Simpsons fans rejoice! This latest release from Radical Entertainment will have gamers champing at the bit. Apart from the 1991 arcade release from Konami, this is the first title not to fall under the curse plagued by previous Simpsons titles. Usually, the premise of games has been good but somehow execution has fallen to by wayside, resulting in poor gameplay or graphics.
The Simpsons: Hit & Run is a 2003 action-adventure game developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Vivendi Universal Games.It is based on the American animated sitcom The Simpsons, and is the twenty-second installment in the Simpsons series of video games. Oct 25, 2003 The Simpsons Hit & Run is a mission-based driving game featuring out-of-the-car platform action, the interactive world of Springfield, and the signature humor of the Simpsons. New story and dialogue crafted by writers from The Simpsons television show; All character voices supplied by the cast of The Simpsons television show.
Springfield is becoming weird of late. Mechanical bees and mysterious black vans are overrunning the town. Crop circles are appearing at random and present a bigger mystery than who shot Mr Burns. In the game, you take control of four of the Simp-sons characters (Homer, Marge, Bart and Lisa) and the resident Kwik-E-Mart em-ployee, Apu. You must investigate these strange occurrences and identify the respons--ible individuals. Following a definite GTA (Grand Theft Auto) style, gameplay is based on character interactions and the use of vehicles. There are seven maps to explore in this title, with eight missions for each character. All of the maps have one bonus mission and three non-story race missions. The title does follow a very linear form, unlike GTA, and some of the missions can become repetitive, but this can be overlooked due to the great Simpsons humour of this game. Well-known Simpsons quips and catch phrases will keep you laughing for ages, and the voice-overs done by the official cast keep that authentic feel.
The town of Springfield has been broken up into sections and each character has its own stomping ground. The layout of the town keeps true to the show and allows gamers to familiarise themselves with it. New cars and character-specific clothing can be unlocked by collecting coins from smashing objects or completing tasks. Some missions require you to purchase faster cars from certain characters to finish that elusive race task. Reckless drivers should keep an eye on the special meter that counts how many objects/people you hit; run the meter off the chart and you’ll soon have Chief Wiggum on your case, giving you a chance to outrun his porky behind.
Hit and Run is a great addition to the Simpsons franchise. It plays more like a long-lost episode, and the visuals and audio are sumptuous (it does suffer from bad camera angles, but this plagues most 3D titles). The characters and environments offer lots of interaction and humour, and the replay value is high due to the increasing difficulty in later levels. This title can be enjoyed by people of all ages, and for hardcore Simpsons fans, it’s a must-have.
Publisher: Vivendi Universal
Developer: Radical Entertainment
URL: www.thesimpsons-hitandrun.com
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- 3Unused Mission Failure Hints
Early Mission-Related
This is an early leftover from '...For A Few Donuts More'. In the beta, you would have to destroy the truck and collect the donuts. In the actual mission, you simply have to hit the Donut Truck to collect the donuts.
There's never a mission in the game where the crop circle is required to be driven to as part of a mission with the exception of Level 1's 'This Old Shanty'. This message may have been used in Level 4, where Marge had major concerns over the crop circle. It may have also linked into Grampa's theory about the crop circles during 'Wolves Stole My Pills'.
Most likely meant to be used in Level 4's final mission 'From Outer Space', where you have to destroy several Cola Trucks.
Was more than likely the original “Drive to the Simpsons House” message.
While the Monorail Station is in both Levels 2 and 5, there is never an instance where the player has to drive there except in Level 5's 'Never Trust a Snake.' There is also an unused circle icon for the Monorail Station.
The player doesn't have to visit Chief Wiggum here in any mission.
In the final game, Jasper only serves as a Gag that you can interact with in the Kwik-E-Mart, drives the Bonestorm truck in 'Bonestorm Storm,' and walks around the Sit 'N' Rotate in Level 5, but according to PR Asset disks he was originally going to replace Grampa in 'Wolves Stole My Pills. This message is likely a leftover from that.
There is never an event in any of the missions where you have to avoid multiple black sedans, the closest thing to this being Level 3's unused sedan chases in 'Clueless', though all of these are separate.
Unused text originally meant for Level 3's 'Operation Hellfish' mission, where you have to talk to Grampa at the Observatory to find a clue on Bart.
Most likely means that 'Curious Curator' was meant to be a race instead. It may have been changed because the mission may have been considered too short otherwise.
It was supposed to be used in Level 5's mission 'Kinky Frinky' as the player had to drive here to find the Hover Car, but the whole thing is dummied out. There is also an unused icon for the restaurant itself.
The player doesn't have to visit this Krusty Burger in any of Levels 1, 4 or 7's missions.
A copy of message 22.
This might have been used for 'Eight is Too Much.'
Could have been used in both missions where you have to help Comic Book Guy, and you instead had to enter the car rather than being placed in it automatically.
You never have to purchase a car from Bart in the game, and he's actually not a person who can sell you a car in any of the levels.
May have been used when you have to drive your car into the UFO beam for missions 3, 5, 6, and 7 of Level 7, but in the final game, you automatically get out of the vehicle when you go into the beam.
Obviously meant for Level 7's first mission, 'Rigor Motors.' In the normal mission, once you reach the Simpsons' house, the mission is completed and you never have to go inside the house. This may also suggest that Lisa and Homer may have had some additional dialogue once you entered the house again.
Tutorial-Related
In the PC version of the game, Bart's tutorials are disabled by default (and removed completely from older releases of the PC version). (The tutorials are used in the console versions.)
These messages end up unused in the PC version:
Meant to appear when you got near a Street Race NPC (Milhouse, Nelson, Ralph).
Meant to appear when you got near a Wager Race NPC (Louie).
Note that the symbols are used in all versions of the game to indicate a line break in the text. (Multiple symbols indicate multiple line breaks.)
Meant to appear when you got near a Bonus Mission NPC.
This message was meant to appear when you entered a New Game (before you gained control of Homer in Level 1).
This message was meant to appear when you got into your vehicle for the first time.
This message tells you how to enter a vehicle. (It would appear when you got near a vehicle.)
Meant to appear when you got near a gag.
Meant to be displayed after the player completes their first street race.
Meant to appear when you obtained your first collector card. (Notice that surprise is misspelled here with a 'Z.')
Meant to appear when you approached a place where you can buy cars or clothes.
Meant to appear when you got near a phone booth.
A copy of message 304.
Meant to appear when you got near a crate containing coins.
Meant to appear when you broke something that rewards coins (such as Krusty Glass).
Meant to appear when you got near the door of a building that can be entered.
Meant to display when you obtained a coin.
Most-likely meant to be displayed when you destroyed your vehicle.
Unused Mission Failure Hints
Alien-Autotopsy Related
A few unused mission failure hints can be found in srr2.p3d, located in the game files. All of these hints appear to be intended for the final missions of Level 7.
MISSION_FAILED_NOT_ABDUCTED=Failed to get out of car.
MISSION_FAILED_NOT_ABDUCTED_HINT0=Hint : Don't forget to jump out of your vehicle.
MISSION_FAILED_NOT_ABDUCTED_HINT1=Hint : Jump out of your vehicle before reaching the Mother Ship.
MISSION_FAILED_NOT_ABDUCTED_HINT2=Hint : Jump out of your vehicle while in the tractor beam.
MISSION_FAILED_NOT_ABDUCTED_HINT3=Hint : Remember to jump out of your vehicle.
MISSION_FAILED_NOT_ABDUCTED_HINT4=Hint : Don't forget to jump out of your vehicle.
MISSION_FAILED_NOT_ABDUCTED_HINT5=Hint : Jump out of your vehicle before reaching the Mother Ship.
MISSION_FAILED_NOT_ABDUCTED_HINT6=Hint : Jump out of your vehicle while in the tractor beam.
MISSION_FAILED_NOT_ABDUCTED_HINT7=Hint : Remember to jump out of your vehicle.These hints appear to match the unused stage message that the player had to jump out of the vehicle manually in all three missions when a vehicle was being sucked into the tractor beam. Interestingly, one of the hints says to jump out of the vehicle before reaching the mother ship. This may have meant the player had to jump out of the vehicles before driving into the tractor beam.
Hit and Run Related
Interestingly, in the beta version you could fail a mission, for being busted in Hit and Run.
MISSION_FAILED_HIT_N_RUN=Hit & Run: You got busted!
MISSION_FAILED_HIT_N_RUN_HINT0=Hint : Don't get caught by the cops
MISSION_FAILED_HIT_N_RUN_HINT1=Hint : Switching clothes lowers the meter
Simpsons Hit And Run Level 7 Wasp Cameras
MISSION_FAILED_HIT_N_RUN_HINT2=Hint : Use wrenches to fix your vehicle
MISSION_FAILED_HIT_N_RUN_HINT3=Hint : Drive more carefully
MISSION_FAILED_HIT_N_RUN_HINT4=Hint : Don't hit pedestrians
MISSION_FAILED_HIT_N_RUN_HINT5=Hint : Switching clothes lowers the meter
MISSION_FAILED_HIT_N_RUN_HINT6=Hint : Use wrenches to fix your vehicle
MISSION_FAILED_HIT_N_RUN_HINT7=Hint : Reckless driving attracts the cops
In the final version, you can't fail a game by getting busted.
Player Damage Related
MISSION_FAILED_PLAYER_HIT=Player hit.
MISSION_FAILED_PLAYER_HIT_HINT0=Hint : Get a faster vehicle.
MISSION_FAILED_PLAYER_HIT_HINT1=Hint : Find the shortcuts.
MISSION_FAILED_PLAYER_HIT_HINT2=Hint : Use wrenches to fix your vehicle.
MISSION_FAILED_PLAYER_HIT_HINT3=Hint : Smash all the vending machines you find.
MISSION_FAILED_PLAYER_HIT_HINT4=Hint : Avoid getting hit.
MISSION_FAILED_PLAYER_HIT_HINT5=Hint : Use a phone booth to get a new vehicle.
MISSION_FAILED_PLAYER_HIT_HINT6=Hint : Complete all street races to earn a different vehicle.
MISSION_FAILED_PLAYER_HIT_HINT7=Hint : Collect coins to purchase a tougher better car.It's still unknown what failure condition can result in displaying these hints. It can be either cops from Hit And Run, or Wasp cameras, or even city traffic (if you manage to get hit by one).
Out of Bounds Related
MISSION_FAILED_OUT_OF_BOUNDS=Out of bounds.
MISSION_FAILED_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_HINT0=Hint : Keep control of your vehicle.
MISSION_FAILED_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_HINT1=Hint : Drive more carefully.
MISSION_FAILED_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_HINT2=Hint : Use the brakes to control your speed.
MISSION_FAILED_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_HINT3=Hint : Keep control of your vehicle.
MISSION_FAILED_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_HINT4=Hint : Use the hand brake to corner better.
MISSION_FAILED_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_HINT5=Hint : Look ahead for upcoming hazards.
MISSION_FAILED_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_HINT6=Hint : Use the brakes to control your speed.
MISSION_FAILED_OUT_OF_BOUNDS_HINT7=Hint : Look ahead for upcoming hazards.It's unknown under which circumstances this mission fail hints would've appeared. Judging by hints, it can be related to streetraces. These hints can still appear in the game, all you need to do, is to add a condition 'outofbounds', thus making every death trigger instantly fail the mission upon entering it. Mostly, it's used in mods in a couple with a custom death triggers, in the final game though, this functionality is never used.