The Simpsons: Hit & Run

The Simpsons: Hit and Run is an award-winning video game based on the TV hit-show the Simpsons. It was released for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and Microsoft Windows in North America on September 16, 2003, in Europe on October 31, 2003 and in Japan on December 25, 2003. It was developed by Radical Entertainment and was published by Vivendi Universal. It is cited by video game critics and fans as the best Simpsons video game ever made.

The game follows the Simpson family and the citizens of Springfield, who witness many strange incidents that occur in Springfield. Mysterious Black Vans are lurking around, Mysterious Wasp Cameras are spying on peoples privacy and a mysterious new cola has popped up. It is up to Homer and co. to solve this mystery and return Springfield to it's original state.

Gameplay


The game is Broken up into 7 levels: Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, Level 4, Level 5, Level 6 and Level 7.

Hit & Run focuses primarily on driving missions. It employs the "sandbox" format, featuring a third-person view, an explorable environment, and drivable vehicles similar to the Grand Theft Auto series. While most cars can be hijacked or stolen, the non-playable characters' vehicles cannot be compromised in this way. Instead, the player's character can be seen riding in the passenger's seat of another vehicle while the owner drives. The game features a "Hit & Run meter" that brings the police after the player if it gets too high; if the player is captured by the police, (s)he is fined 50 coins. In the first 3 levels, only one police car is deployed to chase the player, but starting from level 4, two police cars are dispatched in pursuit.

Progressing though the various story levels allows the player to control Homer, Lisa, Marge, Bart, and Apu; many other Simpsons characters such as Chief Wiggum and Professor Frink appear in non-playable roles, but will also drive you in some missions.

In addition to the story missions, players can optionally participate in "bonus" missions or races which typically award unlockable cars for successful completion. Coins, the currency in the game, are acquired by hitting objects such as trees or mailboxes, destroying wasp cameras or Buzz Cola machines, or simple collection (many coins are simply scattered throughout each level). Players can use coins to purchase new vehicles or outfits for the current character; many of these can be traced directly to specific episodes of The Simpsons (e.g. Bart's Space Shuttle-shaped Honor Roller soapbox racer or Marge's police uniform). Many of the cars also appear in "The Simpsons Road Rage". However, some cars, such as the Longhorn and Hover Car, appear in "The Simpsons Road Rage" but have a very different design.

A number of "collector cards" depicting objects, characters, or scenes from the series are placed in each level, usually in hard-to-access areas. Collecting all of these cards in a level unlocks a track that can be played in a slot car-like racing game, and collecting all of the cards in the game unlocks an original Itchy & Scratchy short, "500-Yard Gash".

Storyline
October the 25th:

After destroying a wasp like camera that spied on Homer during a slumber, Homer goes out to buy some new Buzz Cola (advertised and endorsed by Krusty the Clown in an ad on the T.V.) and on the orders of Marge, new ice cream. After giving Lisa her forgotten science project, helping Ned Flanders find his possessions and destroy Mr. Smithers' car on a work inspection day to save his scorpion farm, Homer gets suspicious after a news report of strange black surveillance vans going around Springfield. Homer follows one, which leads him to Mr. Burns' mansion. Homer thinks Mr. Burns has used these vans to spy on everyone. Homer then helps Marge destroy copies of the new Bonestorm II videogame and races Smithers to Burns' mansion. After accusing Burns of the vans, Burns tells Homer the vans are really pizza delivery vans. Burns releases the hounds on Homer, and fires him.

October the 26th:

Bart wants a copy of Bonestorm II badly, so he skips the school day to get a copy. At the Try-N-Save, he gets shocked after Jimbo Jones stole the last copy. At the antique store, Kearney Zzyzwicz tells Bart that fireworks are way better than video games, so Bart tries to get as many fireworks, but almost gets arrested by Chief Wiggum on orders of Ralph Wiggum. After Comic Book Guy tells Bart Professor Frink has purchased the remaining copies of the game, Bart helps Frink build a Truckasaurus to make up for it. Bart gets the materials Frink needs (a WWII radio, a satellite dish and a blender) and destroying people using cellphones to prevent Truckasaurus from escaping and causing destruction, Bart goes into the stadium. Truckasaurus attacks Bart, but Bart escapes, but is sucked away with a green light, leaving his empty Honor Roller behind.

October the 27th

Lisa decides to try and find her brother with the clues of various people. Lisa tries Comic Book Guy, who tells him Bart might have been at the Noiseland Video Arcade after she helps him get a controversial Itchy & Scratchy comic book. Lisa finds Milhouse, who tells Lisa he has seen Bart at various places but is really him trying to attract Lisa. Lisa then helps Apu knock the flatmeat out of Cletus Spuckler's truck, which he collected in the last mission. Apu tells Lisa Professor Frink might know a little into Bart's disappearance and whereabouts and when Lisa goes there, he tells the story to her. Lisa then goes to her grandfather Abe Simpson, who tells her that the black chase sedans going around might have a clue of Bart's whereabouts. After Lisa uses Otto Mann's bus to destroy them and then goes to Chief Wiggum to find more info on the sedans, which he says might be connected to the Squidport. After helping the Sea Captain collect fish, he tells her Bart had rode in a limo. Lisa destroys the Limo to search for Bart, but finds no evidence. The Sea Captain tells her he boarded the ship on the pier, where she goes to. Lisa finds Bart, but his memory has been clogged up with the cola and the chase sedans and mutters gibberish. Lisa takes Bart home.

October the 28th

After a crop circle of Bart's head is erected in the Tomacco Farm, Marge goes to investigate this and the reason Bart has went crazy. After advice that a hillbilly could understand the logic of it, Marge goes to Cletus for info, but Cletus runs away after thinking she is trying to put his house in a magazine. Marge helps Cletus collect packets of ketchup for the winter and then tells her an old person would know. After getting to the Springfield Retirement Castle for Grampa, she tries to get info off him, but he is disappointed that his pills have been tooken off him. After getting the pills from another chase sedan and waking him up, Grampa tells Marge a sepiatone story of a crop circle "shaped like a cosmic thing with a fancy radio antennae coming off of it". Marge recognizes this as similar to the new Buzz Cola and thinks it will snap Bart out of his craziness. After Bart, now smarter again, says it is being made on a spaceship he was kidnapped on, Marge destroys cola cans all over the place and then tells Apu to stop selling the cola. Marge proceeds to destroy the vans selling the cola, but is briefly chased by Chief Wiggum. She then gets home safely.

October the 29th

Apu decides to find the origins of the cola after being forced by Marge to stop selling the cola. After finding a cola shipment headed for the mafia hideout and being told by Louie to stay out of their business as they have no connection with the cola, Apu needs to pick up his octuplets at the hospital, but needs to bump the diapers out of a Shelbyville car to get the last diapers before they go to the toilet all over the hospital waiting room. Apu then decides to follow Chief Wiggum to find a criminal. Apu gets the info from Snake Jailbird after doing his trash cleaning and destroying an armored truck, where Snake says that the Musuem has the license for the Buzz Cola. Apu gets there in Bart's car and gets the key of the curator. There, they find the cola comes out of a meteor and has the power to revive fossils (which it does to a dinosaur fossil skeleton, but Bart plugs out the meteor's electricity, destroying the meteor and the fossil). Bart and Apu eavesdrop a conversation by Kang and Kodos that they are using the cola to make the town go crazy and then make the population die out by setting up laser stands in the Squidport to get ratings for their show, Foolish Earthlings.

October the 30th

The cola becomes hugely successful in Springfield as no one knows the truth yet, but Bart does. Bart tries to make Krusty believe him and disallow the laser selling, but he does not believe him. Bart goes to Professor Frink, who says his Plutonium CB radio has lately given him conversations about the alien's plans. After Bart destroys a van load of laser boxes, he finds a laser gun in the Duff Brewery to use as proof. Bart's laser is stolen by Skinner because Bart broke the anti lasers policy but he gets it back. Bart shows it as proof to Krusty, but Krusty already setted up the laser stands anyway. After destroying the lasers stand and meeting Homer, they get to the brewery. They turn up too late, as Kang and Kodos have already put the cola in the water, which will make the dead invade Springfield.

October the 31st

During Halloween, Homer sets off to get supplies to make sure the zombies don't invade. Comic Book Guy at the school's playground tells to Homer that the aliens are using a sports car for an unused reason. After Homer discovers the car leads to the power plant, he meets Frink who tells Homer that the radioactive waste will destroy the alien's ship. Frink sacrifices his car (and possibly himself) to destroy the ship, but it doesn't work out. Homer visits Burn's office to get more radioactive waste. Homer tries this with his own car, but it still doesn't work. Homer then uses Snake's car, which he thinks that one more barrel will destroy the car. Homer gets a ride on his father's car which has been modified. This time it works, the UFO destroys and crashes into the play yard, killing Kang and Kodos in the process. The next morning, Homer is hailed a hero and is wanted by several Rigellian fans outside. Kodos with her brother (in heaven) are happy they don't have to watch the game's credits, but they do anyway, causing Kodos to scream. The credits show them criticizing the game's staff.

Reception
The game received generally favorable reviews, an average of 80/100 score from critics. The game did well in sales as well, selling over 3 million copies worldwide as of June 2009. The game received an editor's choice award from GameSpy and it won the award for Fave Video Game at the 2004 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards.

Modding Community
A modding community was established in 2013 by Donut Team Studios. Donut Mod 2.0 is so far the largest mod made for Simpsons: Hit & Run. The newest Donut Mod 2.0 version is so far the most anticipated version. Other mods that are a bit major are JRUN and Tales of Springfield.