I know what you're thinking - "This is just Crazy Taxi meets the Simpsons." Well, you're right, but they've taken a winning formula and made it even more entertaining!

The story is as funny as any Simpsons episode. Mr. Burns has bought Springfield's public transport service and commissioned nuclear powered buses. In protest of this, members of the Springfield community decide to become taxi drivers, in order to raise the $1,000,000 needed to buy back the public transport service and get rid of the nuclear buses.

There are no less than 18 playable characters to unlock, each with vehicles that handle differently, including all of the Simpsons, Grampa, Chief Wiggum, Otto, Ned Flanders, Barney, Moe, Krusty, Professor Frink, Apu, and more. Combine this with 6 massive and very different areas of Springfield that are brilliantly designed with loads of secret routes and shortcuts to discover and you've got a big game with plenty of variety.

The graphics are fantastic, the scenery is very colourful and detailed, the characters are spot on and it looks just like a Simpsons episode, but in 3D. The gameplay is fast and furious, the idea being to pick up a passenger and get them to their destination as quickly as possible. The faster you get there the more money and time bonuses you earn. There are other ways to gain bonuses too - smashing through Mr. Burns' bus stops gives you an extra 2 seconds and sometimes you have a careful driver or road rage challenge, where you have to avoid traffic or smash up the scenery on the way to your destination. Very simple gameplay, perhaps even simpler than Crazy Taxi, but it is so addictive! A whole range of scenery from trees to lampposts and fences to billboards can be knocked over or smashed flying, including the pedestrians, who bounce along in front of your car in a hilarious, cartoon-like fashion (don't worry, nobody dies!)

However, what really sets this apart is the incredible attention to detail. There are well over 50 Simpsons characters to pick up around Springfield and each one interacts differently with the driver. For example, if Lisa picks Bart up, his response is "Wow sis, I didn't know you could drive!" Each passenger also has different things to say when you go the wrong way, fly through the air, drive straight past them and for how fast you were - Comic Book Guy compliments you on reaching Warp 10 if you're speedy or declares it the "worst ride ever" if you're slow! And each passenger has a variety of destinations they might want to go to that is appropriate for their character.

With the vehicles, the scenery and the comments that the characters make, well over 100 Simpsons episodes are referenced!! The Pitch 'n' Putt is recreated with Abraham Lincoln and the cross-eyed ape, then there's Ranch-O-Relaxo, Springfield gorge, the Nuclear Power Plant, Moe's Tavern, Krusty Burger, even the Escalator to Nowhere and dozens of other locations included. And when Grampa Simpson asks to go to the tattoo parlour to have his Hellfish tattoo refreshed, or Lisa needs to get to King Toot's to have her saxophone reed replaced, you know that someone has really done their research - and it shows. Obviously, all of the characters are voiced by the actors from the show and their voice acting in the game is just as comical as on TV.

As well as the main game, where you choose whether to unlock new characters or locations as you progress, there are Sunday Driver, Mission and Head to Head modes available. Sunday Driver allows you to play without a time limit and explore the levels, to find those secret routes. Mission Mode is a dull set of 10 time-based missions, the scenarios are quite funny but they're not very interesting and are the only weak point of the game. Then there is a two player Head to Head mode, where you must ram your opponent to snatch their passenger then reach the destination before they catch up with you! This is tremendous fun and a great addition to the game.

This is a hilarious, well-designed and entertaining game that is great fun to play and Simpsons fans will be delighted with all the episode references to spot in every level.

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