Nostalgia Sunday: Simpsons Hit & Run

Simpsons Hit & Run

While not being the best Simpsons game there ever was, this game still has a place in my nostalgic games. I never finished it, but what I was playing was pretty fun. The humour was good and GTA like playing style was great. It had some issues though, that as a kid, you can't really make out.

The Story:

Strange things are happening in Springfield. Robot wasps swarm the city and Bart disappears, after being kidnapped by a tractor beam. The Simpson family tries to find out, what is going on, uncovering that it all was done by aliens (of course). If I'd tell you more, I'd spoil too much, but that's the story. You'll get missions by the citizens, which mostly consist of races, and by completing them, you advance in the story. But there's so much more to do, as you can see in the segment below.

The Game:

While not doing the missions, the citizens give you, you can explore the city. Hit & Run is a sandbox game, having many similarities to GTA 3, which came out two years before. Instead of police stars, you have the Hit & Run meter. If it gets full, the police will start to chase you, till it's empty again. It's pretty much the same as in GTA 3, with a little difference. You can also unlock new character models or cars, by collecting coins in every level. The game had some issues though, be it the graphics, or some gameplay issues, concerning the games AI or the camera.

Prequels and Sequels:

The Simpsons being so successfull, of course made a path for a lot of video game adaptations. The first game, released in 1991, was "The Simpsons Arcade Game". Being the year I was born, I never played this game at the time and didn't till today. It has been released recently for Xbox Live Arcade, so it might be worth a play. Over the years many other Simpson games were released, ranging from platformers, to racing and sports games. Some where known for their incedible difficulty, others were just bad. In 2007, "The Simpsons Game" was released, being the latest of the Simpsons games and being a good one. Reviews mostly gave it a 7/10, which in my opinion is pretty good. I haven't played it, but saw videos of it and the cutscenes in the game, which are just plain funny Simpsons humour. You might want to check it out, but don't take the word from me, because you know...I haven't played it ;).

Long story short: The game was sold along with my PS2, so I can't play it. I don't really have the ambition to either, because it doesn't look as good, as I might think.