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 Radical Entertainment and Electronic Arts for patent infringement, though it was settled before going to court.

Distributors: Electronic Arts, Fox Interactive and Radical Entertainment

Platforms: PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube and Game Boy Advance

Release dates: November 24 - 30, 2001 (PlayStation 2) December 1, 2001 - March 22, 2002 (Xbox) December 17, 2001 - May 17, 2002 (GameCube) June 27 - 30, 2003 (Game Boy Advance)

Gameplay and Plot
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.

The citizens of the city (controlled by the game player) earn the money by driving around a vehicle for a given amount of time, picking up passengers and taking them to their destinations. The player receives money upon successfully dropping off each passenger, and bonuses are obtained when they are transported in a short amount of time. Players have to avoid certain hurdles, such as other vehicles and Burns' nuclear transit buses. The game contains seventeen different collectible vehicles, six starting locations, and ten different missions. In order to collect the vehicles and unlock starting locations, players must earn progressively more money for each vehicle or starting location they want to get. In order to complete missions, players must do certain things (such as protecting Krusty the Clown from a fan mob by driving him away, and getting Homer to his workplace unnoticed).

At first, the only playable characters (taxi drivers) are Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Grampa, but as the game progresses more characters are unlocked. There is also a multiplayer mode in which the two players compete to pick up the same passengers and drive them to their destinations.

Districts
There are 6 playable districts. One is unlocked from the start (Evergreen Terrace), the other five you need to unlock. These worlds are:

Evergreen Terrace

Entertainment District

Springfield Dam

Nuclear Power Plant

Downtown

Springfield Mountains

Bonus Missions
The game also features ten bonus missions that can be completed. Successful completion of the last mission unlocks another car for Homer, ironically The Car Bulit For Homer. Those missions include:

1. Willie's Paper Shredder

2. Homer on the Run

3. Barney's Rage

4. Otto's Driving Test

5. Snake's Day Off

6. "They'll Never Take Me Alive"

7. Save the Hovercar

8. "Not the Trees"

9. Krusty's Escape

10. Burns' Arena