When I was in elementary school I bought a cheatcode book that included some cheats for the Simpson's Hit and Run. This cheat was written in the book but I've never found any information that confirmed or denied its validity: "When in Homer's level, drive through Mr. Burn's factory. At the end, take a right and a quick left to get in front of a blue house. In the backyard, you will see a space shuttle that you will be able to use and fly over the city. There will be an alien in the UFO that you can talk to. It tells you how to use the shuttle."
blue house? closest thing i can think of is the rocket car in front of a yellow house? kind of looks like a shuttle too this is assuming its talking about the first level though
they're anti plagiarism measures. a lot of publishers at the time would just steal from other sources, so adding fake cheats as a watermark of sorts was a very common practice. the fake chocolate world from SMB1 comes to mind or 'Yeah Yeah Beebis 1' come to mind.
One of my favorite things to do in this game is to turn the volume way down while playing at around 2 AM in the third area, get out of a car, and just stare at the setting sun with no music in the background and only hearing the quiet hum of my PS2 and the occasional clicking of the CD. It's not something a modern game can capture -- this feeling of being in between reality and a game. The graphics are just good enough to make everything feel sort of real, but still old and dated enough to feel like a cartoony game. The low hum of the console at night reminds me of so many other PS1 and PS2 experiences as a kid, and the sun is reminiscent of those magical Spyro skyboxes. I could live forever in those moments.
Another thing I find very special about the Downtown area is that you start there as Bart, who is simultaneously the most out-of-pace and most fitting character for that setting. At first glance, it looks as if you're out of your depths, literally a child lost inside an adult's world, the imposing skyscrapers and structures almost hammering that point home, but once you start exploring more, it becomes an overractive 10-year old's paradise. This is where you find the comic book store, the Itchy and Scratchy parade balloons, the construction buildings offer plenty of opportunity for mischief, and the highway area is essentially a private race-track, which would play exactly to someone like Bart's tastes.
Really glad you're still uploading. Your channel is like a comfort thing to me. Your thoughts are so well articulated - it's very relaxing to chuck on your videos when I want to wind down after a long day. Thanks so much, dude.
May I just say I really appreciate how thorough and thoughtful you are when covering games, especially considering your not talking about them in the easy way by analyzing what was intended, but instead picking up on abstract things that was never considered by the people who made them. It’s such a unique insight. I remember playing Minecraft alone as a kid and feeling so much dread I couldn’t play it unless I knew someone was home with me. I started realizing I would have these moments in multiple games where I felt this looming unease and they weren’t ones that people talked about like half life 2 or whatever. They were games that didn’t have any horror elements but they still managed to cause me discomfort. I think your videos do a great job diving into everything that causes things to feel wrong in games. Your GTA3 video was one I especially appreciated. It’s always a treat when you upload!
I remember in Apu's level, there were those voting trucks that shout "Vote Quimby!". As a kid I never really put two and two together (And couldn't hear them well enough), and assumed specifically that level had distant megaphones saying something like "Hoolaheen" randomly. It made the whole level feel weirdly ethereal, like there was this weird secret just out of reach. I remember trying to trigger it on purpose for a long time. It was only when I watched Jerma play that I realized it was an NPC vehicle honking the horn.
I used to play the French version and it was the only "vocal" line to not be translated, and I understood it as "Roule plus vite" or, in English "Drive faster" Always leaving me with a weird feeling how an npc would repeat the same phrase for no reason
Ah, my first GTA game. Put hundreds of hours into this as a child in the early '00s, all the driving music stuck permanently in my head, Springfield looking like Whoville with its' weird buildings, and Homer and Bart ripped straight from that Halloween episode in Season 6; I was totally obsessed with SHaR. Brilliant adventuring around the open world and analysis from yourself, as always. Thank you Joyless!
I really dig these new types of videos you've been doing the past few years, where instead of talking about the game as a whole, you zero in on some specific aspect of it or its world and explore that. Luxuriating in all the little details that are only ever meant to be driven or ran past at full speed, making the most of every little corner of the map and seeing what there is to find, and how what shortcuts they had to take or limitations they ran up against help contribute to an overall vibe the game has, intentional or not. It's really chill : )
This is one of the games that i feel was able to capture that "this really could be a place in the real world" feel. That because it gives us just enough to fill in the rest with our minds. Something that even some photo-realistic games fail to do.
I really want to like this video, I love the game and the concept for the video and I honestly think there is something there to talk about. I can also tell that this is really something that you care about which in a world of irony, its nice to see a bit of whole hearted sincerity! However, you really need to get someone else to read through your scripts and help you cut out a lot of the fluff dialogue, or when you are repeating yourself, or exaggerating something as being "infinitely" more important when it comes to this game (when in reality its not even slightly). You need to be more concise in a video essay, whereas at the moment it feels like you are literally saying everything that comes to mind. To be clear I am only criticising because I see potential for something really good here, and I honestly think that a second person reviewing your script and cutting out a good chunk of it would make for an excellent essay.
exploring 2D environments re-imagined in 3D gave me a such a bizarre feeling growing up, this phenomena is truly an obsession, shit used to make me feel like I was floating. if anyone is interested in playing this game again I highly recc trying out the mpalko vhs shader to blend the aliasing and get that vintage color banding.
The editing and visuals are always so on point in Joyless vids. Sucks that these vids don't tend to get the reach they deserve but here's a comment for what it's worth
Upbeat AsukkaTV-style video but about the simpsons hit and run instead of depressed anime games, while being just as surreal? This is gold. It's 20:34 and I am subbed
I really like your videos. The mortal kombat one was my fav and it has me excited from this one. Don’t stop making these types of videos. The liminal feeling in video games is such a niche topic and you cover it so well. Sorry i’m tired and high. but i like your vids a lot❤❤
HOLY SHIT I also found that living chessboard area in level 1 when I was a kid! I had completely forgotten about that! I know that I had to have found it early because I never beat Lisa's level when I was a kid and haven't really gone back to it since. Forgot all about it until you featured it
As someone who played the game a lot and watched the show when I was little, all the levels in this game feel like a series of liminal spaces when all the NPCs and vehicles are removed.
Beyond the Simpsons connection, for me something that makes the world of this game feel strange is that it is all laid out to form a single looping route, but also dotted with places that look and are structured like normal cities and countrysides. It's like it falls into this uncanny valley between a blatantly artificial racetrack with setpieces like driving through the reactor and also trying to be a real world where people live and work and travel through the streets.
16:00 if you're autistic I like you even more ❤ One of my best friends is autistic and hes one of the greatest people I've ever met Not free of flaws but also very caring of others and stuff Idk if I am myself but I appreciate you regardless of it. These detailed analysis into things (that people generally don't stop to pay attention) are like a homage to every little decision made by the devs and it's really nice to see!
Level 3, in particular, is one of my favourite video game worlds in terms of atmosphere. It's gorgeous and nostalgic and dreamlike all at the same time, and as such, I regard it as one of the best unintentional liminal spaces in gaming. I love it so much that I never want it to end, let alone as quickly as it does, and so I often try to complete as many of the optional objectives as I can before moving on.
this. this is the video that perfectly captures the feelings i've always had about this game. ever since i was a kid i would always, after beating the game, or midways through my multiple gameplays, get out of my vehicle and just walk around the different levels of the game. i'm not joking when i say the scenery of this game is absolutely beautiful and just makes me feel these types of feelings that i cannot for the life of me describe. it's like feeling i'm truly there. and it's not a bad feeling. if i had the power to teleport to any real or fictional area, simpsons hit and run would definitely be one of them. every time i finish a level, homer 1 for example, the sudden switch-up of vibes of the second level just feels overwhelming in a good way, like you're exploring an entirely new zone. i've always felt like this, since i was a kid, and even now that i've just replayed the game a few weeks ago. the devs made a really, REALLY superb work in this game. it'll always be a game i will think of replaying any day i remember it.
This video is fantastic, and it makes me want to speak about my OWN favorite game, Mad Max and how its atmosphere is beautiful, despite it being literally just sand, oil, dirt and suffering. I’ll have to get on writing that ASAP, thank you for the inspiration!
This man really got lucky with the timing, summoning salt releases Simpsons hit and run video, I get this on my front page only nine days after it came out
This was one of the first games I remember playing. I loved just driving around and explorting. Doing cool tricks and races. I think it influenced my artist pallet tastes as well.
I remember this game’s story beat per beat. And during this video, I was humming to all the background music, recognizing it immediately. This game means something special to all who played it, Simpsons fan or not.
This is an interesting topic i never really thought about before, just looking a bit beyond the given path for driving and walking around, and also, heard in an interview with a dev that level 7 was meant to also have the subarea where mr. Burns mansion is all spookified but they didn't make it timewise and cut the whole section out, and the level 3 area that repeats in level 6 was made last in a hurry to grt it done in time as opposed to the other levels, so that's probably why it feels differently to you that the other maps
I remember renting this game 20 years ago and thinking "I've been here before" as if the game was some asset flip from an obscure Dreamcast game. 20 years later my instinct still tells me this.
After a decade of browsing YT I believe your videos are my favorite content on this website, and I am always happy to see another upload. I really do hope you keep making these kinds of videos for a long time.
I’ve always personally enjoyed walking through games just to take them in. Be it a call of duty multiplayer map, the long winding sands and abandoned structures of mad max (I refuse to stop talking about that game) I love to hunt for the little details, the things that you wouldn’t find as you’re being gunned down by that same bastard who’s been camping in the same spot the entire game, or the sound that you’d never hear through the endless gunfire. My favorite maps to explore are the call of duty zombies maps, because there’s always this implied sense of danger, no matter what the round. I spent an ungodly about of time playing black ops Cold War, and in doing so, I combed through every bit of playable space of the four zombies maps, as well as the outbreak maps and god, there’s some fantastic level of detail hidden behind all of the implied crunch.
re: the clouds You maybe could have a flat sky that isn't an object in the world itself but is "fixed" to the camera and offset the UV cloud texture in one direction. That's kinda how some older games do it, so the clouds can still be seen moving from A to B but they can be seen travelling in a specific direction rather than in a circle where players might notice.
12:00 Fun fact, one of the Elder Scrolls games (I think it was Oblivion) had tried to fix this issue and give the world more realism by using an adaptive AI, where all characters in game would have humanlike behaviours. For example, all NPCs had to sleep and eat. If the NPC had gold they would buy food, if they had no gold they would go into the forest and hunt food, or if they had low morality, they would steal food. They apparently had to tone this back because it caused chaos in the game world. Shopekeepers would horde all the food, random NPCs would just be dead as the guards caught them stealing bread and challanged them to a dual. If the player dropped a powerful weapon, NPCs would pick it up and use it intead. All the loot chests would be empty and Bears from the forest would wander into villsges looking for food and kill everybody There is a great video on this by Karl Smallwood if you want to check it out
I think you'd like the play Mr Burns if you can find a script or recording of it. It's set in a post-apocalypse (the idyllic suburbs parodied by the show are long gone), and a troupe of actors reenact old episodes from memory. The way the stories become distorted over time and between mediums reminds me of this
I think the fact that maps are separated and isolated like racetracks, they feel like prisons a bit. I remember trying to go from the harbor to downtown in a single drive, trying to push through the game borders by trying to get out of town
Radical Entertainment is easily one of the most underrated development studios ever. Definitely one of the best studios for licensed games. Even if it were just for this game and Scarface I'd still hold that opinion. But they also did Genesis Beavis and Butt-Head (one of my all-time favorites), Hulk Ultimate Destruction, and Jackie Chan on the PS1. They made a lot of crap too but when it was great it was great.
Even as a kid this world always struck me as.. sad? Like, I remember this one specific nondescript apartment building i think in the Marge level, with its little cosy orange lights against the night sky, I used to look at it and get sad. Stuff like that in real life implies life, like someone lives there and is home living right now but in a game it's just pixels and code or whatever, so your brain wants to transfer that feeling but can't because it knows what it's looking at is not real? Idk I guess somewhere in that process makes me sad. I think especially on the Lisa level, that level gave me nostalgia for my childhood when I was still a child, making Lisa's line in the game 'this reminds me of when I was a little girl..' when the character is only meant to be 8 kinda poignant. the twinkling sea with the sunset backdrop and golden hour lighting gives me like vaporwave vibes, Lisa even wears a vaporwave-esque outfit for one of the mission (the cool clothes), like I know it's reference to an episode of the show, but in the context of this bizarre, dreamlike world stuff like that takes on a whole new vibe for me. With other, later licensed cartoon games like the South Park games it kind of just feels like you're playing through an episode of the show so the jokes and references hit pretty much the same, but with older PS2 era 3D versions of familiar 2D world like this and the earlier Spongebob games take on an almost uncanny valley feeling of being an imitation of something you're familiar with, but due to the format and the graphical and technical limitations of the time, and also the fact that these fun cartoon world you are used to seeing in fast cut 11/22 minute periods and now suddenly you can just... sit in them, take them in, let them breathe around you as you would a real life space. idk. Looking at them through this new angle, you realise how lifeless they actually are, like the illusion is broken.
I haven't played this game properly since I was around 13, 13 years ago. It was no doubt one of the best games of all time, but yeah, it did always carry that really strange, uncanny feeling to it that was a little unnerving. You're dead right.
I like the premise of the video but it's beyond padded and I feel like it completely goes off track towards the end and turns into word salad. Basically its 70 minutes of you saying some variation of "It feels strange and surreal because they made a 3d world based on a tv show with 2d artwork", or kind of willingly overlooking the fact that its a 2003 video game and thus, bound by certain technical limitations. I'm not even really sure what your point is in the summary when it comes to enjoying a game being a choice, or how its at all relevant to the rest of the video let alone tying it all together.. Still watched it all cause I think talking about how games feel is an underexplored topic but you could probably save yourself a lot of work and make a better video by cutting it in half at least. An example of the word salad in parts at 50:09 : "The stage consisting in large part entirely of locations that were all at one point in time backdrops or some form of background scenery. It naturally leads to them retaining some of the feelings that the format they were designed for originally intended them to have." This reads like its been written by AI or a student trying to hit a word count and is just one example of many where there are either redundancies or repeated information within the same sentence which makes the video imo a lot rougher to get through than it needs to be. And you immedately afterwards clarify and put it into much better words. So why is it even there? That happens several times in the video. It probably seems like i'm being really critical but it's cause I do really like your passion and topic choice. I don't think it would take all that much to make the video way better if you worked on that kind of stuff. Just my 2 cents.
I appreciate the constructive advice and I absolutely 100% agree with you. The point is made in the first 10 minutes or so and the rest of the video is just examples of exactly the same ''point''. I can definitely see why the rest would be tedious to get through for most people. I say at 03:12 that I've set out to make the point then to ''painstakingly'' list out all of the examples that show it. I completely agree that it's not for everyone but if I had to cut even a minute out of this video it wouldn't feel whole to me anymore. The issue is that I love this topic so much that I could talk about it for a lot longer than 70 minutes (believe it or not). It's just not something that's easy to watch.
@@Joyless Thats fair and honestly the passion really does come through and I think thats great! (And i did sit and watch the whole thing so obviously there were parts I enjoyed too!) Appreciate your response and not taking it personally.
I should also note that I was a very small kid at the time and couldn’t see over the car window especially at night time when we were coming back from the mall or Pizza Hut and it just made everything seem strange and fascinating to my autistic brain 😊 which I applied to the scenery in hit and run like I imagined my own life as a hit and run style game 😄 now as a grumpy cynical adult I know what all the stuff is in the outside world but as a kid in a time where couch co op and taking turns with my friend visiting before online gaming was a thing just seemed so magical. even now dusting off my old ps2 and playing it as an adult I can apply some more mature thoughts to the world of hit and run like everything that goes on outside the world of Springfield and abroad the country it takes place in. and what could happen to the fictional world it’s set in. Sadly the real life American isn’t as walkable or has twisty turner sidewalks like hit and run or any other GTA clone set there ☹️ which would make it a lot more fun to visit the United States because me and my dad go hillwalking quite often around our local trail. nowadays I get the same kind of vibe with games like destroy all humans 2 reprobed, bully scholarship edition and red dead redemption 2. But I just can’t describe what that felling is….also if your looking for another game with the same kind of atmosphere I suggest Wallace and gromit the curse of the were rabbit on ps2. it’s an open world game like hit and run only set here in the UK 😃 just without vehicles though…..but you do get a space hopper 😂
You incorrectly mentioned that each level is set a few hours later than the previous, when it actually takes place over a week. The newspaper displayed during each level's loading screen are chronologically one day apart from each other, with the first at Oct 25th, and the last at Oct 31st (i.e. Halloween).
Yes I heartily agree with you 😊 being an autistic person myself me and my best friend from my neighbourhood both had wild imaginations as kids. and we would make up these gaming myths about hit and run at school and when he came to visit XD yeah they never turned out to be true but it kept the life of the game going at a time when the internet and social media was pretty cr@ppy. also the way level 1 was designed kinda reminded me slightly of my home village here in scotland and the town next to it. and the bigger town of Cumbernauld with shopping malls McDonald’s etc. the street I live on is built on a two way system much like the simpsons house on the first level and when you reach the front of the village there’s another two way road with both ways leading to two major towns and one of them has a McDonald’s right on the edge of it 😄plus there’s even a Burger King next to a grave yard not far from me 😂 go figure. my home village even has a convenient store ran by an Indian man but the co op supermarket in the main street of the town next to me more resembles the quickie mart. and there’s even a pet cemetery on this lords estate next to me which is a national park. The swing park here is built on a similar angle to our house as it is in level 1 to the simpsons house. you were right the game does have a kind of dreamy vibe like the imagination of a child.
Heya, Joy minus the joy. Finally watched your video after... Well, after a week-- yeesh! Felt I needed to say something after I promised I would in a prior, more punctual comment. I know that my schizo ramblings in the comment sections isn't necessary- matter of fact, I don't even think they're wanted (LOL)- but fuck it. This is my mental illness, this is my parasocial relationship, and I choose NOT to take the meds! I REJECT MY DIGNITY, ESTRANGED CONTENT CREATOR! With your talks mixed with the oddly isolating imagery, this game's scenery is reminding me of "The Truman Show". You've probably seen it: Jim Carrey, fake town, fake people, reality TV, the whole shebang. It mostly reminds me of the second bit, the fake town, because it really is. Every person there is out to witness whatever carnage you make the town of Springfield endure. They are SUPPOSED to have homes, but really don't, as all they do is stroll on some pavement and look at you like you owe them money. Considering what you do most of the game, maybe you do? It also reminds me of the building designs from stuff like Frutiger Aero desktop backgrounds because, well, of the unfitting 3D background from Downtown. Something about the lighting on them, and how they're surrounded by either waves of similar buildings or obscured by clouds. Nothing is ever empty, not even for more highway or farmland, it's just BUILDINGS or BUST. But only in a certain circle, thanks to the map limits, which is kind of funny to wonder how either inspired or lazy the city planners were when making Springfield. Besides that, I don't have much to discuss or add. You just keep nailing it, even on things I haven't thought about yet, and keep giving me a new perspective on things I only thought of in a mundane manner. Well, I guess everything can be viewed as off-kilter if you look hard enough, but it's like you said. Media transcends itself after the person consuming it can peek through the cracks. Also doesn't help that it's an Ouroboros recycling itself every 10 or so years, but I digress. Off-topic, but I noticed you kept saying "It might just be me" and "in my opinion", almost as if you need to justify what you're saying or feeling. (Then again, might just be over-analyzing things again, so tell me if I've overstepped here.) You're not alone, in either feeling, thinking or even wanting to be understood, and your fanbase (though limited and similarly critical) is proof of that. You'd need a real raconteur to describe where and what to look at. I, personally, think you fit the bill. I wasn't there when you were mostly reviewing games, but I've been here enough, and I've stuck around since you've started pursuing this potentially niche passion of yours. And not to get sappy, but the way you discuss stuff like this really shows off your ever-improving skills as a creator, and also proves you're doing more than just talking. One only hope you keep at this. Do more of the same, something new, or even something else; never nothing, as life is too busy to not be doing something... Better or worse... Take care, remember to forgive n' love yourself, and have a good day.
Thanks so much man, always means a lot to hear this from you and I absolutely take everything you say into account. I'm working on not being so insecure in how I see things :)
I'm here to appreciate how at the spookiest time of year with some pretty obvious contenders for best spooky, surreal game of the year out there Joyless turns around and goes "check out how uncanny The Simpsons Hit and Run is" and absolutely backs up their perspective with an hour long video rich with new and vivid perspective. If anything it's a real shame to think the golden age of games and virtual environments like this might be past us just because the technique and technology of designers has evolved to the point where the facade is never this obvious anymore. I'd be glad to be proven wrong, but still, procedurally generated infinite landscapes are now the filler over what might have been in the past some reluctant compromise of map design or ingenious artistic trick that presents a horizon more boundless feeling than one we could ever really explore.
It's good, but I feel like you could have conveyed the same information in 20 minutes or so if you cut out all the redundancy and qualifications in your writing. It might seem more correct or proper to you, but it's mostly fluff and filler in this context. And you've got to stop describing things as weird and dreamlike when your argument is THAT something is weird or dreamlike. It's jumping the gun. It's like a prosecutor describing the accused as "this very guilty-looking man," over and over again. Yes, that's what you want me to think, but you need to give me the evidence that points in that direction and let me come to a conclusion at least semi-naturally instead of trying to force it through repetition of your thesis.
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When I was in elementary school I bought a cheatcode book that included some cheats for the Simpson's Hit and Run. This cheat was written in the book but I've never found any information that confirmed or denied its validity:
"When in Homer's level, drive through Mr. Burn's factory. At the end, take a right and a quick left to get in front of a blue house. In the backyard, you will see a space shuttle that you will be able to use and fly over the city. There will be an alien in the UFO that you can talk to. It tells you how to use the shuttle."
blue house? closest thing i can think of is the rocket car in front of a yellow house? kind of looks like a shuttle too this is assuming its talking about the first level though
Oh man, that's so cool. Thanks for sharing :)
oh lol. i know what youre talking about. i used to see it posted on forums back in the day. never found it. because it isnt there.
inventing nonexistent cheats was a favourite hobby of gaming journos back in the 90s/00s.
they're anti plagiarism measures. a lot of publishers at the time would just steal from other sources, so adding fake cheats as a watermark of sorts was a very common practice. the fake chocolate world from SMB1 comes to mind or 'Yeah Yeah Beebis 1' come to mind.
One of my favorite things to do in this game is to turn the volume way down while playing at around 2 AM in the third area, get out of a car, and just stare at the setting sun with no music in the background and only hearing the quiet hum of my PS2 and the occasional clicking of the CD. It's not something a modern game can capture -- this feeling of being in between reality and a game. The graphics are just good enough to make everything feel sort of real, but still old and dated enough to feel like a cartoony game. The low hum of the console at night reminds me of so many other PS1 and PS2 experiences as a kid, and the sun is reminiscent of those magical Spyro skyboxes. I could live forever in those moments.
yuhhhh
Spyro is massive ups
Another thing I find very special about the Downtown area is that you start there as Bart, who is simultaneously the most out-of-pace and most fitting character for that setting. At first glance, it looks as if you're out of your depths, literally a child lost inside an adult's world, the imposing skyscrapers and structures almost hammering that point home, but once you start exploring more, it becomes an overractive 10-year old's paradise. This is where you find the comic book store, the Itchy and Scratchy parade balloons, the construction buildings offer plenty of opportunity for mischief, and the highway area is essentially a private race-track, which would play exactly to someone like Bart's tastes.
Sorry to correct but the comic book store is in Lisa's level. It still kinda counts since you later go back to that level as Bart anyway
@@snnnaaaaaakeeeee4470 You're right, I misremembered because Comic Book Guy has quests in Bart's level.
Really glad you're still uploading. Your channel is like a comfort thing to me. Your thoughts are so well articulated - it's very relaxing to chuck on your videos when I want to wind down after a long day. Thanks so much, dude.
Thank you so much!
May I just say I really appreciate how thorough and thoughtful you are when covering games, especially considering your not talking about them in the easy way by analyzing what was intended, but instead picking up on abstract things that was never considered by the people who made them. It’s such a unique insight. I remember playing Minecraft alone as a kid and feeling so much dread I couldn’t play it unless I knew someone was home with me. I started realizing I would have these moments in multiple games where I felt this looming unease and they weren’t ones that people talked about like half life 2 or whatever. They were games that didn’t have any horror elements but they still managed to cause me discomfort. I think your videos do a great job diving into everything that causes things to feel wrong in games. Your GTA3 video was one I especially appreciated. It’s always a treat when you upload!
Well said and agreed!
This means so much man, thank you :')
Word. I felt like I was watching AsukkaTV dissect DDLC but with a more upbeat tone and less harsh editing
You call yourself joyless but your channel notifications fill me with joy
I'm so glad this game included Bart Simpson's famous line "Eat my ass"
I still remember Jerma’s stream😭
Eet pant
I loved the game. This isn't a terrible video. But in my opinion it really screams "I'm trying to be creative"
I remember in Apu's level, there were those voting trucks that shout "Vote Quimby!". As a kid I never really put two and two together (And couldn't hear them well enough), and assumed specifically that level had distant megaphones saying something like "Hoolaheen" randomly. It made the whole level feel weirdly ethereal, like there was this weird secret just out of reach. I remember trying to trigger it on purpose for a long time. It was only when I watched Jerma play that I realized it was an NPC vehicle honking the horn.
I love how Jerma comes up whenever this game is talked about/played lol, like that stream is just part of the game's legend now
I used to play the French version and it was the only "vocal" line to not be translated, and I understood it as "Roule plus vite" or, in English "Drive faster"
Always leaving me with a weird feeling how an npc would repeat the same phrase for no reason
Ah, my first GTA game. Put hundreds of hours into this as a child in the early '00s, all the driving music stuck permanently in my head, Springfield looking like Whoville with its' weird buildings, and Homer and Bart ripped straight from that Halloween episode in Season 6; I was totally obsessed with SHaR. Brilliant adventuring around the open world and analysis from yourself, as always. Thank you Joyless!
I really dig these new types of videos you've been doing the past few years, where instead of talking about the game as a whole, you zero in on some specific aspect of it or its world and explore that. Luxuriating in all the little details that are only ever meant to be driven or ran past at full speed, making the most of every little corner of the map and seeing what there is to find, and how what shortcuts they had to take or limitations they ran up against help contribute to an overall vibe the game has, intentional or not. It's really chill : )
This is one of the games that i feel was able to capture that "this really could be a place in the real world" feel. That because it gives us just enough to fill in the rest with our minds.
Something that even some photo-realistic games fail to do.
I really want to like this video, I love the game and the concept for the video and I honestly think there is something there to talk about. I can also tell that this is really something that you care about which in a world of irony, its nice to see a bit of whole hearted sincerity!
However, you really need to get someone else to read through your scripts and help you cut out a lot of the fluff dialogue, or when you are repeating yourself, or exaggerating something as being "infinitely" more important when it comes to this game (when in reality its not even slightly). You need to be more concise in a video essay, whereas at the moment it feels like you are literally saying everything that comes to mind.
To be clear I am only criticising because I see potential for something really good here, and I honestly think that a second person reviewing your script and cutting out a good chunk of it would make for an excellent essay.
exploring 2D environments re-imagined in 3D gave me a such a bizarre feeling growing up, this phenomena is truly an obsession, shit used to make me feel like I was floating. if anyone is interested in playing this game again I highly recc trying out the mpalko vhs shader to blend the aliasing and get that vintage color banding.
I don't know what specific brand of autism I have which makes videos like this so engaging for me, but I'm glad I have it.
You truly cover a RUclips niche I never thought I needed in my life.
I am very experienced in this niche (and it's neighbors) and I was missing a new exponent, and this is a great one
Your videos are so well thought out and peaceful. They're awesome
Wow, got back from work about half an hour ago. Watching the latest Joyless video. What a great way to start my 3 day holiday off!
God, I love when you post a new video. Highlight of my day! Keep it up, Joyless!
I just gotta comment and say wow, ur channel is from 2008, 3 years after RUclips was created…damn ur an OG og, I thought I was an OG lol
The editing and visuals are always so on point in Joyless vids. Sucks that these vids don't tend to get the reach they deserve but here's a comment for what it's worth
the goat has blessed us with another banger
Upbeat AsukkaTV-style video but about the simpsons hit and run instead of depressed anime games, while being just as surreal? This is gold. It's 20:34 and I am subbed
Ironically enough it's always an absolute joy when joyless posts.
I really like your videos. The mortal kombat one was my fav and it has me excited from this one. Don’t stop making these types of videos. The liminal feeling in video games is such a niche topic and you cover it so well. Sorry i’m tired and high. but i like your vids a lot❤❤
HOLY SHIT I also found that living chessboard area in level 1 when I was a kid! I had completely forgotten about that! I know that I had to have found it early because I never beat Lisa's level when I was a kid and haven't really gone back to it since. Forgot all about it until you featured it
As someone who played the game a lot and watched the show when I was little, all the levels in this game feel like a series of liminal spaces when all the NPCs and vehicles are removed.
Beyond the Simpsons connection, for me something that makes the world of this game feel strange is that it is all laid out to form a single looping route, but also dotted with places that look and are structured like normal cities and countrysides. It's like it falls into this uncanny valley between a blatantly artificial racetrack with setpieces like driving through the reactor and also trying to be a real world where people live and work and travel through the streets.
damn I been playing this every night lately 😭 much luv keep droppin vids and music brody
16:00 if you're autistic I like you even more ❤
One of my best friends is autistic and hes one of the greatest people I've ever met
Not free of flaws but also very caring of others and stuff
Idk if I am myself but I appreciate you regardless of it. These detailed analysis into things (that people generally don't stop to pay attention) are like a homage to every little decision made by the devs and it's really nice to see!
Just to be a massive nerd; the game takes place from October the 25th to the 31st, not all on one day 🤓
Damn T_T
@Joyless yeah. The news paper loading screen is there to tell you what date the level is set in
Another banger to add to the pantheon of videos that get me through working long shifts.
He’s back!!!
i am so jazzed to always see a Joyless video in my notifications
Level 3, in particular, is one of my favourite video game worlds in terms of atmosphere. It's gorgeous and nostalgic and dreamlike all at the same time, and as such, I regard it as one of the best unintentional liminal spaces in gaming. I love it so much that I never want it to end, let alone as quickly as it does, and so I often try to complete as many of the optional objectives as I can before moving on.
I love the entire video!
Also I think you might want to take a look at the original Mafia game, especially Freeride Extreme mode
Hell yeah man
This game just feels like one big liminal space and I love it😊
this. this is the video that perfectly captures the feelings i've always had about this game. ever since i was a kid i would always, after beating the game, or midways through my multiple gameplays, get out of my vehicle and just walk around the different levels of the game. i'm not joking when i say the scenery of this game is absolutely beautiful and just makes me feel these types of feelings that i cannot for the life of me describe. it's like feeling i'm truly there. and it's not a bad feeling. if i had the power to teleport to any real or fictional area, simpsons hit and run would definitely be one of them. every time i finish a level, homer 1 for example, the sudden switch-up of vibes of the second level just feels overwhelming in a good way, like you're exploring an entirely new zone. i've always felt like this, since i was a kid, and even now that i've just replayed the game a few weeks ago. the devs made a really, REALLY superb work in this game. it'll always be a game i will think of replaying any day i remember it.
This video is fantastic, and it makes me want to speak about my OWN favorite game, Mad Max and how its atmosphere is beautiful, despite it being literally just sand, oil, dirt and suffering. I’ll have to get on writing that ASAP, thank you for the inspiration!
Do it! That sounds awesome :)
This is a really, really good video, dude. Well done. Now imma binge your other stuff
This man really got lucky with the timing, summoning salt releases Simpsons hit and run video, I get this on my front page only nine days after it came out
This was one of the first games I remember playing. I loved just driving around and explorting. Doing cool tricks and races. I think it influenced my artist pallet tastes as well.
I remember this game’s story beat per beat. And during this video, I was humming to all the background music, recognizing it immediately. This game means something special to all who played it, Simpsons fan or not.
This is an interesting topic i never really thought about before, just looking a bit beyond the given path for driving and walking around, and also, heard in an interview with a dev that level 7 was meant to also have the subarea where mr. Burns mansion is all spookified but they didn't make it timewise and cut the whole section out, and the level 3 area that repeats in level 6 was made last in a hurry to grt it done in time as opposed to the other levels, so that's probably why it feels differently to you that the other maps
Now THIS is content
I remember renting this game 20 years ago and thinking "I've been here before" as if the game was some asset flip from an obscure Dreamcast game.
20 years later my instinct still tells me this.
Oh we eating good tonight 😌
i read the ''world'' in the title as ''world record'' and was very confused when this was going to become a speedrunning video
your videos are amazing, I don't know if you're fond of it, but please consider making a video about Bully
What a perfect addition to new Summoning Salt!
Love the long form video content you make
Thanks so much man
This just got recommended to me
I absolutely love this form of analysis. Same with the GTA 3 video you made
Such a great video. Instant subscribe.
Holy cow, new Joyless video! Thank you!
After a decade of browsing YT I believe your videos are my favorite content on this website, and I am always happy to see another upload. I really do hope you keep making these kinds of videos for a long time.
Between this and Summoning Salt, Simpson’s Hit and Run is doing great in the media recently.
HOLY SHIT NEW VIDEO BY GOSTIEPOOH YES YES
i WILL WATCH THEN COMMENT GOOD JOB YES YES
Honey, wake up, joyless posted new video
God, I need to play H&R and RR again. Amazing games.
I’ve always personally enjoyed walking through games just to take them in. Be it a call of duty multiplayer map, the long winding sands and abandoned structures of mad max (I refuse to stop talking about that game) I love to hunt for the little details, the things that you wouldn’t find as you’re being gunned down by that same bastard who’s been camping in the same spot the entire game, or the sound that you’d never hear through the endless gunfire. My favorite maps to explore are the call of duty zombies maps, because there’s always this implied sense of danger, no matter what the round. I spent an ungodly about of time playing black ops Cold War, and in doing so, I combed through every bit of playable space of the four zombies maps, as well as the outbreak maps and god, there’s some fantastic level of detail hidden behind all of the implied crunch.
Remember the 50 foot bounce cheat? Then falling through the world and driving below
H&R Video Essay??
I'm IN
47:20 I like how the sun is obviously just sitting in the middle of the ocean.
This video was awesome :)
re: the clouds
You maybe could have a flat sky that isn't an object in the world itself but is "fixed" to the camera and offset the UV cloud texture in one direction.
That's kinda how some older games do it, so the clouds can still be seen moving from A to B but they can be seen travelling in a specific direction rather than in a circle where players might notice.
Next youre gonna tell me that the show isnt real either!
(jk I actually love this perspective, thanks for making this video)
One of the Greatest Games of All Time!
I’m glad I still have my PS2 & a clean Disk of this game lol
Clean Ps2 disks are Underrated Blessings lol
12:00 Fun fact, one of the Elder Scrolls games (I think it was Oblivion) had tried to fix this issue and give the world more realism by using an adaptive AI, where all characters in game would have humanlike behaviours.
For example, all NPCs had to sleep and eat. If the NPC had gold they would buy food, if they had no gold they would go into the forest and hunt food, or if they had low morality, they would steal food.
They apparently had to tone this back because it caused chaos in the game world. Shopekeepers would horde all the food, random NPCs would just be dead as the guards caught them stealing bread and challanged them to a dual. If the player dropped a powerful weapon, NPCs would pick it up and use it intead. All the loot chests would be empty and Bears from the forest would wander into villsges looking for food and kill everybody
There is a great video on this by Karl Smallwood if you want to check it out
I think you'd like the play Mr Burns if you can find a script or recording of it. It's set in a post-apocalypse (the idyllic suburbs parodied by the show are long gone), and a troupe of actors reenact old episodes from memory. The way the stories become distorted over time and between mediums reminds me of this
I think the fact that maps are separated and isolated like racetracks, they feel like prisons a bit.
I remember trying to go from the harbor to downtown in a single drive, trying to push through the game borders by trying to get out of town
Absolutely!
The Halloween atmosphere isn't the scary part of Level 7. The missions are.
PTSD
I love this game I was 8 when this came out in 2003 😍😍😍
My God, is this boy overhyping
this game was pretty good for its time
Not a fan of the simpsons nor played the game, but sat through cause i love obscure deep dives 😂😂
I miss the Early 2000's, All the Simpsons Themed stuff was so cool and weird!😅
30:03 that is Krustey's mansion.
9:06 Am I the only one who noticed the stick of wood attached to the skull of that skeleton?
Radical Entertainment is easily one of the most underrated development studios ever. Definitely one of the best studios for licensed games. Even if it were just for this game and Scarface I'd still hold that opinion. But they also did Genesis Beavis and Butt-Head (one of my all-time favorites), Hulk Ultimate Destruction, and Jackie Chan on the PS1. They made a lot of crap too but when it was great it was great.
WTF, I just saw a Salt video from yesterday with the same topic.
Even as a kid this world always struck me as.. sad? Like, I remember this one specific nondescript apartment building i think in the Marge level, with its little cosy orange lights against the night sky, I used to look at it and get sad. Stuff like that in real life implies life, like someone lives there and is home living right now but in a game it's just pixels and code or whatever, so your brain wants to transfer that feeling but can't because it knows what it's looking at is not real? Idk I guess somewhere in that process makes me sad. I think especially on the Lisa level, that level gave me nostalgia for my childhood when I was still a child, making Lisa's line in the game 'this reminds me of when I was a little girl..' when the character is only meant to be 8 kinda poignant.
the twinkling sea with the sunset backdrop and golden hour lighting gives me like vaporwave vibes, Lisa even wears a vaporwave-esque outfit for one of the mission (the cool clothes), like I know it's reference to an episode of the show, but in the context of this bizarre, dreamlike world stuff like that takes on a whole new vibe for me. With other, later licensed cartoon games like the South Park games it kind of just feels like you're playing through an episode of the show so the jokes and references hit pretty much the same, but with older PS2 era 3D versions of familiar 2D world like this and the earlier Spongebob games take on an almost uncanny valley feeling of being an imitation of something you're familiar with, but due to the format and the graphical and technical limitations of the time, and also the fact that these fun cartoon world you are used to seeing in fast cut 11/22 minute periods and now suddenly you can just... sit in them, take them in, let them breathe around you as you would a real life space. idk. Looking at them through this new angle, you realise how lifeless they actually are, like the illusion is broken.
NEW JOYLESS VIDEO YEAHHH!!
Prince of Persia when?
I haven't played this game properly since I was around 13, 13 years ago. It was no doubt one of the best games of all time, but yeah, it did always carry that really strange, uncanny feeling to it that was a little unnerving. You're dead right.
I like the premise of the video but it's beyond padded and I feel like it completely goes off track towards the end and turns into word salad. Basically its 70 minutes of you saying some variation of "It feels strange and surreal because they made a 3d world based on a tv show with 2d artwork", or kind of willingly overlooking the fact that its a 2003 video game and thus, bound by certain technical limitations. I'm not even really sure what your point is in the summary when it comes to enjoying a game being a choice, or how its at all relevant to the rest of the video let alone tying it all together.. Still watched it all cause I think talking about how games feel is an underexplored topic but you could probably save yourself a lot of work and make a better video by cutting it in half at least.
An example of the word salad in parts at 50:09 : "The stage consisting in large part entirely of locations that were all at one point in time backdrops or some form of background scenery. It naturally leads to them retaining some of the feelings that the format they were designed for originally intended them to have." This reads like its been written by AI or a student trying to hit a word count and is just one example of many where there are either redundancies or repeated information within the same sentence which makes the video imo a lot rougher to get through than it needs to be. And you immedately afterwards clarify and put it into much better words. So why is it even there? That happens several times in the video.
It probably seems like i'm being really critical but it's cause I do really like your passion and topic choice. I don't think it would take all that much to make the video way better if you worked on that kind of stuff. Just my 2 cents.
I appreciate the constructive advice and I absolutely 100% agree with you. The point is made in the first 10 minutes or so and the rest of the video is just examples of exactly the same ''point''. I can definitely see why the rest would be tedious to get through for most people.
I say at 03:12 that I've set out to make the point then to ''painstakingly'' list out all of the examples that show it. I completely agree that it's not for everyone but if I had to cut even a minute out of this video it wouldn't feel whole to me anymore.
The issue is that I love this topic so much that I could talk about it for a lot longer than 70 minutes (believe it or not). It's just not something that's easy to watch.
@@Joyless Thats fair and honestly the passion really does come through and I think thats great! (And i did sit and watch the whole thing so obviously there were parts I enjoyed too!) Appreciate your response and not taking it personally.
Tbf the simpsons game on Xbox 360 was the most accurate 3D Springfield bit Hit and Run hits different
I should also note that I was a very small kid at the time and couldn’t see over the car window especially at night time when we were coming back from the mall or Pizza Hut and it just made everything seem strange and fascinating to my autistic brain 😊 which I applied to the scenery in hit and run like I imagined my own life as a hit and run style game 😄 now as a grumpy cynical adult I know what all the stuff is in the outside world but as a kid in a time where couch co op and taking turns with my friend visiting before online gaming was a thing just seemed so magical. even now dusting off my old ps2 and playing it as an adult I can apply some more mature thoughts to the world of hit and run like everything that goes on outside the world of Springfield and abroad the country it takes place in. and what could happen to the fictional world it’s set in. Sadly the real life American isn’t as walkable or has twisty turner sidewalks like hit and run or any other GTA clone set there ☹️ which would make it a lot more fun to visit the United States because me and my dad go hillwalking quite often around our local trail. nowadays I get the same kind of vibe with games like destroy all humans 2 reprobed, bully scholarship edition and red dead redemption 2. But I just can’t describe what that felling is….also if your looking for another game with the same kind of atmosphere I suggest Wallace and gromit the curse of the were rabbit on ps2. it’s an open world game like hit and run only set here in the UK 😃 just without vehicles though…..but you do get a space hopper 😂
It's one of my favorite games of all time. I couldn't play GTA so I played this instead😁
This feels like an essay on Mario 64 but it's for simpsons hit and run
You incorrectly mentioned that each level is set a few hours later than the previous, when it actually takes place over a week. The newspaper displayed during each level's loading screen are chronologically one day apart from each other, with the first at Oct 25th, and the last at Oct 31st (i.e. Halloween).
In the grand scheme of the history of the universe, that's a few hours
Yes I heartily agree with you 😊 being an autistic person myself me and my best friend from my neighbourhood both had wild imaginations as kids. and we would make up these gaming myths about hit and run at school and when he came to visit XD yeah they never turned out to be true but it kept the life of the game going at a time when the internet and social media was pretty cr@ppy. also the way level 1 was designed kinda reminded me slightly of my home village here in scotland and the town next to it. and the bigger town of Cumbernauld with shopping malls McDonald’s etc. the street I live on is built on a two way system much like the simpsons house on the first level and when you reach the front of the village there’s another two way road with both ways leading to two major towns and one of them has a McDonald’s right on the edge of it 😄plus there’s even a Burger King next to a grave yard not far from me 😂 go figure. my home village even has a convenient store ran by an Indian man but the co op supermarket in the main street of the town next to me more resembles the quickie mart. and there’s even a pet cemetery on this lords estate next to me which is a national park. The swing park here is built on a similar angle to our house as it is in level 1 to the simpsons house. you were right the game does have a kind of dreamy vibe like the imagination of a child.
It just sucks to not see it on any new console or be able to get it on Steam or something. I think it being on the Switch would be cool.
This video is 70 minutes of saying essentially nothing while trying to sound smart.
Heya, Joy minus the joy.
Finally watched your video after... Well, after a week-- yeesh! Felt I needed to say something after I promised I would in a prior, more punctual comment. I know that my schizo ramblings in the comment sections isn't necessary- matter of fact, I don't even think they're wanted (LOL)- but fuck it. This is my mental illness, this is my parasocial relationship, and I choose NOT to take the meds! I REJECT MY DIGNITY, ESTRANGED CONTENT CREATOR!
With your talks mixed with the oddly isolating imagery, this game's scenery is reminding me of "The Truman Show". You've probably seen it: Jim Carrey, fake town, fake people, reality TV, the whole shebang. It mostly reminds me of the second bit, the fake town, because it really is. Every person there is out to witness whatever carnage you make the town of Springfield endure. They are SUPPOSED to have homes, but really don't, as all they do is stroll on some pavement and look at you like you owe them money. Considering what you do most of the game, maybe you do? It also reminds me of the building designs from stuff like Frutiger Aero desktop backgrounds because, well, of the unfitting 3D background from Downtown. Something about the lighting on them, and how they're surrounded by either waves of similar buildings or obscured by clouds. Nothing is ever empty, not even for more highway or farmland, it's just BUILDINGS or BUST. But only in a certain circle, thanks to the map limits, which is kind of funny to wonder how either inspired or lazy the city planners were when making Springfield.
Besides that, I don't have much to discuss or add. You just keep nailing it, even on things I haven't thought about yet, and keep giving me a new perspective on things I only thought of in a mundane manner. Well, I guess everything can be viewed as off-kilter if you look hard enough, but it's like you said. Media transcends itself after the person consuming it can peek through the cracks. Also doesn't help that it's an Ouroboros recycling itself every 10 or so years, but I digress.
Off-topic, but I noticed you kept saying "It might just be me" and "in my opinion", almost as if you need to justify what you're saying or feeling. (Then again, might just be over-analyzing things again, so tell me if I've overstepped here.) You're not alone, in either feeling, thinking or even wanting to be understood, and your fanbase (though limited and similarly critical) is proof of that. You'd need a real raconteur to describe where and what to look at. I, personally, think you fit the bill. I wasn't there when you were mostly reviewing games, but I've been here enough, and I've stuck around since you've started pursuing this potentially niche passion of yours. And not to get sappy, but the way you discuss stuff like this really shows off your ever-improving skills as a creator, and also proves you're doing more than just talking. One only hope you keep at this. Do more of the same, something new, or even something else; never nothing, as life is too busy to not be doing something... Better or worse...
Take care, remember to forgive n' love yourself, and have a good day.
Thanks so much man, always means a lot to hear this from you and I absolutely take everything you say into account. I'm working on not being so insecure in how I see things :)
I'm here to appreciate how at the spookiest time of year with some pretty obvious contenders for best spooky, surreal game of the year out there Joyless turns around and goes "check out how uncanny The Simpsons Hit and Run is" and absolutely backs up their perspective with an hour long video rich with new and vivid perspective. If anything it's a real shame to think the golden age of games and virtual environments like this might be past us just because the technique and technology of designers has evolved to the point where the facade is never this obvious anymore. I'd be glad to be proven wrong, but still, procedurally generated infinite landscapes are now the filler over what might have been in the past some reluctant compromise of map design or ingenious artistic trick that presents a horizon more boundless feeling than one we could ever really explore.
38:38 it takes place over a week. The newspapers in each level have different dates October 25-31.
This guy made a hour essay and didnt even understand the structure of the story lol
To be fair it's not a video about the game itself. Just the world
@@BloodUlcer It became a video about the story the second he mentioned it. If its about the world, why waste time on explaining the story (wrongly)?
Because of the time of day
Based on
we are so back
Wait, how come I never saw that pool at 30:07?
It's not easily accesible in lvl 1, only in lvl 4
So basically... You just think it's neat
It's good, but I feel like you could have conveyed the same information in 20 minutes or so if you cut out all the redundancy and qualifications in your writing. It might seem more correct or proper to you, but it's mostly fluff and filler in this context.
And you've got to stop describing things as weird and dreamlike when your argument is THAT something is weird or dreamlike. It's jumping the gun. It's like a prosecutor describing the accused as "this very guilty-looking man," over and over again. Yes, that's what you want me to think, but you need to give me the evidence that points in that direction and let me come to a conclusion at least semi-naturally instead of trying to force it through repetition of your thesis.