If you’ve ever spent an afternoon gleefully tearing through Springfield as Homer Simpson—dodging Chief Wiggum, collecting Buzz Cola cards, and running over innocent mailboxes—you already know why The Simpsons: Hit & Run is still remembered as a cult classic. Released back in 2003, this open-world adventure wasn’t just another quick cash-in on a beloved TV show. It was genuinely clever, packed with charm, and surprisingly layered. So it’s no surprise that, over 20 years on, gamers continue to clamor for a remake, a sequel, or indeed any reason to get back behind the wheel of the Family Sedan.
What made Hit & Run such a novelty? For starters, it was the first game that allowed gamers to live in Springfield. And not only any rendition of Springfield—this was a universe full of references, visual jokes, and hidden Easter eggs that made the game feel as though it had been created by people who loved The Simpsons. Radical Entertainment didn’t simply throw together a yellow-tinged imitation of a city; they painstakingly rebuilt iconic places such as Moe’s Tavern and the Kwik-E-Mart, and even added fresh lines from the original voice actors. It was like being transported into a breathing, living episode of the show. The game had sold more than three million copies and received its fair share of accolades, but what counted was whether it accurately translated the show’s outrageous, comedic attitude, while paying homage to the GTA frenzy 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.
