The Simpsons: Hit and Run

Brad goes on a donut-finding frenzy around Springfield...

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Now here's a little story I've got to tell, about a messed up family you know so well, it started way back in history, with Bart, Lisa, Homer, Marge and Baby Maggie! Okay so I just killed possibly one of the finest Beastie Boys tracks of all time, but cut me some slack here people, it worked up until I had to reel off the family names, and surely it beats the standard fare of telling you stuff you already know like how the Simpsons is a worldwide phenomenon, one of the longest running sitcoms in the world, and proud parent of over a dozen utterly abhorrent videogames since its first airing all those years ago.

The Simpsons: Hit and Run lets you loose on the mean streets of Springfield in vehicles. Taking control of one Homer J Simpson you are unleashed upon the unsuspecting town completing a series of missions dictated to you by your loving wife Marge. Completing these missions usually involves driving from A to B thinly veiled as tasks requiring you to collect a series of items stolen from Ned Flanders or taking Lisa's textbooks to the school. Some tasks are against the clock and others allow you to take as long as you like, allowing you to explore the map. But why would you want to do that? Well I'll tell you, just you see if I don't.

Dotted around the map are coins, some are on the floor, some are gained by breaking objects and others are more craftily hidden. On the roofs of houses and the like. To grab those babies you have to get out of the car and jump your way to the shining prize. But what do the coins do Brad? Well here's the fun part, stopping and entering phone boxes littered around the map allow you to shop. That's right! Shop! I really don't know why Homer and pals wouldn't stop off at an Internet Cafe to shop, so they use phones instead. I gave up trying to explain Homer's behaviour long ago, it saved my brain a lot of anguish. So the coins and the shop. Here you get to buy things like extra cars and clothes for your character. These are all lifted from various episodes of the show so you can now have Homer running around in a Muu Muu if the desire takes you. It adds little to the game itself but is a fun addition.

So far you have coin collecting and driving. Two sturdy game mechanics right there, collecting and driving. But there's more, see. As mentioned earlier you can leave the car and get about on foot. This opens up a few new avenues to explore, again as mentioned before, mainly rooftops. Some of the more notable buildings dotted about Springfield are open for you to enter. Springfield Elementary, the Simpson's very own home, the Kwik-E-Mart and more are all explorable, but please don't take the word explorable as some kind of indication of vast size. They are usually merely a single room, which isn't as bad as it sounds. This is pretty good going for a licensed game, more so for a license that has proved pretty poor in the past. Is this any good though?

Sorry to have to make you wait until the next paragraph for the answer, I won't keep you waiting any longer. Yes, its pretty good. The driving mechanic is a lot of fun, the cars handle well and different enough to warrant making good decisions when changing vehicles. Things aren't so neat on foot however, jumping is a little wishy washy thanks to it not being very clear what you can jump on and what you can't but you should be able to get a feel of traversable jumping terrain pretty soon. The missions are also a little uninspired but the terrain is covered in shortcuts and hidden routes, enough to make it a fun place to drive.

The Simpsons is probably one of the most universally liked television series of ours or any generation and the developers for once have noted why we love it so. Humour. Everywhere you go something is there to be looked at and admired and maybe even chuckled at. In every building lesser members of the Simpsons cast can be found up to no good, causing merriment for the player along the way. Collecting coins isn't where the fun is at when not driving, catching every gag is. And they are funny too. Which is a real testament to the love that has gone into the game.

All the characters and locations are true to the show and look good in three dimensions at last. Voices are all performed by their real voice actors and as such it feels very much like the television show with a game controller in your hand rather than a remote. However as mentioned before there are some flaws, the platforming especially, but the driving sections begin to feel a bit samey and the game is not at all keen on letting you mill around town looking for hidden items, you are always being urged to move on. After all the work that's gone into recreating Springfield, one would have thought that you'd have been given more opportunity to explore it at your own leisure without being reminded to visit location X, Y or Z every 30 seconds.

It seems that someone has taken note that the Simpson + Driving = Fun, like The Simpsons: Road Rage proved. However somebody forgot that The Simpsons + Platforming = rubbish because they added it to what could have been a really fun game. If not for the aggravating platform sections this could have been a fun diversion for pretty much anyone, as it is it's slightly more than the sum of its parts, but some hard work is in order to get the most out of it. Approach with mirthful caution.

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By Brad Davey