Futurama

Description

Futurama brings Matt Groening’s beloved sci-fi comedy to both the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, releasing right around the time Fox infamously pulled the plug on the series’ original run. Like similar licensed tie-ins in the era, it emphasises authenticity as a primary selling point. The game’s script was penned by the show’s actual writers (led by J. Stewart Burns), featured the entire primary voice cast, and utilised a cel-shaded visual style to perfectly mimic the animation. The game’s 30 minutes of cutscenes were so faithfully executed that they were later compiled and released on DVD as “Futurama: The Lost Adventure.”

The experience features a standard early-2000s action-platforming gameplay, splitting the campaign across four playable characters with distinct mechanics as they attempt to stop Mom from buying the universe. Players control Fry in traditional third-person run-and-gun segments, use Leela for hand-to-hand beat-’em-up combat and acrobatics, guide Bender through heavily weaponised platforming levels, and briefly ride a massive swamp beast as Dr. Zoidberg. The core progression relies on navigating linear, recognisable environments—ranging from the Planet Express building to the mutant-filled sewers of New New York—while collecting golden Nibblers and fending off Mom’s army of hostile robots.

Upon release, Futurama received decidedly mixed critical reception. Magazine reviewers lauded the brilliant script, the visual fidelity, and the spot-on voice acting, noting that it genuinely felt like experiencing a brand-new episode of the series. However, critics heavily penalised the game for its frustrating camera, uninspired level design, and clunky combat mechanics that felt dated even for 2003. Retrospectively, its initial commercial failure and short print run (tied directly to the show’s cancellation), have transformed it into one of the more expensive and prized entries in the PlayStation 2 NTSC library. In PAL territories it is much less rare, although it still attracts a premium. This is the EU PAL version re-labelled for the Australian market.