Hit & Run begins with a mysterious swarm of robotic wasps. The wasps - armed with cameras and blasters - seem to congregate around crates of an also-mysterious new drink called Buzz Cola. (Buzz? Wasps? Hmmm.)

I wish I could tell you more of the plot, but that's about it. Ostensibly, the overarching plot is to discover the secret behind the wasps. Really, each level is only sort of related to it, and in fact most of the missions in each level are at most tangentially related to that level's storyline. It's like an amazing, ADD-flavored episode of the show.

The big pitch here is that, as with the recent GTA games, the characters in Hit & Run can leave their cars and wander around Springfield. This allows for some nice 3D rendering of both the town and its residents.

Missions are hard to describe, because they're so varied. You'll race opponents, of course, and the clock - at its heart, Hit & Run is more a behind-the-wheel game than otherwise. That's a shame, with a town so storied as Springfield. It would've been nice to be able to explore it more fully. Instead, only a handful of locations per level are accessible. I'm getting ahead of myself, though.

The game is split into several levels, each giving the player control of a character from the show. These levels are split into several missions. The missions are totally linear: You've got to win each (or lose enough to get a pity option to skip ahead) to get to the next and so eventually move to the next level. Each level has one bonus-car mission; win it and get a new car, of course. You can also win a new car by completing three races each level. The ever-hapless Gil roams the levels selling cars as well. Did I forget to mention the mysterious coins? I did. Alongside the mysterious soda and wasps are gold coins that can be used to buy new cars and outfits. Coins are earned by destroying the landscape, as well as boxes of soda and wasps.

Don't do too much destroying, though. A running meter tracks the mayhem you cause; once it hits red, the cops come running. Get busted, and you'll lose 50 coins.

Geez, I almost forgot the collectors' cards and gags. Hidden in each level is a series of cards with notable scenes from the show. Collect ‘em all for every level, and you get a new Itchy and Scratchy cartoon. Gags are basically funny interactive sequences highlighted by a blue glow.

Chock full of gameplay, no? Yes. Unfortunately, some of it seems thrown in just for the sake of being there. The bonus cars, for example, are rarely better than the cars you're given for each level, or the generic civilian cars driving around. (Yes, as in GTA, you can jack cars. Well, hitch a ride.) Most have no value other than being able to say "Now I'm driving Moe's sedan!" The outfits have similar novelty and little else. It's cool to run around as Ninja Bart or Cool Lisa, but doesn't get past cosmetic.

The graphics are amazing; think of the Treehouse sequence with 3D Homer. Radical expanded their cityscapes from Road Rage. And, in fact, rearranged many of them. Don't think your Road Rage skills are gonna help navigate around here. Sound is good, with the sort of fun music we've come to love from Simpsons titles. The cast of the show is back doing voiceovers. Road Rage vets will recognize some of the dialogue, but most of it is new.

That's good, because I expect Hit & Run will sell primarily to fans of the show. They'll get a kick out of wandering the town and walking around inside some of its most beloved locations. Non-fans should probably just wait for the next GTA title.