Simpsons - Hit and Run

Title: Simpsons - Hit and Run
Platform Played On: PC
Release Date: November 13, 2003
Date Played: November - December 2003
Time Played: 30 hours
Completed (Y/N): Yes
Score: 4/5



Opinion:

Hit and Run (Top) and GTA (Bottom)

Even though portrayed by weird looking yellow creatures I've always been a fan of Simpsons. The writers have always been able to make me laugh.

Simpsons Hit and Run came out shortly after I started college. With first set of midterms behind me and controller in hand I jumped in to this highly rated game. This was probably one of the first games I played on PC with a controller. Back then the PC games were still designed with mouse and keyboard in mind, unlike today's games, which are designed with 360 controller in mind.

Simpsons Hit and Run came out during the time that GTA 3 and Vice City ruled the world. Infact Vice City came out just 6 months earlier and was a smashing success. So it was a no brainer for game developers to cash in on open world GTA clones.  Unfortunately most of these games were overshadowed by the triple-A product that Rockstar was churning out.

Hit and Run however did a good job taking the GTA formula and creating a fun experience. This is largely due to the fact that Radical Entertainment (developer) took as much as they could from GTA and straight up copied it over.  All the little things that make GTA a great experience are there.  The camera angles, the emphasis on car driving, and character and car handling. If I would have to guess, I would most likely guess that Radical licenses the GTA 3 engine from Rockstar (which is not the case).

As of January 2012, Simpsons Hit and Run is the best Simpsons game I have ever played. The Simpsons game (2007) for Xbox 360 did a good job making you feel like you were playing out episodes from the show; however no Simpsons game came even close to being as fun as Hit and Run.  At this point in time Simpsons - Hit and Run would probably be enjoyable only to the fans of the series. Since its release (9 years ago) many other games have perfected the genre (GTA4, Saints Row 3, Just Cause 2, Red Dead Redemption). But if you are interested, the PC release with cranked up resolution and an Xbox 360 controller would make a great retro gaming experience.

Nothing at the time came even close to Vice City; however Simpsons - Hit and Run made a great distraction until San Andreas came out.