The Simpsons Road Rage

The Simpsons: Road Rage is a 2001 video game based on the animated television series The Simpsons, and is part of a series of games based on the show. It was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox and GameCube. A Game Boy Advance version was released in 2003. The Simpsons: Road Rage was later added to the Backwards Compatibility program of the Xbox 360 for original Xbox games.

The game stars Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa, as well as Mr. Burns and several other characters from the show. The Simpsons: Road Rage is similar to Sega‘s 1999 video game Crazy Taxi, in that the main objective is to drive picked up passengers to their destinations as quickly as possible. These similarities led to Sega suing developer Radical Entertainment and publisher Electronic Arts for patent infringement, though it was settled before going to court. The game received mixed reviews, being considered a bare-bones Crazy Taxi clone and criticised for its poor graphics. A spiritual successor, The Simpsons: Hit & Run, was released in 2003, and was also developed by Radical Entertainment.

Gameplay and plot – The Simpsons Road Rage

The Simpsons: Road Rage is based on the animated television series The Simpsons. In the story of the game, Mr. Burns has bought all transit systems in Springfield and has begun to create radioactive buses that threaten the public health. Because of this, the citizens of Springfield must use their own cars as a means of safer public transport and earn money in an attempt to pay back Burns to get rid of the radioactive buses and return the town back to normal.^[4]

There is also a multiplayer mode in which the two players compete to pick up the same passengers and drive them to their destinations.^[4]

Development and release – The Simpsons Road Rage

The Simpsons: Road Rage was developed by Radical Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. The PlayStation 2 version was released first, on November 19, 2001 in North America, and the Xbox and GameCube versions followed in December of that year.^[1] The cast members of The Simpsons provided their voices for the game. Voice samples original to the game, as well as one-liners from the show, can be heard in Road Rage.

Reception – The Simpsons Road Rage

Reception – The Simpsons Road Rage

Publication	Score
	GBA	GC	PS2	Xbox
AllGame	[10]	N/A	N/A	[11]
Electronic Gaming Monthly	N/A	4/10[12]	N/A	3.67/10[13]
Eurogamer	N/A	N/A	N/A	7/10[14]
Game Informer	2.25/10[15]	8/10[16]	8/10[17]	8/10[18]
GamePro	N/A	N/A	[19]	N/A
GameRevolution	N/A	N/A	C+[20]	N/A
GameSpot	5.9/10[21]	6.2/10[22]	6.2/10[23]	6.2/10[24]
GameSpy	[25]	67%[26]	39%[27]	N/A
GameZone	5.5/10[28]	N/A	7/10[29]	6/10[30]
IGN	7.5/10[31]	5.8/10[32]	5.1/10[33]	6.4/10[34]
Next Generation	N/A	N/A	N/A	[35]
Nintendo Power	2.7/5[36]	4.6/5[37]	N/A	N/A
Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine	N/A	N/A	[38]	N/A
Official Xbox Magazine (US)	N/A	N/A	N/A	6.2/10[39]
FHM	N/A	N/A	[40]	N/A
Maxim	N/A	N/A	8/10[41]	N/A

The game received “mixed or average reviews” on all platforms according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.^[6][7][8][9] The Simpsons Road Rage

Amer Ajami of GameSpot said that the PlayStation 2 version “suffers from a number of problems, not the least of which is bad collision detection. You’ll often find yourself clipping a corner of a building or slamming into another car even though you have room to spare.” Ajami was also disappointed with the extremely slippery and overly sensitive control. Ajami added, however, that fans of the show should enjoy the game.^[23]