The Simpsons Hit & Run 2 is an upcoming Open-World Racing-Action Game for the Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The game is a sequel to the original Simpsons Hit & Run for GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC although, connections between the games are relatively minimal beyond gameplay similarities.
Plot[]
As the city of Springfield prepares for its 202nd celebration, much of the city is in a fever with preparations whilst a new company that's moved into the city that sells discount TV sets and Media Players called Cosmonautics has begun to crop up. The game focuses on several characters from the TV show as they go about their day-to-day lives and investigate the new and strange company.
Level 1 - Homer 1[]
The first level focuses on Homer, it is comprised of six missions, the first three acting as introductions to various gameplay mechanics like collecting items, destruction, tailing, and on-foot travel with Homer performing tasks for Carl, Lenny, and Barney. The second half of the missions sees Homer competing to become the Town Crier with him needing to complete a series of tasks for Chief Wiggum and Mayor Quimby to earn the role.
Level 2 - Marge 1[]
The second level sees Marge get involved in helping with the preparations at the Squidport helping out various residents of the city with their preparations, along the way she has to contend with Helen Lovejoy who attempts to outdo Marge in several missions. This is also the first level where Cosmonautics is directly referenced as Marge has to help deliver TV sets to various families in one mission so they can watch the celebrations live.
Gameplay[]
The gameplay is fairly similar to the original game with the player able to control the character their playing as and explore the different areas of Springfield completing missions and races as well as other side activities, controls are the same as the original although the behavior of vehicle handling has been improved so higher handling vehicles are less likely to spin out.
The game's combat is generally unchanged remaining basic and easy to get used to, characters do have different attacks now to help differentiate them gameplay-wise, this also ties into other differences with the playable characters as they each have different abilities allowing them to reach areas in certain locations that other characters otherwise wouldn't be able to. While much of the game revolves around driving much like its predecessor the game has also seen more diversification in its gameplay formatting with missions being more varied than before and a deal of new side content that helps to break up the gameplay although the side content is once again optional.
Like in the original game, Hit & Run 2 features a mini-game that involves top-down racing similar to old-school racing games from the Arcade Era, in addition to some returning tracks from the original game there are a number of new tracks that offer the player plenty of options in the mini-game.
Playable Characters[]
Levels & Locations[]
Like the previous game, each character is present for one or more levels in the game. In total, the game features sixteen levels that visit multiple locations across Springfield. Each region of Springfield appears twice in the game with eight regions overall, the regions vary in size and depending on the level will also have different areas accessible for the player.
Enemies[]
Unlike the original game, there are multiple enemies the player can encounter in the game, most of the enemies are various groups, and depending on the region the player is in the enemies will differ. One constant enemy that also appeared in the first game is the cops, getting Hit & Run will result in the cops coming after the player and busting them for a certain amount of coins. Other enemies in the game will attack the player either while on foot or while driving, on foot enemies when they attack the player will cause the player to drop coins while enemies encountered while driving will usually attempt to destroy the player's vehicle.
There are a few non-human enemies in the game, the Power Plant Worker Robots can attack the player much like human enemies although are capable of some unique abilities including flight thanks to propellers and laser fire from their eyes. Bears can be found near the wetlands, the player cannot attack them, and making contact with them will immediately reset the player to somewhere away from the bear and take their coins away. Later levels also introduce aliens who fire energy weapons and can be defeated through regular combat.
Missions[]
As with the previous game, the player will need to complete a series of missions in each level to advance to the next one, missions can vary wildly in their role with some having the player race other drivers, destroy vehicles, collect items, tailing a target, evading an enemy, searching for a particular character or object and numerous other objectives. Unlike the original game the number of missions varies from level to level although increases as the game progresses, the levels also feature between one and four side missions which are able to be completed for a variety of rewards.
Level 1[]
- Mission 1 - Yesterday's Brew - Homer tries to remember the party he had the night before and asks Lenny to help jog his memory however Lenny only agrees to help after Homer helps him out.
- Task 1 - Drive to Public Library before Lenny's videos are overdue
- Task 2.1 - Drive to the Krusty Burger near Town Hall
- Task 2.2 - Ram the Delivery Van to collect two Krusty Burger Meals
- Task 3.1 - Find the Springfield Community Center
- Task 3.2 - Talk to Barfly Larry
- Tasks 3.3 - Race the Barflies to the Statue of Jebediah Springfield
- Task 4 - Talk to Lenny
- Conclusion - After talking to Lenny he thanks Homer for helping him mentioning that the money he'll make from their race with the barflies will be more than the ticket anyhow, Homer questions Lenny about the ticket to which Lenny responds that Homer had bought a winning lottery ticket just before the Annual Duff Drinking Contest. Homer confides to ask Carl if he knows about the ticket's location.
- Mission 2 - Payout Pockets - Homer goes looking for Carl to find the lost winning lottery ticket, the player needs to complete a series of tasks to find where Carl is.
- Task 1 - Talk to Lenny at the DMV
- Task 2.1 - Tail Lenny's Car to the Kwik-E-Mart
- Task 2.2 - Talk to Jimbo outside the Kwik-E-Mart
- Task 2.3 - Defeat the School Bullies
- Task 3 - Tail Lenny's Car without getting too close
- Task 4 - Talk to Lenny at the Springfield Community Center
- Task 5 - Follow Lenny's Clues to find Carl
- Task 6.1 - Talk to Carl
- Task 6.2 - Destroy Carl's car before he gets to Springfield Elementary School
- Task 6.3 - Drive to the Springfield Elementary School Playground
- Task 7.1 - Talk to Willie
- Task 7.2 - Race Willie to the Kwik-E-Mart
- Task 7.3 - Talk to Willie
- Conclusion - Having tailed Lenny to find out where Carl is and stopping Carl from stealing the Ticket, Homer bested Willie who'd found the ticket wedged in the exhaust of his tractor in a race to the Kwik-E-Mart.
- Mission 3 - Sleeper on the Wheel - Homer goes to cash in the Lottery Ticket only to find his prize had already been claimed.
- Task 1.1 - Drive to the Post Office
- Task 1.2 - Talk to Duffman
- Task 2 - Race the Seven Duffs to the First Church of Springfield
- Task 3.1 - Talk to Surly Duff
- Task 3.2 - Follow Surly's Clues to find Barney
- Task 3.3 - Talk to Barney at the Retirement Castle
- Task 4 - Race Barney to his Apartment
- Task 5.1 - Destroy Barney's Car
- Task 5.2 - Take the Duff-Mobile's Keys from Barney
- Task 5.3 - Find the Duff-Mobile
- Task 6.1 - Drive the Duff-Mobile to the Simpsons' House
- Task 6.2 - Escape from Barney in the Plow King
- Task 6.3 - Drive to the Simpsons' House
- Conclusion - After talking to Duffman, Homer realized the Ticket actually won him a vehicle called the Duff-Mobile, after racing the Seven Duffs, Homer tracked down Barney who'd claimed his prize, beating Barney to his apartment and then destroying Barney's car, Homer was able to find the Duff-Mobile and bring it home while avoiding Barney.
- Mission 4 - Lost Little Piggies - Homer needs to convince Chief Wiggum to let him compete in the Town Crier competition by completing a series of tasks for Wiggum. (This Mission uses a Mandatory Vehicle, Police Cruiser)
- Task 1 - Talk to Chief Wiggum
- Task 2.1 - Follow the Skid Marks to the criminal hideout
- Task 2.2 - Defeat all the Gang Members in the Hideout
- Task 2.3 - Talk to Chief Wiggum
- Task 3.1 - Drive to the Legitimate Businessman's Social Club
- Task 3.2 - Talk to Fat Tony
- Task 3.3 - Follow the Mobster's Limo to the Candy Most Dandy Shop
- Task 3.4 - Find all the Cotton Candy Buckets while avoiding the Store Workers
- Task 4.1 - Talk to Chief Wiggum
- Task 4.2 - Drive to the Kwik-E-Mart
- Task 4.3 - Talk to Apu and grab the Coffee Mixer 5000
- Task 4.4 - Talk to Chief Wiggum
- Task 4.5 - Talk to Fat Tony
- Task 4.6 - Race Fat Tony to Lard Lad's Donuts
- Task 5 - Talk to Chief Wiggum
- Conclusion - After helping Chief Wiggum stop an illegal fireworks trade, getting the Mob to help get some Cotton Candy, and then racing Fat Tony to get to Lard Lad's before it ran out of donuts, Wiggum agrees to let Homer compete in the Town Crier competition although informs Homer that it's up to the Mayor to decide who is the Town Crier, to Homer's dismay.
- Mission 5 - Rigged Gig
- Mission 6 - For whom the Bell Tolls
Vehicles[]
As with the original game, the player can access a wide range of vehicles, each vehicle has its own stats for Speed, Toughness, Handling, and Acceleration, various cars are better in certain stats than others and it's up to the player to decide which vehicle is best fit for them while playing. Later levels tend to introduce more powerful vehicles to compensate for the increasing difficulty. Like with Hit & Run, the sequel uses a 5-star system with half-stars included.
Vehicles can be obtained in one of four methods; Default vehicles which are given at the start of a level, Bought vehicles which can be purchased from a Vendor, Reward vehicles which are given for completing some side missions as well as other objectives and Secret vehicles which can be found somewhere hidden in each level and must be driven to a specific location to become available from the Phone Booth.
Traffic Vehicles[]
Alongside the vehicles the player can obtain from the Phone Booth there are also the vehicles the player can encounter while traveling in the overworld, traffic vehicles are generally worse than their level counterparts, below is a list of the base stats for each Traffic Vehicle and the levels they appear in.
Side-Content[]
Alongside the main missions, scattered about each level is various side content the player can access, side content includes other missions that can optionally be completed for bonuses for the player including unlocking new vehicles and costumes as well as more content for the Mini-Games, the races from the original game also return under this section although are no longer limited to the simple; Checkpoint, Lap and Time Trial races with some more appearing now.
DMV Unlockables[]
Similar to the original game scattered about the level will be three characters who will offer the player race-like missions, completing all three challenges by these characters will unlock the player a new vehicle that is typically the best in that level. In these challenges, the player can be pitted to do a variety of tasks although the task varies according to which character the player is talking to. After the player completes a challenge, Patty & Selma will appear like in the original with one of them commenting on the player character's driving, usually insulting the character in some manner.
Characters with challenges will appear with the crossed checkered flags above their head instead of the Exclamation Point-like mission characters.
- Kent Brockman (Lap Races) - Kent hosts the Lap Races and is one of the most common characters for the Challenges, according to him he has Arnie Pye filming the races from above to use to boost Channel 6's ratings by showing Springfield's most insane drivers.
- Kirk Van Houten (Time Trial) - Kirby hosts the Time Trial Races, he is required to do this by Patty and Selma because he lost his license and had an agreement with Patty to get his license back by hosting the Time Trials, in the last level he appears in this role for it's revealed Patty's actually reporting him to the police for hosting illegal street races much to Kirk's dismay.
- Otto Mann (Checkpoint Race) - Otto hosts Checkpoint Races and uniquely often appears in them as a racer, Otto wants to prove that he's the best driver in Springfield and challenges each of the characters to test his skill, he is one of the most common characters for the Challenges.
- Nelson Muntz (Demolition Derby) - Nelson hosts the Demolition Derby, a combat-style challenge where the player has to destroy the other racers' cars without destroying their own, the arenas where the challenges take place always feature a wrench although the enemy AI can use the wrench as well to repair their vehicles, Nelson mentions that he uses the derbies to collect scrap to sell and make money.
- Moe Szyslak (Destructive Driving) - Moe hosts the Destructive Driving Challenges, which involve the player going around damaging certain objects or running over certain characters in the level, this is usually because Moe wants revenge enacted on whatever the target of the particular challenge is, some of his challenges also involve destroying vehicles.
- Dolph Starbeam (Police Chase) - Dolph hosts the Police Chase Challenges which have the player evading the police as they're timed to get from location to location, each of the challenges is related to some illegal activity Dolph is committing.
- Wayne Slater (Stealth) - Wayne hosts the Stealth Challenges which require the player to tail along behind another vehicle without being caught to get information for Wayne, the missions each focus on Wayne hunting down people he suspects cheated on their Drivers Tests.
It should be noted that in Levels 8, 15, and 16 the Challenge Givers are replaced by different characters to fit with that particular level, in Level 8 the challenge givers are replaced by their parents or grandparents while in Levels 15 and 16 they're replaced by monsters and aliens.
Bonus Missions[]
Alongside the main missions the player has access to a variety of bonus missions, they can give various rewards and are required to complete the game to 100%, Bonus Missions like Main Missions vary significantly in what the player needs to do and also how strict they are time or condition wise.
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Mini-Games[]
Alongside the main game, there are also several mini-games the player has access to, completing side objectives in the main game will unlock more of the mini-games content as well as being necessary for certain mini-games to be unlocked at all.
Springfield Racers[]
The carryover Mini-Game from the original, Springfield Racers is a Top-Down Racing Minigame that uses controls different from the main game due to the change in perspective, the player can race between one and seven other racers and can unlock new tracks by hunting down the Racetrack Boxset in each level. There are seventeen default Racetracks in the game, one unlocked from the start and the other sixteen found in each level.
- From Start - Evergreen Terrace - Simple Loop track that takes place around Evergreen Terrace.
- Level 1 - Jebediah Statue - Checker pattern race track taking place around the Statue of Jebediah Springfield and Town Hall, the Monorail wreckage can be seen in the background of the race track.
- Level 2 - Memorial Bridge - Dumbell shaped racetrack located at the Memorial Bridge.
- Level 3 - Downtown Highrise - Pretzel-shaped track that takes place in and around the high-rises of Downtown Springfield.
- Level 4 - Recluse Ranch Estates - A twisting racetrack located in the Recluse Ranch Estates, part of the track goes through the Springfield Preparatory School.
- Level 5 - Highway Noodle - Semi-Recreation of Track 5 from the original game, the track is again a Double Figure 8 although the aesthetics now match that seen in East Springfield.
- Level 6 - Springfield Dam - A Dumbell-shaped racetrack where each end is a figure eight, the track is comprised of the road over Springfield Dam and off-road for the forests around the dam.
- Level 7 - Factory Splitter - A simple loop track that is located in and through the factories of the Waterfront, however, while racing the factories will change which are open and which are closed.
- Level 8 - Old Simpson Farm - Double Figure 8 track taking place around the Old Simpsons Farm, half of the track is large and making maneuverability more easy.
- Level 9 - Power Plant - Semi-recreation of Track 4 from the original game, the track is again a B-Shaped Track although now takes place entirely in the Nuclear Power Plant with the Parking Lot serving as the Start/Finish Line.
- Level 10 - Shopping Spree - A twisting racetrack that has multiple routes, the player can choose whether they want to drive through the Springfield mall or around the parking lot, the track contains several sections where the road splits as well.
- Level 11 - SPRINGFIELD - Racetrack that takes place around the Springfield sign, track is fairly straightforward although due to the tight bends with narrow roads around the mountain, it can be easy to fall off.
- Level 12 - Burns Casino - Multi-level racetrack within the Burns Casino (pre-destruction), is one of the most compact overall.
- Level 13 - Squidport - Semi-recreation of Track 3 from the original game, the track is now a figure eight using a large boat as the crossing point of the track.
- Level 14 - Springfield Zoo - Twisting Figure 8 Track through the Springfield Zoo, one of the ends of figure 8 is the Observatory.
- Level 15 - Home Run - Double Loop Racetrack where the smaller track is contained within the Stadium while the larger one is the parking lot around it, the track is themed around the Duff Stadium.
- Level 16 - Gorge Crossing - Clover-Leaf shaped track that takes place around the Springfield Gorge, each pair of jumps is made at different heights.
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Trivia[]
- The Vehicles found in Level 15 and 16 are all Halloween Themed, the vehicles found in both levels originate from the original Simpsons Hit & Run while Level 15's Exclusive Vehicles reference early Treehouse of Horrors and Level 16's Exclusive Vehicles reference later Treehouse of Horrors