We've waited 15 years for a proper Simpsons game and now, finally, thanks to Vivendi it's here. The Simpsons Hit & Run is more than a game - it's a window into that kooky old town called Springfield.

In some respects, comedy games are one of the hardest things to do - it's much easier to blow us away with awesome graphics and breakneck gameplay than to actually make us laugh - not chortle or chuckle, but really laugh out loud. However, not only is The Simpsons Hit & Run the funniest game ever made, it's also to such a high standard that it's like being in a grand Simpsons story, a Simpsons movie if you will. Wherever you look there are endless references to well over a hundred Simpsons episodes from the very first season through to more recent episodes. Because of this it's hard to know exactly where to begin, so I'll start with the story.

Something strange is afoot in Springfield (although it would be strange if something wasn't afoot in Springfield) and it's heralded by the arrival of a swarm of robotic wasp cameras that appear all over town. Although things start off straightforward enough, with Homer needing to complete various tasks, there's actually quite an original and enjoyable story here with black surveillance vans, alien abduction and a nefarious plot to enslave the townsfolk. I won't give too much more away, but suffice to say that it isn't long before these sinister events are linked to Springfield's number one schemer, namely Charles Montgomery Burns.

It isn't until you've played the game for a while and seen just how massive the maps are that you realise the scale of things - the playing area really is huge (probably bigger than all the Road Rage maps put together) and every single part of it is bursting with landmarks from episodes, including Jebediah Springfield's statue, city hall, a massive recreation of the Nuclear Power Plant, Kamp Krusty, the tyre fire, Herman's Antique Shop, the Android Dungeon, Moe's Tavern, Kwik-E-Mart, Krusty Burger and many, many more. Every new turn brings with it billboards and buildings packed full with inside jokes and recreations of pretty much every place in Springfield you can think of. Whilst running around it is actually possible to get up on top of the giant donut boy statue (you know, the one from the Halloween episode where it comes to life and runs amok after Homer steals its donut) and from there the view is amazing - you can see houses and streets stretching off into the distance in every direction and it's at this point that you truly realise just how much it feels like you've got an all access pass to explore every inch of Springfield at your leisure.

The graphics for the scenery are top notch; whilst they're fairly simple in their design and textures they are perfectly in-keeping with the look of the cartoon and there is so much detail on the amount of signs, lampposts, trees and a host of other objects lying around that it all looks spot on. The numerous vehicles all look great too, with again a host of them to earn, including (to name just a few) the family sedan, Bart's box cart the Honor Roller, the Electaurus, the Canyonero, Apu's sports car, Comic Book Guy's beaten up old car complete with its many bumper stickers, a Duff beer truck, Mr. Plow, Krusty's clown car and loads more. Each one looks just like it does from the show.

I'd love to say that all this graphical excellence carries over to the characters too, but sadly it doesn't. The rather bizarre looking 3D graphics that were first pioneered in the Halloween episode where Homer and Bart end up in a parallel three dimensional universe and whilst the characters are instantly recognisable (even when they bounce off your car as you speed past) they look a bit weird. The animation of the main characters' movements is pretty good and that of the general townsfolk (a bunch of random looking Simpsons style people have been created and are walking around everywhere to create the feeling of a real, fully populated town) and the sub characters that you interact with less detailed but still entertaining. However, there has been absolutely no attempt to lip sync the characters' voices, which is just the pits. I'd say that the incredible range of facial expressions in the cartoons is at least half of the humour for the best line delivery and here we have a bunch of chunky, expressionless representations flapping their mouths aimlessly like goldfish. There's even one part where Grampa Simpson is talking and falls asleep mid sentence but his eyes stay open and his mouth keeps moving. This is just such a disappointment and the graphics score has suffered because of it. Surely with all the excellent and effective use of cel-shading in games at the moment, this could have been used here so we could have proper animation and facial expressions. It isn't enough to spoil the game but it does mar the humour in places and you just have to see the characters' true expressions in your mind's eye as they deliver their lines.

Thankfully, the script, dialogue and voice acting is every bit as wonderful as it is in the cartoon with all of the actors providing the voiceovers. This means that the five playable characters, Homer, Bart, Lisa, Marge and Apu Nahasapeemapetilon (yes, that really is his last name) are as funny and brilliant as their TV counterparts and the proliferation of sub characters never fails to amuse, including Patti and Selma, Smithers, Krusty the Clown, Cletus the Slackjawed Yokel, Moe, Lenny, Karl, Barney, Dr. Hibbert, Dr. Nick, Hans Moleman, Ned Flanders, Chief Wiggum, Millhouse, Ralph, Nelson, Sea Captain, Comic Book Guy, Principal Skinner, Groundskeeper Willie and I doubt I've even listed half of them here. I also take my hat off to the music people, who have done a superb job of creating a range of excellent and very catchy tunes, including several variations on the Simpsons theme tune. Each character has their own style of music too, so Lisa gets some saxaphone jazz amongst other more laid back numbers and Marge gets a great instrumental of It's Not Unusual (tying subtly in with the episode where Mr. Burns kidnaps Tom Jones to impress Marge) and things go perfectly Bollywood when Apu's at the wheel.

Moving on to the gameplay and I'm pleased to report that Hit & Run mixes it up well, making it accessible to kids whilst throwing in enough depth for experienced players and completists. Whilst Road Rage was a blatant rip-off of Crazy Taxi, Hit & Run is an equally blatant rip-off of Grand Theft Auto but it works so well that it doesn't matter! The game is huge and there is so much to see and do that it will take a very long time to see and do it all. Each level sees you playing as one of the five playable characters and you have a series of missions to complete that link together and move the story along. Most missions are vehicle based although some are on foot too, which I'll come to a bit later, but in both cases there is plenty of variety in the vehicles you can drive and the nature of the missions.

You start off as Homer, who sees an advert for Buzz cola on TV and has to race to the Kwik-E-Mart to get some. So he hops in the familiar pink family sedan and off you go. A handy map and radar shows you the direction you need to go and if you look at the map you'll be able to see obvious places where short cuts might be. There are many to be discovered and most of them are marked by a big glass advert for Buzz cola, which you drive through with a very satisfying smash. You can also knock over almost any objects, including trees, signs, barrels, pedestrians… yes, you can run over pedestrians and as with Road Rage they bounce and roll along the ground in front of you or go flying into the air out of the way. It's really satisfying to run over characters you don't like and the general townsfolk have some great lines ("I'm scared and disoriented!", "This is the worst town in America!" and even "This is a sad day for generic characters everywhere!") Running into objects gives you money that can be exchanged for goods and services (twenty dollars can buy many peanuts - WOO HOO!) but there is a catch - you have a meter that fills up as you hit stuff and if you drive too recklessly the police will come and hunt you down. Once they're chasing you they're quite hard to lose and more often than not you'll end up busted (costing you a significant 50 coins) so this encourages you to drive with at least some care and attention. Still, barraging through traffic in a big vehicle like the Plow King (Barney's snow plough) and watching cars and vans go flying in your wake is great fun.

After Homer gets his Buzz cola at the Kwik-E-Mart he returns home and finds that Marge needs him to get Lisa's science project to the school before Principal Skinner arrives, so this time you must race Skinner to the school and get there first to win, after which you get out of your car and go into the building. This is one of the best parts about this game; you can go into various buildings and explore inside. Your movement around is sadly quite limited but it's better than not being able to go in at all. Inside the school you'll see Groundskeeper Willie cleaning or Millhouse hanging around and you find Lisa and give her the science project (minus the piece that Homer ate on the way over!!) You can repeatedly buzz Principal Skinner's office if you want to annoy him and a he gives a witty response each time you do so.

There is also a floating shirt in the school, from which you can buy new outfits and each character has a number to choose from. Homer can be in his underwear or dressed as a Stonecutter, Bart can be a Ninja or in his mobster suit, Lisa can wear her cool outfit from the episode they go on vacation to Flanders' beach house or her pathetic Florida costume that Homer throws together whilst Marge is having a gambling problem and Marge's costumes include her prison outfit and her police uniform (she's been on both sides of the law!) This is a great touch and a big incentive to collect those coins. You can wear your chosen outfit as long as you wish and some missions require you to buy and wear certain outfits.

Anyway, once Homer's been to school he must stop Smithers getting to the Power Plant and discovering his scorpion farm (!) and to do this you must ram Smithers' car repeatedly until it explodes. Other mission types include ramming a vehicle repeatedly to collect items that fall from it, racing to collect a series of items against the clock, tailing someone and collecting items that they drop and more, so there is plenty of variety to keep you interested. There are tough races against the clock to be completed in each level too. If you decide you want a break from the main missions (or get stuck on one because you need a faster vehicle) there is much to see and do around Springfield. Apart from just cruising around and seeing the sights, there are a number of playing cards to collect, wasp cameras to find and destroy, vehicles and outfits to buy and even gags to see. Yep, you read right, there are a number of gags lying around the town to be found, such as a dumpster that Barney's drunken voice floats from, swings that collapse and a barbecue that explodes in Homer's back garden, the catapult that was used to punish Homer for breaking the alcohol ban in the town square and loads more. There is a full breakdown of how much you've completed each level and although the story develops across all the levels you can return to do some more on them whenever you like. The Scrapbook allows you to view everything you've collected so far, including the playing cards, each of which has a picture on it and details of the episode it came from.

There is plenty of action to be had on foot, as most of the playing cards and all the places with the most coins and wasps in them are generally on top of buildings or in places that are at least a little challenging to reach. You'll need to get most of these by walking ("Walking?" cries Homer, "that wasn't part of the deal!), running and double jumping your way to them and there are steam vents scattered around that launch you into the air and onto rooftops where loads of goodies await. You can even kick pedestrians over and this is so much fun that you'll do it over and over again (kicking Nelson Muntz all the way across the playground is just so much fun!)

Although there is loads to see and do in this game, it is somewhat repetitive in its nature and there's only a few missions and races that will challenge the accomplished gamer. Despite this it will take ages to complete because there is so much packed in here but I don't think this game will last very long for people who aren't fans of The Simpsons (if such people exist!) If this game came out without the Simpsons license it wouldn't keep your interest, as the gameplay is pretty basic in some respects, but because it's an immersing Simpsons adventure half of the fun is laughing your way through all the gags and great lines that come so thick and fast. There is a multiplayer mode, but don't get too excited, it's more of a retro bonus game where up to four people can race tiny cars on a static race track viewed from high above, similar to old racing titles from days gone by. However, with the heavy inertia on the cars it is at the very least an entertaining window into the past, although split screen racing would have been great and online play even better - maybe next time, please Vivendi!

The Simpsons Hit & Run is an absolute triumph and a must have for Simpsons fans. The brilliant and painstakingly detailed recreation of Springfield is so much fun to explore and brimming with gags whilst the graphics are smooth, bright and colourful. It's written and voiced by everyone from the show and so it's as funny and entertaining as any Simpsons episode and although the gameplay is a touch shallow, the story and humour should keep you playing with a grin on your face until the end.

Reviewed by Geoff Holland for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).