Pros: Good game play, colorful visuals, large interactive environments.
Cons: Character comments can become redundant and annoying. LONG load times.
The bottom line: It's a fun game even if you're not a Simpsons fan, and if you can get ahold of a copy for around $20 - you'll find it worth your money.
Premise

Electronic Arts has weighed in with "Simpsons Road Rage", a fun, aesthetically-pleasing game that finds the denizens of Springfield serving as cab drivers and ferrying each other around their fair city.

The game begins with the premise that C. Montgomery Burns has initiated yet another of his diabolical plans to control Springfield. He's created a line of nuclear-powered buses that he hopes will take over mass transit in the city, and he's jacked up the fares. In response, the citizens of Springfield have taken matters into their own hands and become cab drivers in the hopes of buying back the buses from Monty.

REVIEW

The game is very much like Crazy Taxi, as you race around Springfield crashing into other cars, making shortcuts and destroying the landscape in your zeal to deliver passengers.

Players start with a certain amount of time on the clock, and have more time added upon the pickup and delivery of passengers. You're rewarded for how fast you deliver the passengers, but in some special cases you're awarded bonuses for how much of the city you destroy, or if you can deliver your passenger without striking more than three other vehicles.

The controls are responsive and the game plays well. Your only controls center around steering, the accelerator, the brake, and reverse. There's also a horn, but I don't think it's anything more than ornamental. The only problem I noticed is that many times you'll strike and get hung up on seemingly invisible objects for no reason whatsoever, and many times building walls or other obstacles extend farther than they appear to. Due to some other programming glitches are also a few places that you can get your vehicle trapped that are impossible to get out of.

Gameplay takes place within one of six interactive environments; Evergreen Terrace, The Entertainment District, The Nuclear Power Plant, Springfield Dam, Downtown, and the Springfield Mountains.

The environments are huge and expansive, but that also means that this game has LONG load times. Even though they have something of a cool little 3-D animation of Bart playing a video game in front of the TV, it is still annoying how long it takes for the levels to load.

The intro animation (which also follows you throughout the game as you finish individual excursions) is quite impressive and I found it to be a very smooth translation of the trademark Simpsons/Matt Groening animation into 3-D.

There are several ways to play:

- There's "Road Rage" mode, in which you run from place to place picking up random passengers and delivering them for money and more time.

- In addition, the creators have added a "Sunday Drive" mode, where you can drive around without a clock, touring the landscapes at your leisure and picking up or ignoring passengers.

- You can also take part in one of 10 "Missions" that involve the various characters in the game having to accomplish certain tasks related to the central premise (for example, Groundskeeper Willie has to drive his tractor into 12 newspaper racks before the time runs out)

- Finally, face off against a friend in the 2-player head-to-head mode. You're both in competition for fares in a race to earn an amount of money you designate ($5,000, $10,000 or $15,000). Obviously the more money you play for, the longer the game goes. Each passenger you deliver is worth $1,000 - and you can steal passengers from your opponent by ramming them with your car.

FEATURES

The game boasts 6 interactive levels that house over 100 Springfield "Landmarks" (ranging from Springfield Elementary, complete with Willie's shack, to The Fryin' Dutchman, to the Kwik-E-Mart).

30 Simpsons Characters with REAL voices from the show featuring original dialogue.

Shortcuts and hidden areas.

The game begins with a variety of characters / cars to choose from, including:

- Homer in the family sedan
- Marge in her "Canyonero"
- Lisa in her "Elec-Taurus" (an electric car)
- Bart in the "Honor Roller" designed by Martin
- Grandpa Simpson in Shriners go-kart

You can unlock additional vehicles, including:

- Krusty in (no surprise) a Clown Car
- Apu in a Sports Car
- Snake in "Lil' Bandit" ("She needs premium, dude! Premium!!!)
- Groundskeeper Willie in his Tractor
- Homer as Mr. Plow
- Barney as Plow King
- Otto in the School Bus
- Professor Frink in his Hover Car
- Chief Wiggum in his Police Cruiser
- Reverend Lovejoy in his Book-Burning Mobile

...and more.

The game also features some cheats and secrets:

- Finishing all 10 missions will unlock a special car for Homer (the "Homer" from the "Unkie Herb" episode)
- Resetting the date on your PS2 will give you some alternate characters: 10/31 will give you Franken-Bart, 01/01 will give you New Years Krusty, etc.
- There are certain combinations you can enter into the game at various points to unlock the opportunity to drive one of the nuclear powered buses, or drive as Waylan Smithers in Mr. Burns's limo.