Everyone Wants a New Simpsons: Hit and Run, But What About This Other Game?

The Simpsons has gotten a lot of games over the years, reflecting the long-running show’s status as an enduring fixture of pop culture. Plenty of developers have taken a swing at bringing the world of Springfield to gaming, whether that be the side-scrolling beat-em-up gameplay of the arcade classic or the more expansive world-building of The Simpsons: Hit and Run. While both of those games typically get the best accolades the franchise has ever gotten in the world of gaming, there are other adaptations that have a lot of fun with the show’s world.

Developed by Radical Entertainment and released on November 19, 2001, The Simpsons: Road Rage is one such game. A pastiche of Sega’s chaotic Crazy Taxi series that was so close in terms of game design that it faced a lawsuit from Sega, the game’s success helped lay the groundwork for what the franchise would become with other titles like Hit and Run. While a modern follow-up to Hit and Run would be great, a new version of Road Rage might be even more exciting.

Road Rage Was Crazy Taxi Meets The Simpsons

The Simpsons: Road Rage was a clear riff on Crazy Taxi, with a central gameplay mechanic of driving around specific neighborhoods in Springfield and dropping off the various citizens of the town along the way. In a version of Springfield where Mr. Burns has taken over all transit and left the busses radioactove, the citizens are forced to resort to ferrying one another in a bid to make enough money that they can take control of the transit system before Burns fully destroys the town.

The typical color palette of the animated series fits neatly into the Crazy Taxi-style gameplay, especially as a way of keeping the player on course amid the loose controls and unexpected roadblocks. It was such a clear riff on the game engine behind Crazy Taxi that Sega sued Radical Entertainment, Fox Interactive, and Electronic Arts for patent infringement. By then, however, Road Rage had become a financial hit thanks in part to its cross-platform release, earning over $41 million in five years.

The Simpsons: Road Rage isn’t a flawlessly constructed game, which was reflected in the mixed reviews it received from critics upon release. However, there’s a real sense of cartoonish chaos that’s befitting the bright graphics and makes the sloppy driving all the more entertaining. Racing through the streets and hitting other cars with the reckless abandon of a Burnout game adds a level of challenge to Road Rage that doesn’t feel as punishing as the limits played on players in Crazy Taxi.

The game leans into this by occasionally throwing additional missions onto the player, such as destroying stuff by ramming through the suburban sprawl of Springfield or avoiding the arrival of Mr. Burns and Mr. Smithers in a luxury car. While the arcade mode was a fun way to unlock more parts of the world and work to climb up the leaderboard, the campaign mode introduced unique missions and brought the show’s voice cast together for a story that feels uneasily timely.

A New Simpsons: Road Rage Would Be Great

For years, fans have been clamoring for a new take on The Simpsons: Hit and Run. While The Simpsons take on a Grand Theft Auto game is a lot of fun, I’ve also always wanted to see a return for Road Rage too — especially now, where open-world driving games like Crew Motorfest, Mario Kart World, and the upcoming Forza Horizon 6 tease the potential of getting to explore a setting like that, especially one that reflects the massive world of The Simpsons.

A new version of The Simpsons: Road Rage wouldn’t be as bound by the limitations of game design for the PS2 era, with greater freedom to expand the levels and create an entire Springfield for players to explore. The game could expand the setting to reflect new locations in the show or to introduce new challenges. The ways The Simpsons have expanded their universe in the years since Road Rage was released would open the door to plenty of new characters, settings, or gags to litter the game with.

Having Road Rage widely available in an era of online gaming would add new layers to the arcade setup, or could introduce new multiplayer modes that play with different gameplay mechanics (like an increased emphasis on environment destruction, more traditional races and and slick driving challenges). An expanded version of Road Rage could even follow the influence of later games and bring on some of the creative team from the show, influencing the plot, and give the single-player mode a campaign that feels like a new Simpsons movie. 25 years later, The Simpsons: Road Rage was a fun if basic riff on Crazy Taxi that also contained a great surface-level world and core gameplay that modern developers could take to the next level.