If you were ever an afternoon when you went about the town of Springfield, doing a run on Homer Simpson’s character—evading Chief Wiggum, grabbing Buzz Cola cards, and knocking over innocent mailboxes, then you already know the reason why The Simpsons: Hit & Run continues to be recognized as a cult classic. This open-world adventure from 2003 was not just another brief attempt at money-grabbing from the use of a beloved TV show. It had clever things, was full of charm, and was also a bit complex, to the surprise of many. Therefore, it is not a surprise that after more than 20 years, gamers keep making noise for a sequel, a remake, or, indeed, for any reason to have another drive with the Family Sedan.
Which aspects of Hit & Run made it a novelty? In the first place, it was the first game that opened the virtual doors of Springfield to gamers. What’s more, the Springfield shown here was not just any Springfield – it was a world of references, visual jokes, and hidden Easter eggs that made the game feel like a creation by lovers of The Simpsons. Radical Entertainment didn’t just sketch out a city with a yellow sheen; they reconstructed the likes of Moe’s Tavern and the Kwik-E-Mart down to the smallest detail, and even recorded the new lines with the original voice actors. It was as if one had been taken inside a living, breathing episode of the show. While the game sold over three million copies and gained quite a lot of awards, the main point was whether it really conveyed the show’s outrageous, comedic style, and at the same time, if it was a kind of salute to the GTA craze of the early 2000s.
But here’s the odd part—and sort of sad. People have been asking for years: why wasn’t there ever a Hit & Run 2? The initial game was a huge success, of course. The solution, as it turns out from lead level designer Joe McGinn, is both confusing and infuriating. As McGinn explains, Gracie Films presented the developers with a proposal to make three sequels—with all the rights and voice acting involved—for free. Free. But someone at publisher Vivendi Universal Games said no for no apparent reason. McGinn has stated they never did discover who rejected the deal, and even the development team was surprised. In retrospect, now, it’s the type of head-scratching move that makes you want to yell “D’oh! ” at the top of your lungs. Rejecting free Simpsons rights back in the early 2000s?
Even now, that’s just about crazy. Although the sequel never actually happened, the affection for Hit & Run hasn’t decreased—just increased. Fans have replayed and modded it for years, and some have even converted it into entirely different experiences, such as a full-fledged Futurama-themed version simply for entertainment purposes. In January 2023, the complete soundtrack of the game finally became available on Spotify and Apple Music, and the internet went into a hope frenzy that a remake was finally a possibility.
And the rumblings only got louder when Matt Selman, co-showrunner of The Simpsons, said he’d be happy to see the game receive a proper remaster. Of course, getting it done is one thing and quite another. The Simpsons franchise is now owned by Disney, so licensing is a much more complex process. And Radical Entertainment, the company that made the first one, doesn’t exist in quite the same form anymore. Any new iteration would have to be remade from the ground up, and it’s no easy feat to recreate the very particular blend of humor, chaos, and nostalgia that the game was so well-loved for.
That hasn’t prevented enthusiasts, however—some independent developers have created beautiful demos using Unreal Engine 5, but with no formal go-ahead, those hobby efforts always threaten to disappear.
Nonetheless, if anything, the appetite for a return to Springfield is as great as ever. With twenty years of new content to draw upon—characters, places, gags—a well-made sequel could far surpass the original. Picture not only visiting Springfield, but Shelbyville, Capital City, perhaps even Itchy & Scratchy Land, all with today’s open-world technology. A game like this would be a fan’s greatest wish. Until that day arrives, Hit & Run remains a shining example of how to nail a licensed game—and a bittersweet reminder of what could’ve been if someone had just said “yes” to a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. For now, we’ll keep replaying the original, streaming the soundtrack, and holding out hope that someday, someone will finally bring us the return to Springfield we’ve been waiting for.