

Combining The Simpsons with MarioCart 127
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.
simpsons + anything = success (Score:1)
legitately anyhow.
--donabal
Re:simpsons + anything = success (Score:1)
Re:simpsons + anything = success (Score:1)
Those Ned Flanders prophylactics never really took off.
The comparison you're looking for... (Score:3, Informative)
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 [gamespot.com].
Exactly. (Score:2, Funny)
Exactly...
DOH!
Mario Kart? (Score:1)
Re:Mario Kart? (Score:1)
Super NES was cheap too (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 [everything2.com] (note: some are valid balance bugs, while others are personal preference).
Re:Mario Kart? (Score:1)
Re:Mario Kart? (Score:1)
I'll agree, the original SNES version was out there in terms of gameplay and fun. I was a little to the N64 scene, myself, but I just didn't find MarioKart 64 all that great. As far as knockoffs go, though, Crash Team Racing [gamespot.com] for PSX was pretty damned good.
More cartoons! (Score:1)
And the heavens sing... (Score:3, Interesting)
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 [amazon.com]. 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.
Re:25% off where? (Score:1)
I like to think that I think for myself. Boycotting a company over a patent is, um, ridiculous?
Re:And the heavens sing... (Score:1)
Kind of like when Homer argues with his brian ("Shut-up, Brain, or I'll stab you with a Q-tip."), demonstrates the cartesian mind-body split.
My parents will forever consider the Simpsons evil, but the Ph.D.s I studied under (French Lit), thought that they were some of the best social commentary of our day.
History teachers, too (Score:1)
D'oh! Lousey post...
as long as its not all cliche episodes (Score:1)
course your always gonna get someone who says "nintendo, in simpsons kart, doctor marvin monroe runs over poochie, yet dr monroe died before poochie was invented. heh, are we to beleive this is a time traveling game? i hope someone got fired for that one"
Virtual Springfield (Score:1)
There was a game at one point called Virtual Springfield which graphically was pretty "Simpsonesque". Not sure what the objectives were but it was laid out quite well and you could explore Springfield.
Channel Ocho (Score:1)
Re:Sunday Driving Mode (Score:1)
Have you played Carmageddon?
Tim
PS. LAN games of "Fox and Hounds" were the best - a classic.
Re:Sunday Driving Mode (Score:1)
3 More: Is total shite.
Re:Sunday Driving Mode (Score:1)
Old news - screenshots and stuff (Score:4, Informative)
Not just old news, but positively antique. Here's a link to a C&VG article [computeran...ogames.com] complete with screenshots of the PS2/XBox versions, which were announced long before the GC one. Also an IGN preview [ign.com] of the PS2 version.
Sunday driving mode is cool.. but what about... (Score:4, Funny)
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...
Re:Sunday driving mode is cool.. but what about... (Score:2, Troll)
I don't think impaired driving is funny, particulary because of the terrible loss of life that can result.
Re:Sunday driving mode is cool.. but what about... (Score:1)
Thanks.
Re:Sunday driving mode is cool.. but what about... (Score:2)
I would be surprised if people wernt a bit more upset at things lately..
Re:Sunday driving mode is cool.. but what about... (Score:1)
Midtown Madness and Midtown Madness 2 for the PC have "Sunday driving" modes (I forget what it's called -- "Cruising Mode" or something like that) where you can just drive around and explore, with no pressure. They are both very fun games; in the first one, you drive around Chicago. In the second one, they have San Francisco and London. Although this being Slashdot, I feel obligated to mention that they were released by Microsoft.
As for drunk driving, early last year I bought a "Driver's Education" program for my girlfriend, who was just learning to drive. It was OK. (I have a steering wheel for my PC, which helps.) Anyway, it does have a "drunk driving" mode, where the response of the on-screen car lags behind what you do. Even when you try to compensate for it, it's still hard.
IT's MARIO KART (Score:1)
You disgrace the name of our Lord and savior Mario Kart by slandering its name in such a haphazard fashion.
Re:IT's MARIO KART (Score:1)
Re:IT's MARIO KART (Score:1)
More cars! (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
Re:More cars! (Score:2)
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."
Re:More cars! (Score:1)
I'm not so sure about the Geo.. it seems the last we saw of it was in episde CABF06 [lardlad.com] when Homer drove it into the salt silo. The salt and snow pretty much destroyed the car when the car spontaneously rusted.
You did it, Nibbles! Now... chew through my ball sack! [smoovenet.com]
-Nerftoe
Re:More cars! (Score:2)
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.
Re:More cars! (Score:1)
Re:More cars! (Score:1)
Re:More cars! (Score:1)
The Duffmobile.
Re:More cars! (Score:1)
and otto should have the Poolmobile.
Re:More cars! (Score:1)
Re:More cars! (Score:1)
Ned and Homer both had RVs.
Kang and Kodos have a very nice spaceship, for the sequel game. This would go nicely with Frink's flying motorcycle, the human powered fake spaceship flown by the Leader of the Movementarians, Krusty's Krashed plane and Homer's space shuttle sabotaging Mir.
Apu's car was definitely a firebird, with the big decal on the hood ("Squirt the boy").
How about the funky "walking sphere" that Luanne van Houtan and her stuntman boyfriend tool around town in?
The very tall guy with the very small car who marched Nelson down the street.
There are lots more, but they probably get a little silly.
Re:More cars! (Score:1)
Ah, but if you remember the tomacco episode then you know that Homer's car was really made in Guatemala...
Don't forget Hans Moleman! (Score:1)
Re:More cars! (Score:2)
Whoa, what a bummer, dude.
Can we drive a truck? (Score:1)
GameCube's actually looking up... (Score:1)
Re:GameCube's actually looking up... (Score:1)
1. The X-Box controller is bigger than any hands known to man kind(the Japan controller looks good, alas..).
2. Microsoft doctored up "screen shots" of some of their games, to make them look more appealing.
3. Microsoft=Bugs
4. Luigi's Mansion, just those two words, you would be leaving Nintendo when they are going to make a Luigi game!
If you decide to get an X-Box e-mail me and tell me how it works....you heathen
"Alas, Old Dreamcast, I knew Ye Well"
There are only seven rock songs. (Score:2, Interesting)
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"?
Re:There are only seven rock songs. (Score:1)
Re:There are only seven rock songs. (Score:1)
That blurb about "only 7 rock songs" is probably only quoted because it's memorable, not because it's particularly accurate, insightful, or interesting.
Re:There are only seven rock songs. (Score:1)
Wolf3d wasn't the original either (Score:2)
Doom, blah, have you EVER heard of wolfenstein?
Wolfenstein 3D was a clone of Midi-Maze aka Faceball 2000 [everything2.com].
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 [everything2.com]?)
Re:There are only seven rock songs. (Score:1)
the games he's listing are examples of the ones that BROKE INTO THE MAINSTREAM, not the original genre-starter.
what's funny is that i started writing this post as soon as i'd read the original, because i knew there'd be a whole fucking platoon of nimrods wanting to prop up their shrinking-violet personalities by saying, "well, actually.... GameXYZ came out years before any of the games you mention and is the first TRUE XYZ game."
pls die tks
Warcraft 2 wasn't original (Score:2)
Re:There are only seven rock songs. (Score:1)
I think you missed a couple... (Score:1)
7. Colossal Cave (aka Adventure aka Classic Adventure) - Text based adventure, lead to MUDs.
8. Might & Magic - Secret of the Inner Sanctum (1st person dungeon RPG with only 90 degree turns)
9. Space Invaders (deserves a special mention cause of the number of "Shoot at the sky from your rocket ship" games it spawned - either with or without top-scrolling)
Nothing compares to... (Score:1)
Mario Kart? (Score:2)
Am I the only one that thinks that... (Score:2, Interesting)
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.
Sunday drive (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.
Re:Sunday drive (Score:1)
NOT Mario Kart (Score:2)
Does anyone know if there are any plans to produce a REAL Mario Kart for the Game Cube?
Re:NOT Mario Kart (Score:1)
Crossbreed ... (Score:2)
Resident Evil with Sesame Street
lame (Score:2)
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.
Re:lame (Score:2)
SlashKart (Score:1)
DDR? (Score:2)
-Brian
Re:DDR? (Score:1)
1. There have been no announcements as to DDR's coming to Gamecube or Xbox (or PS2, AFAIK). If it does come out for either of those, if it even does come over, it'll take a while.
2. DDR is already in the USA market, for the playstation. There's the USA mix, and a disney version coming out sometime soon.
Re:DDR? (Score:2)
Crazy Taxi (Score:2)
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.
kart (Score:1)
Looks pretty lame if you ask me. (Score:1)
for any video game. i just like to laugh at the TV.
test (Score:1)