Aside from some screen tearing issues, the Xbox version gets the nod for the best look and the best overall frame rate. Both the PS2 and GameCube versions look practically identical, though the GameCube version is just a tad less jagged. In addition, the Xbox version has the best audio, as minimal compression was needed due to the Xbox’s 9 GB disc. The audio in the PC and PS2 versions is slightly lower quality compared to the Xbox version. The GameCube version has the worst audio, with notable compression and being in mono form with a channel missing. This leads to some sounds being absent from the GameCube version, obviously as a result of the GameCube’s 1.5 GB mini disc. Additionally, the GameCube version uses more compressed versions of the HUD images because of disc space limitations as well. The HUD images in the Xbox and PS2 versions are slightly lower quality than the PC version, but one mission icon in the PC port is different from the console versions, which, to me, looks inferior. The PS2 version has a very unstable frame rate, often dipping below 30 FPS. The Xbox version contains an option to enable or disable widescreen in the settings. Furthermore, the console versions of the game have a lens flare effect that appears from the sun in the first and third levels. The PC version lacks this effect, assumedly due to DirectX limitation concerns at the time. In the console versions, there’s a Buzz Cola vending machine placed at a shack near the tire fire, which was also removed from the PC port. In the PC port, entering a cheat code in the main menu’s options menu crashes the game, forcing the player to enter the code on the pause menu’s options menu instead. Because of this, two cheat-code-related sound effects that only play in the main menu are unused in this version. The console versions also contain a road node/vehicle reset point just beyond the blocked bridge in the seventh level, allowing a correctly positioned reset to place the player slightly out of bounds. As a result of what appears to be an oversight or bug, the vehicle steering animations do not occur in the PC version. For some reason, an incorrectly exported data chunk removes any texture randomization for two signs in levels 1, 4, and 7 (outside of the Springfield Elementary School and by the Community Center) in the PC version, leaving them stuck with the same texture each time the area is loaded. Also, for whatever reason, the console versions have more colors that traffic vehicles randomly generate after loading. In the PC version, the voice clips spoken by Bart after starting the game for the first time are completely missing.
I play it on my Xbox, my Xbox 360 and my Xbox Series X (Gamecube version). 🤗 The Xbox version is the best with the best graphics, best framerate, best effects, best audio and widescreen. The PC version ist great with Lucas Simpsons Hit & Run Mod Launcher: Bug fixes that resolve issues with the base game and improve the game experience. Support for various features expected from modern games: Anti-aliasing (MSAA), Borderless windowed mode, Direct3D 9, Discord Rich Presence, Support for any aspect ratio and resolution, XInput. Nearly every feature of the Mod Launcher is optional and can be toggled at your discretion via the Mods List, Launcher Settings or Command Line Arguments. 1
