The first of the similarities between the games is in the "carjacking" element. You can ‘jack any vehicle in Springfield, but unlike GTA, you don’t beat down the drivers and toss them from their vehicles. Instead, when you want to "borrow" someone’s car, you simply walk up to the car, press the action button and are magically transported into the vehicle as a passenger.

There’s another big gameplay difference between GTA and Simpson’s Hit and Run: a complete lack of blood and weapons. Although you can deliver a good solid kick to your fellow citizens (knocking them to the ground) and run them over with your car, they won’t die. Instead, they’ll just exclaim, "hey watch it!" (or another similar line) and get back up a few seconds later.

You start the game playing the role of Homer Simpson and as you advance you’ll get to play as Bart, Marge, Lisa, and Apu. For each character in the game there are a number of unique missions you’ll need to complete. You receive your mission objectives by walking up to one of the many non-player characters and pressing the action button. The missions in Hit & Run will have you racing against other characters, collecting items, chasing down and ramming other vehicles until they explode, or just racing against the clock. There are also some side mission races to be found, and if you win these races you will unlock new vehicles. Even though the missions are very similar to one another you find most of them to be challenging, and more importantly, fun.

As with GTA, there’s a huge selection of vehicles in Simpsons Hit & Run, many of which you will recognize from the TV show, such as the Simpsons family sedan, the Plow King snow plow and Bart’s soapbox derby car. You can access any of the vehicles you have acquired by using one of the many phone booths scattered throughout the city. Simply use the phone, select the vehicle you want, and when you hang up, the vehicle is waiting right there for you. If your vehicle becomes damaged, you can drive through one of the many wrench-shaped pickups that will instantly repair all damage to your ride.

When you‘re not in your vehicle, you can explore the city of Springfield on foot while collecting coins (used to purchase vehicles, changes of clothing and other items) and trying to find the collector’s cards hidden throughout the levels. Smash through vending machines, mailboxes, phone booths and other item along the roadways to find the hidden coins. There are also many "gags" to be found around the city that give you bonuses for finding and activating them. One such gag you will find is a large catapult, which launches a cat into the next county when activated. There are many more such gags just waiting to be found, all of which help to keep the game as light-hearted as the TV series.

The graphics in Simpsons Hit & Run really bring the city of Springfield to life. From the brightly-colored cell-shaded look of the city itself, to the perfectly reproduced character models, everything looks exactly as you would expect from a Simpsons game. As far as the framerate goes, the only slowdown I saw occurred when my car was damaged and spewing smoke from under the hood. This seems strange due to the fact that the smoke is not very detailed and looks more like cell-shaded clouds than realistic smoke.

Along with the odd framerate issue, there’s a problem with the camera angle when you are on foot. You control the camera with the right thumbstick, which allows you to pan it in all directions. The problems show up when you are standing close to a building or other large object, as it will become stuck or get real jumpy until you move your character away from the large object. This becomes frustrating when you are trying to jump from one rooftop to another to collect coins or collector’s cards. Thank goodness that most of the game is played using vehicles, since the camera is rock solid when you’re driving.

The one thing that fans of the Simpsons will find most entertaining is the voice acting in this game. The entire original cast of the show was brought in to do the voice acting for and the show’s writers penned the script. This game will have you laughing out loud from the goofy and zany dialogue that has made The Simpsons such a successful TV series. Of course the biggest laughs come from Homer himself. Some of his one-liners can get a little repetitive, but the game will throw a new one out from time to time that will crack you up (like Homer’s " help me jebus" when you crash). Along with the voices, the vehicle sounds are pretty well done as a truck sounds like a truck should, and the cars all have their unique engine sounds.

The music in Hit & Run sounds like it was ripped straight from the TV show and each character you play has his or her own background music, across the board the audio is great.

I highly recommend Simpson’s Hit & Run to anyone who is even a casual fan of the TV series. The hilarious cut scenes and overall production of this game will make you feel as though Springfield has come to life. As for those of you who aren’t fans of the Simpsons you should probably look elsewhere for your mission based racing action.

If you’re a parent that feels the violence in the GTA games is too much for little Johnny’s eyes to behold, then Simpsons Hit & Run may be the nonviolent alternative you’ve been looking for.

See more screens on the Simpsons Hit and Run media page