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The Simpsons: Hit & Run is one of the most beloved Simpsons video games of all time, and among the most highly rated based on review scores. Given the rise in remakes and re-releases of video games in recent times, some are wondering if the 2003 game might be next in line. It’s too soon to say, but lead designer Joe McGinn is a fan of the idea of bringing it back.
“I would love to see it,” McGinn told GamesRadar about a potential Hit & Run remake.
The game’s original developer, Radical Entertainment, and publisher, Vivendi Universal Games, have both closed up shop. So any remake would seemingly have to come from a different developer and publisher. It’s not immediately clear who owns the video game rights to The Simpsons franchise.
Electronic Arts published 2007’s The Simpsons Game based on the film, as well as the mobile title The Simpsons: Tapped Out in 2012. The TV series is still on the air–Hit & Run soundtrack appeared on multiple music stores in January 2023, sparking speculation that a remake/remaster might be in the works. A YouTuber is remaking the game in Unreal Engine 5, and it looks very impressive, so that’ll have to do for now.
Also in the GamesRadar interview, McGinn said Radical pitched Hit & Run to the publisher as “GTA for kids,” because at the time, the developers were playing GTA 3 and were inspired by it. McGinn said other inspirations for Hit & Run included the PlayStation One driving game Driver and Nintendo’s Super Mario 64. “That’s the ‘kids’ part… taking all the nasty out of GTA and replacing it with platforming. And mechanically Mario 64 was the best platformer that had been made by that time, where we learned a lot about character control and camera,” McGinn said.
Hit & Run was the second major Simpsons game from Radical, following 2001’s Simpsons: Road Rage, which wasn’t nearly as beloved as Hit & Run.
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