I happen to be a big Simpsons fan, so when I heard that this game was coming out, I immediately jumped at it. I happen to own a game called Crazy Taxi, and to be honest Simpsons Road Rage is a bad rip off. You start off with 4 basic characters: Homer in the pink family car, Marge in her 4X4, Lisa in her ElecTaurus, and Bart in his Space Shuttle Soap Box Racer. From there you can unlock a different character, or a different level with the money you win. The gameplay copies Crazy Taxi for the most part, you have 2 minutes to pick up and drop off different characters in Springfield. You can get more time by hitting bus stops, and by beating the clock by picking up another passenger before the time runs out. Unlike Crazy Taxi, the Simpsons Road Rage can be beaten.
The game is funny for the first five minutes, and then it just gets rather annoying. Your characters tend to say the same things, over and over, and it gets a bit irritating. You also tend to pick up the same people. Unlike Crazy Taxi, you don’t have many choices. Most of the people on the first level right where you start off, want to go to the Quickie Mart, so you kind of go to the same places in the same order. You only have 2 minutes, so you tend to pick up the closest fares. Crazy Taxi is ver vast. You can go many places, and you aren’t confined.
I have also had a problem with vehicles getting stuck. You can run over large signs and trees in the game, however, once in awhile your car goes up the pole, and you can’t move. You get stuck, and have to start over. Some vehicles tend to be sluggish too. Marge’s 4X4, Otto’s bus etc.
Crazy Taxi gets a plus for its vehicle control mechanics. It does actually feel as though you’re driving a car. You have to switch gears (R) and (D), you can hit certain buttons to do tricks with your car. The Simpsons Road Rage doesn’t have any of that. In this game, you can do an immediate 180 turn with the press of a button, and that’s about it.
The game also features mission levels, and head-to-head, for 2 players. One cool feature that I did like were the hidden features. If you change the date on the Gamecube to a holiday, you can unlock special holiday characters, like Santa Apu, or FrankenBart.
So if you’re a serious Simpsons fan, then I say buy Road Rage. If not, grab Crazy Taxi…it’s a lot more fun.