This review contains spoilers
For personal reference more than anything. Have done spoiler warning just in case though.
First time doing a complete playthrough after being one of my most played games when I was a child and even trying and failing to complete it around a decade ago.
This game really doesn't feel like the kind of thing I should've actually completed, just so that I can keep my nostalgic memories of it mostly intact, messing about in it, kicking various pedestrians and exploring Springfield should probably have been what I remember this game as but considering the relationship I used to have with it, its one that just felt right to actually complete.
The plot is kinda there but nothing to write home about and it a lot of the story feels like filler so that the game could keep to its 7 mission structure for all 7 levels meaning that you'll get a bunch of missions in a row that don't really progress anything and even an entire level which is barely even related to the major story. I'm not particularly bothered about any of this but it was still something I noticed.
The characters are kind of difficult to really talk about as there were certainly funny lines from just about every character but storywise the characters don't really get to act like themselves as they either need to do something for someone or progress the main story which results in a few out of character moments like in the very first level where Homer notices the black vans which he assumes are surveying the town and quickly goes to investigate which doesn't really feel like something he'd do. There are some in character moments like Lisa freeing a bunch of fish destined to be restaurant food and Marge's level mainly coming from a place of wanting to investigate because she wants to help Bart but they are few and far between. Another thing that does not really matter in the grand scheme of things but just kind of struck me as odd even if I understand that it was like that so that we'd have a game.
The biggest issue I had with the characters though were the repeated voice lines, as I kid I mainly enjoyed hearing these and they never wore out their welcome, but now they were a constant source of annoyance and were genuinely irritating after a while. This gets even worse when you have certain characters who get a second level where you have to hear all the lines repeated over and over again or when you have to keep redoing a mission with a random side character driving you around who is just kind of annoying (Comic Book Guy) or doesn't seem to have many lines so you hear the same ones even more than the main characters (Grampa). There were a couple of decent characters who didn't get too annoying and if they had more than one mission then they were properly spaced out (Snake) but they were the exception to the rule.
The game itself is unfortunately not quite what I remembered or even expected going in, I read on the Wikipedia page that it was supposed to be a sequel to Road Rage where I don't even think you can leave your car and it explained why so many missions were a type of vehicle stage with what I found to be 3 out of about 49 actually having at least a big enough section where you actually wander around on foot (mainly to pick up collectibles). Other than this it is like 5 different types of vehicle stage repeated constantly meaning that if I liked a mission type to begin with I probably didn't by the end and this was even worse for the mission types that I wasn't even keen on to begin with like the bash into a vehicle and pick up the items it drops stages.
This gameplay loop then runs into another issue when the game remembers it needs to be difficult some of the time, there are a few too many missions in this game for my liking that I never want to play again and it comes from a number of things; vehicles getting in the way, controlling a vehicle that you're forced to use but isn't suited to the mission, very short time limits, the game not even being remotely consistent with how hitting something with your car affects you or it and lack of checkpoints. The missions in this game are thankfully really short so its not the biggest deal in the world if you need to restart one but there are many which have multiple sections where one might be ok but kind of long and the other might be incredibly difficult meaning that you'll need to redo all of it all over again which is just annoying but in all honesty I've never been the biggest fan of having to do something that I've already successfully done again just because I failed at something else that came after it, so maybe it was just more annoying to me because of that. The game does also have a skip mission option that I while I didn't use, I am grateful its there as its at least something for if I was really and I mean REALLY struggling with a mission in particular.
Another aspect of the game is the hit and run feature where if you cause another damage to someone or something you'll get the police on your arse until they either catch you and charge you 50 dollars or you manage to avoid them for a certain length of time. This ended up being a problem in the later levels and some missions essentially require you to drive pretty quickly and recklessly in the path of pedestrians, other vehicles or breakables and just ended up feeling like yet another annoying aspect to the missions. But admittedly while it was a problem for a bit it wasn't half as bad as I thought it would get and I quite like the feature outside of missions as it always used to be a fun punishment to try and avoid if I was being enough of a nuisance.
The camera is another problem however and comes up most when you're trying to do platforming in the couple of missions that require it or if you're going for the collectors cards which I was sort of doing if more to get more money which was usually around the cards as it becomes vital to have enough to progress the story as you'll usually reach a point where you need to buy a vehicle or outfit. The camera itself likes to get stuck in certain places or not show you an area from a good position to be able to see what you're doing. When driving though its not really a problem outside of rare-ish moments so that's something at least.
The combat is quite basic which makes sense as there are only two types of enemies (wasps and shielded wasps) who can be disposed of very easily and vending machines/boxes which need to be broken to get money from inside. The game probably could have even done without combat but as someone who enjoys kicking other characters quite a bit in this game I'm very glad its there and wouldn't want it to go at all.
There are only three locations in the game which get repeated and this feels fine as they try to differentiate them with time of day and also music from what I could tell. Each has a number of iconic places from the show and are fun to explore even if they have parts that are annoying in missions (the boardwalk). Reusing the areas also makes it easier to learn them so you can find all the shortcuts and get around quickly which becomes very necessary in later missions as quite a few enemy vehicles will even use some shortcuts themselves to try and stay ahead of you.
There were many little things I enjoyed like the collectors cards in level 7 being Treehouse of Horror themed, the bort licence plate card, various areas that you can explore even if they don't get used in a mission like the tv set in Krustylu Studios and a probably weird thing to be happy with but as someone who if asked to mention a couple of episodes from the show would probably come out with the one where Marge buys the expensive outfit and constantly retools it to try and fit in with the higher class women, it felt like a cool addition to have that outfit be one she can wear in her level.
Overall the game has many issues and if we were ever to see a remaster or remake I feel like it wouldn't hurt if they kept the general idea of the game but changed quite a lot to have it not feel as repetitive as the original does, I still can't really say I dislike it or that I never want to come back to it. For me, its probably a game that unless it gets a re-release of some kind I won't ever try to replay it in its entirety but to just come back to and mess about in feels like the correct way for me at least to play it. I kinda liked this experience and despite the problems I'm glad I've finished this game.
First time doing a complete playthrough after being one of my most played games when I was a child and even trying and failing to complete it around a decade ago.
This game really doesn't feel like the kind of thing I should've actually completed, just so that I can keep my nostalgic memories of it mostly intact, messing about in it, kicking various pedestrians and exploring Springfield should probably have been what I remember this game as but considering the relationship I used to have with it, its one that just felt right to actually complete.
The plot is kinda there but nothing to write home about and it a lot of the story feels like filler so that the game could keep to its 7 mission structure for all 7 levels meaning that you'll get a bunch of missions in a row that don't really progress anything and even an entire level which is barely even related to the major story. I'm not particularly bothered about any of this but it was still something I noticed.
The characters are kind of difficult to really talk about as there were certainly funny lines from just about every character but storywise the characters don't really get to act like themselves as they either need to do something for someone or progress the main story which results in a few out of character moments like in the very first level where Homer notices the black vans which he assumes are surveying the town and quickly goes to investigate which doesn't really feel like something he'd do. There are some in character moments like Lisa freeing a bunch of fish destined to be restaurant food and Marge's level mainly coming from a place of wanting to investigate because she wants to help Bart but they are few and far between. Another thing that does not really matter in the grand scheme of things but just kind of struck me as odd even if I understand that it was like that so that we'd have a game.
The biggest issue I had with the characters though were the repeated voice lines, as I kid I mainly enjoyed hearing these and they never wore out their welcome, but now they were a constant source of annoyance and were genuinely irritating after a while. This gets even worse when you have certain characters who get a second level where you have to hear all the lines repeated over and over again or when you have to keep redoing a mission with a random side character driving you around who is just kind of annoying (Comic Book Guy) or doesn't seem to have many lines so you hear the same ones even more than the main characters (Grampa). There were a couple of decent characters who didn't get too annoying and if they had more than one mission then they were properly spaced out (Snake) but they were the exception to the rule.
The game itself is unfortunately not quite what I remembered or even expected going in, I read on the Wikipedia page that it was supposed to be a sequel to Road Rage where I don't even think you can leave your car and it explained why so many missions were a type of vehicle stage with what I found to be 3 out of about 49 actually having at least a big enough section where you actually wander around on foot (mainly to pick up collectibles). Other than this it is like 5 different types of vehicle stage repeated constantly meaning that if I liked a mission type to begin with I probably didn't by the end and this was even worse for the mission types that I wasn't even keen on to begin with like the bash into a vehicle and pick up the items it drops stages.
This gameplay loop then runs into another issue when the game remembers it needs to be difficult some of the time, there are a few too many missions in this game for my liking that I never want to play again and it comes from a number of things; vehicles getting in the way, controlling a vehicle that you're forced to use but isn't suited to the mission, very short time limits, the game not even being remotely consistent with how hitting something with your car affects you or it and lack of checkpoints. The missions in this game are thankfully really short so its not the biggest deal in the world if you need to restart one but there are many which have multiple sections where one might be ok but kind of long and the other might be incredibly difficult meaning that you'll need to redo all of it all over again which is just annoying but in all honesty I've never been the biggest fan of having to do something that I've already successfully done again just because I failed at something else that came after it, so maybe it was just more annoying to me because of that. The game does also have a skip mission option that I while I didn't use, I am grateful its there as its at least something for if I was really and I mean REALLY struggling with a mission in particular.
Another aspect of the game is the hit and run feature where if you cause another damage to someone or something you'll get the police on your arse until they either catch you and charge you 50 dollars or you manage to avoid them for a certain length of time. This ended up being a problem in the later levels and some missions essentially require you to drive pretty quickly and recklessly in the path of pedestrians, other vehicles or breakables and just ended up feeling like yet another annoying aspect to the missions. But admittedly while it was a problem for a bit it wasn't half as bad as I thought it would get and I quite like the feature outside of missions as it always used to be a fun punishment to try and avoid if I was being enough of a nuisance.
The camera is another problem however and comes up most when you're trying to do platforming in the couple of missions that require it or if you're going for the collectors cards which I was sort of doing if more to get more money which was usually around the cards as it becomes vital to have enough to progress the story as you'll usually reach a point where you need to buy a vehicle or outfit. The camera itself likes to get stuck in certain places or not show you an area from a good position to be able to see what you're doing. When driving though its not really a problem outside of rare-ish moments so that's something at least.
The combat is quite basic which makes sense as there are only two types of enemies (wasps and shielded wasps) who can be disposed of very easily and vending machines/boxes which need to be broken to get money from inside. The game probably could have even done without combat but as someone who enjoys kicking other characters quite a bit in this game I'm very glad its there and wouldn't want it to go at all.
There are only three locations in the game which get repeated and this feels fine as they try to differentiate them with time of day and also music from what I could tell. Each has a number of iconic places from the show and are fun to explore even if they have parts that are annoying in missions (the boardwalk). Reusing the areas also makes it easier to learn them so you can find all the shortcuts and get around quickly which becomes very necessary in later missions as quite a few enemy vehicles will even use some shortcuts themselves to try and stay ahead of you.
There were many little things I enjoyed like the collectors cards in level 7 being Treehouse of Horror themed, the bort licence plate card, various areas that you can explore even if they don't get used in a mission like the tv set in Krustylu Studios and a probably weird thing to be happy with but as someone who if asked to mention a couple of episodes from the show would probably come out with the one where Marge buys the expensive outfit and constantly retools it to try and fit in with the higher class women, it felt like a cool addition to have that outfit be one she can wear in her level.
Overall the game has many issues and if we were ever to see a remaster or remake I feel like it wouldn't hurt if they kept the general idea of the game but changed quite a lot to have it not feel as repetitive as the original does, I still can't really say I dislike it or that I never want to come back to it. For me, its probably a game that unless it gets a re-release of some kind I won't ever try to replay it in its entirety but to just come back to and mess about in feels like the correct way for me at least to play it. I kinda liked this experience and despite the problems I'm glad I've finished this game.