The Simpsons Road Rage Review (no fat)

Game Description

Springfield's transit system has been condemned as the devious Montgomery Burns takes it over and subjects citizens to his brand of transportation featuring radioactive buses that are hazardous and expensive to travel by. Enraged by this, the citizens take to the streets and embark on some road rash style action. It's up to The Simpsons to raise one million dollars that the town needs to buy back the transit system. Carting people from one place to another and earning fares is the route they take to accomplish the mission. However, its easier said than done as the roads are packed with maniacal drivers and insane pedestrians.

The Simpsons Road Rage - Gameplay

The Simpsons Road Rage banks heavily on its star studded cast and the success of the cartoon series. Beyond that, there's nothing much that it offers for players. The concept is overplayed and the developers overlook a lot of details in the gameplay department.

The game's strength lies in the central characters and the fan base they command across the globe. Playing as The Simpsons can be fun and Homer is a bag of laughs. The character voices add a dash of humor to the game and the road action is fun. Controls are fairly easy but the game suffers from poor physics and excessive clipping. One cannot expect realistic detailing in an arcade style game of this sort, especially as it's based on a cartoon, but the flaws are too many to outline.

The game is time bound and you must weave your car through the madness, driving as fast, and collecting as much fare, as possible. The HUD features a road map, timer and the amount you've earned as a fare. The third person view accounts to decent peripheral vision. Every time you hit a milestone, you unlock a new character or a new location. You also earn bonuses for successfully completing your mission with minimal damage to your car. Your final score is the fares you collect, and the bonuses, at the end of the time limit.

The Simpsons Road Rage has some repeat value, mainly due to the adorable characters and the fact that racing games are a genre that commands a huge following. Still, this game doesn't justify the near 40 dollar price tag it bears.

The Simpsons Road Rage Graphics and Audio

The yellow ones and their friends could use some more detailing. The clipping woes and graphical glitches affect gameplay and also prove to be the downfall of this game. Cars look like boxes with wheels and the split screen sequences are OK, at best. All in all, you cant walk away from the game without feeling that Electronics Arts could, and most probably should, have put in more time and effort to the game look and play better.

To salvage some pride, the voices of The Simpsons and their friends are done well and they turn out to be one of the better aspects of the game.

The Simpsons Road Rage - Summing Up

It's got Homer and the rest of the loveable crew from The Simpsons. It's even got Krusty the clown. The arcade style action can offer hours of fun for fans and gamers alike. But the game falls short in every department. The graphics are poor, sound gets repetitive and faulty controls ensure moments of grief.

It's got value for collectors of Simpson's memorabilia or diehard fans who are ready to forgive Homer anything. Apart from that, the whole game looks like an effort to cash in on the popularity of a legendary series rather than provide a great gaming experience.

The Simpsons Road Rage - Cost

The Simpsons Road Rage currently retails at $29.99US at the time of writing.