popularity has spawned many games, including Hit & Run, a light hearted, family friendly version of Grand Theft Auto with a Simpsons dressing. If you’re a huge fan of the show, like me, Hit & Run is a must have for your collection of Simpsons swag.
Hit & Run is essentially a street racing game. Much like other games of this genre, the gameplay revolves around driving through the city to accomplish various missions before moving on to the next area. Along the way, you’ll get to play and interact with many of the different Simpsons characters, unlock various vehicles seen in the TV show, and pull off cool tricks and high jumps to find secret areas. There’s not much intelligent thought required to play this game, but its quite fun and a great weekend diversion. Like the GTA games, you can get out of your car and walk around. This isn’t required, but it will allow you to access many area otherwise blocked. These areas include rooftops which can be reached by jets of air shooting from air vents. Like some of our favorite old Nintendo games, you’ll find yourself jumping from ledge to ledge to collect coins and other items. And like the GTA games, committing acts of destruction -such as running down street lamps and breaking through giant glass signs - gives you added points. Also like that game, you’ll get the cops after you if you’re not too careful.
Throughout each level there are Simpsons characters who will offer you side missions, such as lap racing and timed item collecting missions. These side missions help extend the length of each level. As you move to each new level, you unlock new cars and play a different Simpsons character. I was a little disappointed that I only got to play Homer once (he’s the first character you play) as he’s my all time favorite. You’ll find yourself driving the family car, the soap box racer ‘Honor Roller’ built by Martin, the Plow King truck, the school bus and many, many more.
The game reproduces the TV show look and feel fairly well using 3D graphics. The environments and characters mimic the cartoon look of the show, with vibrant two tone shading and simplistically drawn cars, trees, and buildings. While the graphics engine won’t win any awards, it does the job it should, which is to put the player into the world of the TV show.
Hit & Run isn’t a game that breaks boundaries, and probably won’t be among the great games of all time; however, it’s tons of fun and great for kids. It also happens to be the best Simpsons game out there, in my opinion, and it’s a good choice for that special someone you know who really digs the Simpsons. As Dr. Nick would say, “Bye Everybody!”
I’ve been playing video games since I was around 10. I’ve also been trying to make them for half my life, finally landing my first gig with another studio at the tender age of 30.
I started my own game dev company, Plutonium Games back in 2000. While our first title, Cleric, received a great deal of attention and press coverage (even making it into PC Gamer once), we just couldn’t land a publishing deal. As of 2006, I’m working as the Lead World Designer on Warhammer Online at Mythic Entertainment (my second job in the biz). I’m also a traditional artist, and try to find time here and there to do fantasy/sci-fi oil paintings and illustration, and am an aspiring novelist in the genres of fantasy, science-fiction, and horror.
