The Simpsons: Road Rage
Review by Trent Dickerson
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I think it's pretty safe to say this game is the first in a long, LONG time to be a decent Simpsons-based game. And that's exactly what this game is, decent.
First of all, let me talk about the plot. Mr. Burns has bought out the bus transit system and has invented a new and faster nuclear-powered bus. Not only that, but Mr. Burns has hiked up the price of bus fare. Now it's up to Homer and company to help out Springfield.
The story's not exactly original, in fact, it's practically a rip off of Crazy Taxi, but with a twist of humor, as the game constantly spews out famous Simpsons quotes and witty remarks.
The graphics of the game aren't too bad. Everything in the game is cel-shaded and rendered very "toony". Luckily, with a game such as Simpsons, they(Radical Entertainment) pull it off quite nicely.
Gameplay is pretty decent. There are rarely any bugs or glitches in the game. Another thing about gameplay are the controls. The controls are very easy to learn, as you really only use 2 buttons throughout the game. There are 6 different and vast environments for you to cruise through, which include Evergreen Terrace, Entertainment District, Downton Springfield, Springfield Dam, Nuclear Power Plant, and Springfield Mountains.
Replay value is surprisingly high. There are more than 15 cars and 10 missions to unlock. Multiplayer is extremely fun(especially with 4 people). That, and there are special cars than you can only unlock on certain holidays, such as Christmas and New Year's.
Overall, Simpsons: Road Rage isn't that bad of a game and does the franchise good. Considering there aren't many racers for GameCube right now, this game should be good enough to whet your appetite until something better comes out(like Mario Kart GC or F-Zero GC).
My Score: 7.2 out of 10
Advantages: 17 Simpsons vehicles, 10 challenging missions, 6 huge environments, great graphics, huge replay value.
Disadvantages: Some might not like cel-shaded graphics, standard music, basically a rip off of Crazy Taxi.
