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Combining The Simpsons with MarioCart

Posted by timothy on from the two-great-tastes-that-taste-great-together dept.

FortKnox writes: "The game Simpson's Road Rage was just announced for the Nintendo Game Cube (it'll also be available on PS2 & XBox). Looks like it will be extremely similar to Mario Cart, but with a heavy Simpsons theme. I remember the hours we would play mariocart at college (usually while drunk). This is one of the only ways to improve that game ..." Just a blurb right now, but "Sunday Driving mode" is the sort of thing I wished more games offered -- the ability to explore and poke at the virtual world without obsessing over levels and points.

25 of 127 comments (clear)

  1. The comparison you're looking for... by ProfessorPuke · · Score: 3, Informative
    ...is "Crazy Taxi"

    It's a fundamentally different game from Mario Cart. Instead of participating in races from a predefined point A -> B, you can travel anyplace on a map and grab passengers to shuttle around.

  2. Exactly. by garcia · · Score: 2, Funny

    Excellent...

    Exactly...

    DOH!

  3. And the heavens sing... by crashnbur · · Score: 3, Interesting

    There could not be a greater cartoon on the face of the planet.
    There could not be a greater kart-racer on the face of the planet.

    Mmmmmm... forbidden donut...

    I think I might have to indulge myself when this hits! And speaking of the Simpsons, I just bought a wonderful book called The Simpsons and Philosophy: The D'oh! of Homer. I read one of the essays at Barnes and Noble, and I was wonderfully surprised. The editors of this book put together some brilliant essays concerning the Simpsons' relation to some serious philosophical issues. Seeing as how we nerds tend to like things like the Simpsons and Philosophy, I figured you guys might not mind a quick review.

    Also look out for the Simpsons Season 1 DVD boxed set, 25% off at Amazon.com. :)

  4. Old news - screenshots and stuff by iapetus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not just old news, but positively antique. Here's a link to a C&VG article complete with screenshots of the PS2/XBox versions, which were announced long before the GC one. Also an IGN preview of the PS2 version.

    --
    ++ Say to Elrond "Hello.".
    Elrond says "No.". Elrond gives you some lunch.
  5. Sunday driving mode is cool.. but what about... by Lostman · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sunday driving mode is cool.. but what about Saturday Morning driving mode?

    You start the game in this mode, and all of a sudden all the games sounds get WAY to loud. Then you notice that your view of the road starts going blurry. Then you notice that all the colors seem to be REALLY bright...

    The icing on this mode, of course, is the fact that when you "turn" left, your car doesnt start turning until a few secs later...

    With this mode, everyone will be able to experience the joy of hangovers and having a bit to much alcohol STILL in their system after a nice night of lan partying...

    1. Re:Sunday driving mode is cool.. but what about... by SClitheroe · · Score: 2, Troll

      Why is this rated +4, funny? If the poster is describing an experience where he gamed and drank all night long, then left the LAN party the next morning, then he is likely describing driving drunk...If he is describing driving the day after (ie. assuming he got some sleep), then his description still fits that of impaired driving.

      I don't think impaired driving is funny, particulary because of the terrible loss of life that can result.

    2. Re:Sunday driving mode is cool.. but what about... by Lostman · · Score: 2

      Like I said.. completely understood...

      I would be surprised if people wernt a bit more upset at things lately..

  6. More cars! by sg3000 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Read the links for the images on IGN's site (comment 2302558-- sue me, I'm too lazy to hyperlink). Whoever set up the site has probably never seen Simpsons

    Apu isn't driving a "Red Car"; it should be a circa 1978-era Trans Am-like car (they already had to license the Simpsons characters; I wonder if they'll bother to license the car makes)

    Homer definitely isn't driving a pink Cadillac. It's just a pink American sedan.

    The game should put Marge in her Canyonero (I guess Krusty should have one too). And they should make Homer's "The Car Built for Homer" a bonus car. Or even his 70s-something Dodge Charger (with sideburned-clad Homer to boot). Then they could put a younger Marge in her Gremlin.

    What about Mr. Burns? Would he be in his limo? Or would they show him driving his Model T-type car where the tires must be revulcanized?

    For completeness sake, Otto should be in his school bus (although his character is annoying in anything more than 10 second doses).

    What about celebrity cameos? Ed Begley Jr can show up in his eco-friendly car powered by his "own sense of self-satisfaction".

    They've already got Barney in his Plow King snow plow. Are there any other vehicles they should show?

    Sometimes I wonder if the game programmers are actually fans of the show (if so, they should be aware of the above vehicles), or if they just tacked a Simpson's theme on a Crazy Taxi ripoff they were already doing.

    --
    Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
    1. Re:More cars! by sharkey · · Score: 2

      Are there any other vehicles they should show?

      Dolph, Jimbo and Kearney should be driving their stolen mini-bikes.

      Since Bart is driving a soapbox racer, Nelson should be in "Roadkill", his racer.

      Flanders has both a wood-panelled station-wagon and a GEO.

      The Capitol City Goofball should be in the "Baseball Cart."

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
    2. Re:More cars! by sg3000 · · Score: 2

      Good ones.

      Bart briefly had a Ferarri when he was Burn's heir. He could even have a Christmas elf to come along for the ride. In fact, Marge briefly stole Ranier's Testerossa briefly in one episode.

      Troy McClure could have his Delorean. Cletus should be in his stepside pickup truck (complete with roadkill in the bed). Dr. Hibbert could be in his Volvo. I'd like to drive as Prof. Frink on his flying motorcycle.

      For songs, the various incarnations of the Simpson's themes would get boring. They should use:

      1. The Canyonero theme song (that song is great!)
      2. the standard "chase music" that they use for car chases
      3. music licensed from bands that have appeared on the Simpsons: Smashing Pumpkins, Cypress Hill, the Who, Elton John, Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney, Lurleen's songs, Tom Jones, etc.
      4. They could stretch it with some vaguely related songs like "Gonna Paint our Wagon" (assuming someone's driving a wood paneled station wagon), "Oh, Streetcar!", the monorail song (particularly if the story is that someone raised the taxes on bus fare)

      There are plenty of chances for them to really make this a *Simpsons* game (multiple characters, multiple cars, variety of music), but I suspect that just shoehorned the most obvious Simpsons characters into this game without really thinking about it.

      --
      Insert simplistic political, ideological, or personal proselytization here.
    3. Re:More cars! by Otto · · Score: 2

      For completeness sake, Otto should be in his school bus (although his character is annoying in anything more than 10 second doses).

      Whoa, what a bummer, dude.

      --
      - Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set him on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
  7. There are only seven rock songs. by Chiasmus_ · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Some famous music critic once remarked that "only seven songs have ever been written in the history of rock music; most bands just learn one and play it over and over."

    This statement especially holds true for video games. Once a game breaks into the mainstream, thousands of imitations will appear, merely tweaking a theme or giving a boost to graphics performance. Primary examples:

    1. Super Mario Brothers - side scroller
    2. Street Fighter 2 - head-to-head side scroller
    3. Doom - First Person shooter
    4. Warcraft 2 - Realtime Strategy
    5. Dragon Warrior - Overhead RPG
    6. Pole Position - First person race

    I'm not sure that it would be unfair to say that 75% of video games ever written were based on one of these six themes. Sure, there are plenty of others, like Tetris-style puzzles and Koei-style map-based war games, but in my mind, these are the big five.

    I just wonder - will there be enough imitators of Mario Kart to make it the "seventh rock song ever written"?

    --
    "Beware he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he deems himself your master."
  8. Mario Kart? by BIGJIMSLATE · · Score: 2

    For anyone who's even seen 10 seconds of the game, they know damn well its no Mario Kart rip-off. HOWEVER, it IS most definately a Crazy Taxi rip-off, with Homer (and others) driving around Springfield picking up people, and dropping them off. Wonder what Sega thinks about this...

  9. Am I the only one that thinks that... by or_smth · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Futurama would be a better license?

    You could pick up and deliver packages all over space, and of course stop off at any planet you want. It certainly would make a lot more sense then picking up and dropping people off in the Springfield (as far as I know there hasn't been any taxi-like situations in the show at all), whereas futurama, the entire show is about making deliveries. I would also think that it would be a lot cheaper, since almost everything in Futurama is made up (spaceships etc.). Oh well, just a thought.

  10. Sunday drive by Ravagin · · Score: 2

    Sunday-driving mode...

    One of my favorite "simple amusements" in SimCopter used to be setting up a city in SCURK that's just a circular road and a few buldings and loading it as a user level in SimCopter. Then I'd get into a helicopter (occasionally an f-16 if i was feeling particularly stressed) and activate the "Out for a sunday drive" code that puts your persepective behind one of the cars in the city (while leaving control). Then I could watch myself flying around, terroriziing the city, holding up traffic by landing in the road, etc.

    Easily amused....

    Of course, I haven't played SimCopter at all this week... it feels... odd.

    --

    Karma: T-rexcellent.

  11. Super NES was cheap too by yerricde · · Score: 2

    The SNES version had a much better replay value because the game didn't have a "cheap factor." What I mean is that in the SNES version, the speed of the characters and their abilities remained consistent.

    That is, if you won the first race of a GP. If you didn't win, the players who beat you in the first round would get extra mushrooms. All SMK CPU players also got unlimited mushrooms to attempt to reclaim the place they finished the first race unlimited feathers to jump over anything you drop or throw, and unlimited of items you can't even get such as poison mushrooms.

    Read more about the problems with the Mario Kart series (note: some are valid balance bugs, while others are personal preference).

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  12. NOT Mario Kart by Mr.+Sketch · · Score: 2

    I don't care what anyone says, but it's NOT Mario Kart. It might be a racing game with cartoon characters, but I know I won't be buying it. I personally (and all my friends) don't like the Simpsons so we would have no enjoyment playing this game. We would prefer just a sequel to Mario Kart 64 complete with battle mode, etc.

    Does anyone know if there are any plans to produce a REAL Mario Kart for the Game Cube?

    --
    Things you think are in the Constitution, but are not.
  13. Crossbreed ... by Aceticon · · Score: 2

    ...
    Resident Evil with Sesame Street

  14. lame by dangermouse · · Score: 2
    This is just Crazy Taxi with a loosely-fitted Simpsons license.

    It's one thing to use a game's engine and expand upon it and make something reasonably different... but this might as well be a skin set.

    1. Re:lame by Darth+Maul · · Score: 2

      No, it's not using the Crazy Taxi engine. Crazy Taxi is beautifully done. Simpsons Road Rage looks rather primitive comparatively, but it does look like it uses a slight cartoon render process on at least the main character vehicle and the directional hand. Note the second-pass dark edge lines. Interesting effect.

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      --- witty signature
  15. Wolf3d wasn't the original either by yerricde · · Score: 2

    Doom, blah, have you EVER heard of wolfenstein?

    Wolfenstein 3D was a clone of Midi-Maze aka Faceball 2000.

    Mario Kart (racing games with weapons) is a clone of Pole Position (racing games). (Did you know that NBA Jam used Pole Position's floor-rendering algorithm?)

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  16. DDR? by PenguinX · · Score: 2

    Does anyone know if DDR's (dance dance revolution) be coming to the Game Cube? More importantly - will they come to the USA market?

    -Brian

    1. Re:DDR? by PenguinX · · Score: 2

      Although it is my opinion, as well as most of my friends' DDR USA sucks. The one for the PS doesn't interest me really as I don't have one and don't think I will go out and buy one any time soon. I'm hoping that the japanese variants of DDR will come to the game cube. More importantly I would hope that those games are going to also come to the usa release of the game cube.

  17. Warcraft 2 wasn't original by SClitheroe · · Score: 2

    We were playing Dune 2 long before Warcraft2 was a dot on the map

  18. Crazy Taxi by Darth+Maul · · Score: 2

    Not Mario Kart, but Crazy Taxi.

    Crazy Taxi = best game for Dreamcast
    Simpsons = best TV show

    What a great combination. Interestingly, Crazy Taxi is coming out on the GameCube at the same time as Simpsons Road Rage (Nov 18). And, for the fans out there, Crazy Taxi 2 came out for the Dreamcast recently.

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    --- witty signature