| The Simpsons: Hit & Run | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Radical Entertainment |
| Publisher | Vivendi Universal Games[a] |
| Producers |
|
| Designer | Joe McGinn |
| Programmers |
|
| Artist | Yayoi Maruno-Chorney |
| Writers | |
| Composers |
|
| Series | The Simpsons |
| Platforms | |
| Release | GameCube,PlayStation 2,XboxWindows |
| Genres | Action-adventure,racing |
| Modes | Single-player,multiplayer |
The Simpsons: Hit & Run is a 2003action-adventure game developed byRadical Entertainment and published byVivendi Universal Games. It is based on the American animated sitcomThe Simpsons, and is the twenty-second instalment inThe Simpsons series of video games.
It follows theSimpson family and their friendApu Nahasapeemapetilon as they witness many strange incidents that occur inSpringfield; security cameras, mysterious vans,crop circles, and a "new and improved" flavour of the popular soft drinkBuzz Cola that causes insanity. Taking matters into their own hands, they discover numerous shocking secrets, and soon realise these incidents are part of a larger alien conspiracy, caused byKang and Kodos. Thegameplay largely focuses on varied missions; players often race enemies and interact with supporting characters on timed quests. It also features explorable worlds andside tasks, not unlike 3DGrand Theft Auto titles.
Development ofThe Simpsons: Hit & Run began in late 2001 as aspiritual successor to Radical Entertainment's previous gameThe Simpsons: Road Rage. Production was extensive, as the team sought to differentiate it fromRoad Rage, deeming that their new entry in the franchise required a different direction. It was heavily inspired by theGrand Theft Auto series, and the development team re-purposed the open-world design and nuanced character development for the game. This encouraged collaboration withthe show's writers andits cast, who helped to craft the story and dialogue. It was released in North America on September 16, 2003 and in Europe on October 21, 2003 for theGameCube,PlayStation 2 andXbox. It wasported toMicrosoft Windows in North America on November 11, 2003 and in Europe on November 21, 2003.
It received positive reviews from critics. Praise particularly focused on the interpretation ofThe Simpsons as a video game, its parodical take onGrand Theft Auto III (2001), and graphics, while criticism mostly surrounded some aspects of gameplay, such asbugs andglitches. It is often considered to be the bestSimpsons tie-in game. It was also a commercial success, with recorded sales of over 3 million worldwide by July 2007. It received the award for Fave Video Game at the 2004Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards. On the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox, it earnedGreatest Hits,Player's Choice, andPlatinum Hits respectively.
The Simpsons: Hit & Run features seven levels over three separate maps, each with missions and a sub-plot.[1] The player can control one specific character in each level. The playable characters areHomer Simpson (played twice),Bart Simpson (played twice),Lisa Simpson,Marge Simpson, andApu Nahasapeemapetilon.[2] When travelling on foot, theplayer character can walk, jump, run and perform three types ofmelee attacks: a normal kick, a jumping kick and a smashing move.[2] To drive, the player can eitherhitchhike and control the driver in one of the many civilian vehicles that drive endlessly around town, or use a phone booth to select a car.[1] Severalhidden vehicles are present in each level and can also be used by the player if found. The game's driving missions are also similar to those ofGrand Theft Auto III.[3][4] In both games, the player races against other characters, collects items before a timer runs out, and wrecks other cars.[1][5]
The game has asandbox-style format that emphasises driving, and the player controls their character from athird-person view. The character can perform certain acts of violence, punching, such as attacking pedestrians, blowing up vehicles, and destroying the environment.[2]The Simpsons: Hit & Run has a warning meter that indicates when the police will retaliate for bad behaviour. Located in the bottom-right corner of the screen, the circular "hit and run" meter fills up when the character runs people over or destroys objects, and decreases when they cease doing so. When full, several police cars chase the character for the duration of the hit and run.[1]
Each level contains items the player can collect, such ascoins, which can be gathered by either smashing Buzz Colavending machines, Buzz Cola boxes orwasp cameras, the latter of which become more elusive as the game progresses. The coins can be used to buy new cars and player outfits, some of which are required to progress through the game.[2] The player can also collecttrading cards, with seven cards hidden in each level. When the player collects all seven cards in a level, they will unlock one of seven tracks for the "Bonus Game" racing mini-game. When all 49 cards in the game are collected, the player unlocks a specialThe Itchy & Scratchy Show video.[1] Several events cause the player to lose coins; because the character cannot die, injuries cause the player to lose coins.[2] If the player is apprehended during a hit and run, they will befined 50 coins.[2]
In the week leading up toHalloween, mysterious happenings are occurring inSpringfield; a horde of wasp cameras descend upon the city, a "new and improved" brand ofBuzz Cola is launched by the television personalityKrusty the Clown and introduced to store shelves, and black vans begin appearing around town. Homer suspects that a black van outside his house is spying on his family, and he takes it upon himself to investigate who it belongs to, with the van eventually stopping in front ofMr. Burns' mansion. After helping Marge destroy several copies of a new video game, Homer accuses Burns of spying on Springfield, to which Burns reveals to Homer that the black vans were simply pizza vans and fires Homer for the accusation.
The next day, Bart tries to get a copy of the video gameBonestorm 2, only to find that it is sold out (with many of the other copies having been destroyed by Marge and Homer). After doing odd chores in the hopes of obtaining a copy, Bart eventually learns thatProfessor Frink is using many copies of video games to help power theTruckasaurus, and Bart agrees to help him build it, as well as set up a safe environment for it to operate in. After escaping Truckasaurus' wrath, atractor beam abducts Bart outside the stadium. Lisa attempts to find Bart by exploring the town for clues. She learns that blacksedans, which have been appearing around town, are connected to Bart's disappearance. Lisa eventually finds Bart on a ship in Springfield harbor, albeit withamnesia and mumbling unintelligibly while occasionally mentioning the sedans and cola.
Marge tries to figure out what has happened to Bart. As she investigates acrop circle that recently appeared inCletus Spuckler's field,Grampa Simpson gives a description of a crop circle that matches that of the Buzz Cola logo. Marge shows a can of the cola to Bart, which snaps him out of his stupor. Bart reveals that Buzz Cola is amind-control cola produced byaliens to make the townspeople insane. Marge attempts to purge Springfield of the cola, but despite her valiant efforts, the drink maintains its presence and popularity amongst the public.[6]
Wracked with guilt over selling a tainted product, Apu Nahasapeemapetilon sets out to find the owner of the Buzz Cola trucks. After helpingSnake with hiscommunity service, Apu learns that the cola trucks are registered to the Springfield Museum of Natural History. Apu and Bart go into the museum and discover that a meteor is the source of the cola. They then eavesdrop on a conversation between aliensKang and Kodos, who are masterminding a scheme. Apu and Bart learn that the wasp cameras are filming the antics of Springfield for Kang and Kodos' struggling intergalactic reality show,Foolish Earthlings. The aliens intend to boost ratings to their show by spreading the cola into the town's water supply and distributinglaser guns among the populace to drive the town to a violent massacre.[6]
Apu is too frightened of the aliens to help further, so Bart asks Krusty for help to foil Kang and Kodos' plan. Krusty informs Bart that he has already helped theDuff Brewery set up free laser gun stands around Springfield, which Bart promptly destroys. Bart then goes with Homer to pursue Kang and Kodos to the brewery. The aliens escape and reveal that they have already released the cola throughout Springfield's water supply. As the cola seeps into the ground, it releases theundead from the Springfield Cemetery, who invade Springfield on Halloween night.
After Homer gathers supplies to protect his family and home from the marauding zombies, he decides to pursue an alien probe vehicle to theSpringfield Nuclear Power Plant. There, he meets Frink, who has discovered the aliens' weakness toradioactive waste. Homer uses the spaceship's tractor beam to suck up cars loaded with drums of radioactive waste, causing the ship to explode and crash, killing Kang and Kodos. The next day, life in Springfield returns to normal, and Homer has become a celebrity to the fans ofFoolish Earthlings.[6]
The developer,Radical Entertainment, received the rights to create games forThe Simpsons franchise when they demonstrated a playable prototype. Radical released its firstThe Simpsons game in 2001, calledThe Simpsons: Road Rage. AfterRoad Rage was released, the 60-person development team[7] forHit & Run decided not to create a direct sequel toRoad Rage; instead, Radical wanted to steer the franchise's video game series in a different direction by giving thegame engine a complete overhaul. The developers felt that everything else needed a new approach, while only the driving portion ofRoad Rage was worth keeping;[8] inHit & Run, enhanced trafficartificial intelligence is introduced, which makes computer-controlled vehicles react better to the player's driving. The internal development name forThe Simpsons: Hit & Run was simply "Simpsons", as referenced by the executable file of the game.[9] They also decided to add an exploration element to the game to make players get out of the car and navigate the area on foot, so that the game offered a better experience ofSpringfield.[8] Lead designer Joe McGinn said the game waspitched as "GTA for kids"; in addition to the exploration and freedom ofGrand Theft Auto III (2001), the team was also influenced by the "action-movie-style" drifting and car physics ofDriver (1999), and the platforming, character control and camera ofSuper Mario 64 (1996).[10] Lead programmer Cary Brisebois considered theGameCube version the hardest to develop, with its 24MB ofRAM necessitating tricks such as loading animations into audio memory.[7] A port for thePlayStation Portable (PSP) entered development, but never released due toreturn on investment (ROI), as by then the voice actors had renegotiated their contracts to increase their fees.[7]
When developing the graphics, the team decided to include landmarks from Springfield. The player is able to enter some of them, including theKwik-E-Mart,Moe's Tavern,Springfield Elementary School, andThe Android's Dungeon & Baseball Card Shop. DuringHit & Run's development,20th Century Fox,Gracie Films andMatt Groening, the creator ofThe Simpsons, played important roles in bringingThe Simpsons universe into a3D environment. All character voices were supplied by theactual cast, and the series' writers wrote the entire story for the game, including dialogue, with a total of 12,231 recorded lines;[8][7]Yeardley Smith (Lisa Simpson) had more lines for the game than she would perform for a whole season of the show.[10] Voice samples original to the game, as well asone-liner jokes from the show, can be heard inHit & Run. Some of the dialogue fromRoad Rage was reused. Tim Ramage, the associate producer of the game's publisher,Vivendi Universal Games, considered it a blessing to have the opportunity of working withThe Simpsons cast, along with the writers, with Ramage saying "...you have no concerns about quality; you know you're getting the best there is."[8]
The game's soundtrack was primarily composed by Marc Baril, with additional compositions byJeff Tymoschuk and Allan Levy.[11] The soundtrack includes various arrangements of the original "The Simpsons Theme" byDanny Elfman, and features specificmelodies for each playable character; for example, Bart's gameplay is accompanied byhard rock, while Lisa has laid-backmotifs that Steven Hopper ofGameZone compared tobeach party films.[5]
Vivendi Universal Games spent US$7 million marketingHit & Run.[12]
| Aggregator | Score | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GameCube | PC | PS2 | Xbox | |
| Metacritic | 79/100[37] | 82/100[38] | 78/100[39] | 81/100[40] |
| Publication | Score | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GameCube | PC | PS2 | Xbox | |
| AllGame | N/A | N/A | N/A | 4.5/5[14] |
| Electronic Gaming Monthly | 7.17/10[13] | N/A | 7.17/10[13] | 7.17/10[13] |
| Eurogamer | N/A | N/A | 5/10[15] | N/A |
| Famitsu | N/A | N/A | N/A | 31/40[16] |
| Game Informer | 8.5/10[17] | N/A | N/A | 8.5/10[18] |
| GamePro | N/A | N/A | 4/5[19] | N/A |
| GameRevolution | B[20] | N/A | B[20] | B[20] |
| GameSpot | 8.3/10[21] | 8/10[22] | 8.3/10[21] | 8.3/10[21] |
| GameSpy | 4.5/5[23] | 4.5/5[24] | 4.5/5[25] | 4.5/5[26] |
| GameZone | 8.7/10[27] | 8.6/10[5] | 8.6/10[28] | 9/10[29] |
| IGN | 8/10[30] | 8.1/10[31] | 8/10[30] | 8/10[30] |
| Nintendo Power | 3.8/5[32] | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine | N/A | N/A | 4/5[33] | N/A |
| Official Xbox Magazine (US) | N/A | N/A | N/A | 8.8/10[3] |
| PC Gamer (US) | N/A | 78%[34] | N/A | N/A |
| The Cincinnati Enquirer | 4/5[35] | N/A | 4/5[35] | 4/5[35] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[36] | N/A | B[36] | B[36] |
The Simpsons: Hit & Run received "generally favorable" reviews on all platforms according to thereview aggregation websiteMetacritic,[37][38][39][40] and many consider it to be the bestSimpsons game to date.[41][42][43]
Over one million copies of the game were sold as of June 2004,[44] and three million as of July 2007.[45] It had sold 500,000 copies in the United Kingdom by January 2004.[46] The game's PlayStation 2 version received a "Diamond" sales award from theEntertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA),[47] indicating sales of at least 1 million copies in the United Kingdom.[48] According to the Fox executive producer John Melchior,Hit & Run sold 8-10 million units in its lifetime.[7]
Praise focused on the move fromThe Simpsons television series to the video game format, while criticism targeted some aspects of its gameplay.Hit & Run won the award for Fave Video Game at the 2004Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.[49]
A number of reviews complimented the transposition ofThe Simpsons television series to a video game. Justin Leeper ofGame Informer and Alex Navarro ofGameSpot commented on how well the game depicted the fictional city ofSpringfield from the television series, and called it the most accurate representation of Springfield ever put into a game.[17][22]Official Xbox Magazine said that the game did the show justice,[3] andPlay felt that it was "essentially the show in real time", summing up its review by calling the game a "truly great cross-over product".[50] Navarro thought that the humour that the game offered included many excellent self-referential jokes,[22] and Eric Bush ofTeamXbox concluded its review by predicting that the game would be extremely appealing to gamers, especially hardcoreSimpsons fans.[51] Entertainment magazineVariety surmised thatHit & Run was the firstSimpsons game to include humor comparable to what was in the television series.[52]
Hit & Run'sparodical take on theGrand Theft Auto III video game was praised by several reviewers. Zach Meston ofGameSpy considered it to "deftly satirizeGrand Theft Auto while being almost as entertaining", and suggested thatHit & Run improved several gameplay aspects that it borrowed fromGrand Theft Auto, including instant mission restarts, a superior guidance system, and an easily accessible collection of vehicles.[25]Official Xbox Magazine agreed thatHit & Run was an excellent game in its own right, and found the game to be a "brilliant"Grand Theft Auto clone.[3] The combination ofThe Simpsons universe with the gameplay of theGrand Theft Auto series was also praised by Douglass C. Perry ofIGN as "pure brilliance".[30]
Positive reviews ofHit & Run focused on its graphics and gameplay.Play appreciated thevirtual world that the game offered, describing it as "grandiose in its expanse and artistic rendering".[50] Navarro found the gameplay to be very engaging.[22] Meston found the game to be "very fun and very funny",[25] and Leeper called it "nothing short of astonishing".[17] Despite positive reactions, the game also had serious issues that were brought up in several reviews, which focused on the game's bugs and glitches. Both Bush and Mr. Tickle ofGame Revolution pointed out thatHit & Run had a few gameplay issues and graphical shortcomings that included strangeartificial intelligence (AI) behaviour and a brokencamera system, which they felt hindered the overall experience of the game.[51][20]
Non-video game publications gave positive reception on the game as well. Nick Catucci ofThe Village Voice gave the Xbox version a score of nine-out-of-ten, and stated, "This delightful, deep, and detailed (but unfortunately not cartoon-stylecel-shaded) rip on theGrand Theft Auto series critiques itself better than any untenured academic could."[53] Marc Saltzman ofThe Cincinnati Enquirer gave the game four stars out of five and said that "What it lacks in originality it more than makes up for with its fun and easy-to-pick-up game play that will appeal to fans of the long-running comedy."[35]Geoff Keighley ofEntertainment Weekly gave it a B and said, "If some of the missions seem repetitive, others stand out, like the one that has you confiscating copies of a particularly violent videogame (wink, wink) corrupting Springfield's youth."[36]Famitsu gave the Xbox version a score of two eights, one seven, and one eight, for a total of 31 out of 40.[16]
During the7th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards, theAcademy of Interactive Arts & Sciences nominatedThe Simpsons: Hit & Run for "Console Action/Adventure Game of the Year".[54]
After release, Radical immediately began work on a sequel, but had to cancel it when Vivendi chose not to reobtainThe Simpsons license.[7][55] According to the lead designer Joe McGinn, multiple sequels were planned but were denied by a representative at Vivendi.[56][57]
In August 2021, thesource code andasset files forHit & Run wereleaked on4chan.[58] The leak resulted in creation of variousmods andunofficial patches to the game. Notable examples include theFully Connected Map Mod that stitches together the game locations into one big level[59] and thetotal conversion modFuturama: Hit & Run that replaces the world and characters with the ones from the animated showFuturama while also adding brand new missions, with the latter mod receiving praise from McGinn.[60][61][62] A fan-madeUnreal Engine 5remake of the game by Reuben "Reubs" Ward emerged in 2021, but was quickly shelved to avoid potentialtakedown notices.[63] The remake resumed development in 2022 with no download links being provided.[64][65]
The Simpsons: Hit & Run has a dedicatedspeedrunning community with various competitions and events being held.[66][67] The community received praise from McGinn, who stated "this is incredibly fun and heartwarming to see."[68]
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