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[IbizaPocholo]

When I was a kid, there was no greater video game than Grand Theft Auto. Sure, the crime, women, and guns were cool, but the biggest appeal was the idea of running around in an open world to get into whatever hijinks your mind desired. Well, my parents were worried that Grand Theft Auto might poison my mind, so I got what I liked to call "Grand Theft Auto" at home. Now, this is just an anecdote, and it would be not just disrespectful, but flat out false to say that The Simpsons Hit and Run was under any condition a GTA Clone, but the point of this story is to say this was the fantasy it needed to fulfill. Let me drive around in a cartoon world without all the adult themes and imagery. It's also something the developers at Radical Entertainment had in mind too, saying that their intention was to make a GTA for kids. Unfortunately for my parents this game had more than enough raunch to poison my mind like GTA would, though, these days looking at the condiments in my fridge is enough to get a chuckle, so maybe I've always been a lost cause.

It's been over a decade since I last played The Simpsons hit and run, and I had one question on my mind; does it still hold up? The answer is absolutely. Look, I won't lie, there are parts of the game that aged poorly. The level design was not as repetitive as I remembered, and the story was better than I remembered, but the things that matter most, the gameplay, the humour, the music, are all still great. The humour specifically has taken on a new life now that I'm old enough to understand most of the jokes. When Bart says "ow my ovaries" I had no clue what that meant, but now as an adult, it's one of my favourite lines, referencing the fact that the voice actress for Bart is a woman named Nancy Cartwright. Now I will mention that a lot of the humour plays on stereotypes and basically everyone gets a piece of the pie here. White people, nerds Indians, hillbillies, I mean, I certainly don't remember Apu calling someone a cracker when I last played the game. If anyone wants to farm some twitter like, take any of the jokes from this game, post it online with the caption "this game could never be made today" and watch the likes roll in. Ok, well, that's a little embarrassing.

I think there is a conversation to be had about these stereotypes, but that conversation won't be had here. In spite of jokes that might have aged poorly, there's still so much humour here that lands either for being cleverly written or because they're delivered in such a fun way, like, I'll never get tired of hearing Bart call someone a tool on the road. There's definitely a lot of low hanging fruit here, like the Hillbilly needing to collect roadkill, and generally all the stereotypes are a little overplayed these days. Like, the nerd stereotype who blatantly spends all day on the internet isn't really new, but at least it's still a relevant stereotype. While we're on the topic of racial stereotypes however, thank god it's not scraping the bottom of the barrel. Hit & Run never once has Apu say he's "curry in a hurry" and thank god, that shit is so overplayed that I'd groan so loud my neighbours think I actually get some.

Simpsons Hit and Run is one of my favourite games from my childhood, and this Simpsons Hit and Run review will look at Simpsons Hit and Run in 2025, and see if Simpsons Hit and Run years later, is still the best Simpsons driving game. This Simpsons Hit and Run analysis will come from a casual perspective. I know there is a large Simpsons Hit and Run speedrun scene but I want to just focus on the Simpsons Hit and Run gameplay, as my typical playthrough is more of a Simpsons Hit and Run longplay than a speedrun.

 

[Zacfoldor]

It had Halloween in the game using the internal clock of the console. What more needs to be said? Legend. It also had such a good feel of The Simpsons. Really a dream game for fans. Favorite Simpsons episode, season 1 when Bart and Lisa go to camp and they sing Camp Grenada. I recorded Simpsons episodes when I was a kid and watched them when my parents were asleep because they had cussing, lol. Good times. The game was chocked full of so many references, they would be impossible to count.

 

[username12]

That game was a lot of fun. I'm no longer interested in The Simpsons (or GTA for that matter), but that was a well executed combination of the two. I'd like to revisit it one day and am sure I would enjoy it. I'm also sure I would laugh at the jokes. It wasn't that long ago, but people weren't bending over backwards to being offended on behalf of others.

 

[Artistic]

Wish I played it when I had the chance.

 

[Lokaum D+]

never played and ll never understand the "hype"

 

[Chuck Berry]

never played and ll never understand the "hype"

Yeah because you never played it

really?

 

[phant0m]

great game. fortunately, playing on emulators with increased render resolution + FXAA can get us pretty close to a 'remaster'

 

[Tomorrow]

never played and ll never understand the "hype"

it was at the perfect time when GTA was getting popular and Simpsons was still the best cartoon show in the world.

Great game. Doesn't make much sense now. But just think of it as a really fun GTA rip off. so many games tried to copy GTA formula but Simpsons arguably done the best job of it.

imagine Fortnite or some shit, whatever is cool with the kids these days, making a game that ties into GTA.

 

[phant0m]

Yeah because you never played it

really?

weekend GAF hitting early today

 

[Deerock71]

That game was a ton of fun.

 

[Chuck Berry]

weekend GAF hitting early today

It's like the D+ in his username represents his grade average in school

 

[begotten]

The retrospective around this game is getting repetitive and nauseating.

You would think it's on the level of OOT & SM64 with how much people nostalgia glaze it.

Simpsons Road Rage was a better racing game and The Simpsons movie game was a better level based / platformer game. Can even go a step further and say Futurama was better than Hit & Run.

 

[IAmRei]

tbh, i have fun with the game when it's came on my pc years ago. i think we need cartoony open world more. the game is cool at the time. now i wanna play this game again : ))

 

[squidilix]

Game is Meh, come on...

 

[Lokaum D+]

it was at the perfect time when GTA was getting popular and Simpsons was still the best cartoon show in the world.

Great game. Doesn't make much sense now. But just think of it as a really fun GTA rip off. so many games tried to copy GTA formula but Simpsons arguably done the best job of it.

imagine Fortnite or some shit, whatever is cool with the kids these days, making a game that ties into GTA.

thanks for the your time explaining to me why the game was hyped.

Yeah because you never played it

really?

thanks for being a retarded.

 

[Chuck Berry]

thanks for being a retarded.

Thanks for proving my point lol

 

[Bert Big Balls]

I used to play the hell out of this game, great fun.

 

[U n i o n 0015]

There was a guy who was redrawing all the textures in HD, and even bigger, all the 3D cutscenes in the style of the animated series. It was absolutely spot-on. He hasn't posted an update about it in a couple years, though.

El Gato Del Tejado

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

 

[Ristifer]

Not to be a dick to you, IP, but if I see one more thread about Hit & Run and it's not about an actual remaster coming out, or a planned sequel of some sort, I'm going to piss out of my ass.

 

[wvnative]

Is this game good if you have never seen an episode of the Simpsons before? Or is it really just for fans?

 

[Disciple of MSSP]

I member. The Dark Souls of taxi games.

 

[kevboard]

There was a guy who was redrawing all the textures in HD, and even bigger, all the 3D cutscenes in the style of the animated series. It was absolutely spot-on. He hasn't posted an update about it in a couple years, though.

El Gato Del Tejado

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

yeah, he's apparently doing other stuff currently, but I hope he eventually finishes it, because he did an insanely good job with the cutscenes he already showed. actually crazy how much better they look than the original prerendered 3d cutscenes

 

[R6Rider]

Yeah, I still think about it time to time. Game was super fun.

 

[begotten]

Is this game good if you have never seen an episode of the Simpsons before? Or is it really just for fans?

It definitely was for fans. The main appeal of it was going around the sandbox of Springfield and seeing all the characters & object/environment references to things you had seen on the show.

 

[Dacvak]

It would be so cool to have a remaster of this game. They don't even need to do much to it. Upres the visuals, fix a little bit of the control jank, and some minor gameplay tweaks here and there.

I wonder if the game is somehow stuck in licensing hell? Probably.

 

[LordCBH]

I LOVED this game. A remaster would do wonders, but I'm assuming it's in licensing hell and everyone involved are too stubborn and babyish to actually sort it out and do something that would make all involved some money.

 

[Holammer]

There was a guy who was redrawing all the textures in HD, and even bigger, all the 3D cutscenes in the style of the animated series. It was absolutely spot-on. He hasn't posted an update about it in a couple years, though.

El Gato Del Tejado

Share your videos with friends, family, and the world

www.youtube.com

Here's another guy remastering most of the assets from the first area of the game (which he limited himself to). I meant to make a thread about it, but the moment has passed. So let's put it here.
He even fixed some bugs & added some props.

 

[FoxMcChief]

It would be awesome if we got the GameCube version on NSO.

 

[m14]

This video speculates that a remake could be released around the time that the next Simpsons movie hits cinemas in 2027. Also dismisses the idea that Radical Entertainment are working on a remaster.

 

[RCX]

Its not as good as you remember. Horrible mission fail states and a crazy checkpoint system make it way harder than it needs to be.

But it nails the Simpsons atmosphere better than any other game to carry the name.

But if you played it in the past and liked it, don't play it again. You'll be a bit disappointed.

 

[Ellis]

PG rated GTA and they nailed it.

I haven't watching Simpsons since I was a kid though. I can't say I'll ever revisit then game, or the show.