For many avid gamers, the idea of rampaging around an open world stealing cars and mercilessly assaulting NPCs will likely conjure up memories of playing your first GTA or Saints Row.
However, for those whose parents refused to allow their brains to experience that kind of violent gameplay without a cartoony veneer to make it a bit more palatable, another title might spring to mind.
This kind of sentiment is what’s allowed The Simpsons: Hit and Run to achieve the status of cherished classic and now some fans are signing a petition demanding that it gets a sequel.
Are you desperate to return to the mean streets of Springfield?
The petition on Change.org is the work of freelance writer Hassaan Mohammad, who is aiming to land 35k signatures in order to convince Activision to finally give the 2003 game a sibling worthy of its legendary status.
He certainly makes a compelling case in the petition’s description. With Hit and Run achieving massive success by selling three million copies in the four years following its release and dissatisfaction with 2007’s The Simpsons Game, fans are desperate for a sequel, or, at the very least, a remaster.
Mohammad even has some ideas of how the next reentry could improve on Hit and Run’s popular established formula, citing a desire for “more playable characters”, “different forms of attacks” and “more accessible rooms in houses”.
Also on the wishlist are some ideas that wouldn’t have flown in 2003 due to technical limitations, but are definitely achievable with modern consoles and PCs.
For example, how would you like to explore a more detailed Springfield accessible as one big open world with improved graphics, rather than one divided into manageable sections, as it was in the original?
Well, the close to 27k people who’ve signed the petition since it went live seven months ago certainly would.
So, don your comically huge Homer’s head slippers, sign away and make sure to follow us for coverage of more retro games like Minecraft on the PS1.