Features

• Meet up with 0ver 25 Simpson characters either behind the wheel or on the streets of Springfield begging for a ride
• Characters have unique relationships with each other, triggering special dialogue and animations
• Wreak havoc in 5 Springfield neighborhoods featuring over 100 Simpsons landmarks
• Bonus system rewards players of all skill levels and lets players choose which characters and cars they want to unlock
• Interactive worlds provide an intensely busy community environment alive with traffic and pedestrian interaction that adds to commuters road rage
• Two-Player split screen action lets players beat opponents in a race for the next passenger, or steal their passenger mid-ride
• Jumps, powerslides, and speed-starts are all done with a simple arcade-style 3-button interface
• Cruise through a variety of terrain including hills, jumps, mountains, forests, and timesaving short cuts
• Story Mode allows for 40 to 60 unique passenger deliveries, plus seven mini-bonus deliveries
• Sunday Driving Mode lets players pick up passengers and explore the city at a leisurely pace
• Available for GameCube at system launch

Gameplay
Electronic Arts intends to inject a core of slick-witted humor from the famous adult-oriented cartoon into The Simpsons Road Rage. The idea is to blend the intense, addicting gameplay of Crazy Taxi with The Simpsons cartoon for a sidesplitting arcade driving experience. How do Radical Entertainment, the developer behind the game, and EA plan on turning The Simpsons and all the characters into taxi drivers?

A story line has been crafted to give the situation some credibility. The sadistic Mr. Burns decides to purchase the Springfield Transit Corporation and raises the fares. In addition to that Burns also transformed all of the buses into glowing green radioactive vehicles of cancer-causing death. Err, the idea of cancer is supposed to be "zany." Naturally, no one wants to take the risk of riding on the carcinogenic buses, so all of the residents of Springfield -- filled with "road rage" -- start to drive each other around in their own unique vehicles. Lisa drives an electric car, Groundskeeper Willy uses a tractor that somehow manages to hit tops speeds of 60 MPH, Otto has his school bus, Grandpa Simpson drives around in a little Shriner go-cart, Krusty has a tiny clown car, and there are plenty of unlockable vehicles such as Homer's Mr. Plow.

The idea is to make enough money to buy back the Transit Corporation before time runs out. Money is made by taxiing characters around the town. But, don't get excited about the story line. It's flimsy at best. If The Simpsons Road Rage has anything going for it, it is the gameplay, and even that we're not so sure about. If you want to get a good picture of The Simpsons Road Rage just imagine Crazy Taxi with humorous dialogue between the driver and pick-ups. Then take away the perfected arcade control. The game, which isn't final yet, takes a turn for the worst here. From we've played of it so far on the PlayStation 2, the control leaves something to be desired. It may mock Crazy Taxi's core idea, but it doesn't drive like it and that's a big problem.

Graphics
Radical has created what it calls "H-line technology" that is supposed to maintain the 2D animated look of the show in the 3D environment. Unfortunately the current revision does not do this. Blurry textures are often apparent, and the entire gamescape lacks the vibrant tones from the cartoon. Additionally, the GameCube version looks a lot like the PS2 version. Mostly because the H-line technology was most likely created with the PlayStation 2 in mind. Unfortunately it doesn't seem Radical is taking advantage of GameCubes advanced "toon-shading" abilities, which have been generously demonstrated with the new Legend of Zelda.

Sound
We've heard a few songs from The Simpsons Road Rage and it features an uninspired soundtrack. It doesn't mesh with the Simpsons' world, and ends up making for an almost uncomfortable experience at times. With any luck the final version will feature more Simpsons-esque compositions, but we're not holding our breath.

Outlook
The Simpsons Road Rage should make players laugh while they pick-up fares and drop them off across town, but it just can't keep up the same kind of comic momentum that the show can. There isn't enough room for that kind of story line and dialogue. Ideally the humor would take backseat to a solid gameplay structure, but we're not seeing evidence that will happen. Hopefully the final version has something more to offer. Come GameCube launch on November 18, The Simpsons Road Rage will have to face its mentor, the original Crazy Taxi, which is also being released for the system. You'll have to decide if you want the checkered cab or Groundskeeper turbo-charged Willy's tractor?