Futurama (video game)

Futurama (video game)

Company type	Video game
Industry	Video games
Founded	2003 (2003)
Founder	Unique Development Studios
Headquarters	Sweden , Sweden
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Matt Groening (Executive Developer), David X. Cohen (Voice recording supervisor), J. Stewart Burns (Scriptwriter and producer), Mili Smythe (Art director), Christopher Tyng (Composer)
Products	Futurama (video game)
Owner	Unique Development Studios

Futurama is a three-dimensional platform game inspired by the animated television series Futurama. Created by Unique Development Studios for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox consoles, it utilizes cel-shaded animation techniques. The narrative centers on Fry, Bender, and Leela—key members of the Planet Express delivery crew—as they strive to prevent billionaire Carol "Mom" Miller from obtaining over half of Earth's ownership and transforming it into a warship after she acquires Planet Express due to its poor management. The plot incorporates time travel efforts aimed at halting the sale, which lead to a repetitive loop.

Reception among critics and fans was mixed; the game's narrative, comedic elements, and voice performances received commendation, whereas aspects such as controls and camera mechanics were criticized. Footage from both cutscenes and gameplay was later adapted for the DVD feature Futurama: The Lost Adventure, included with the 2008 release The Beast with a Billion Backs.

Because of its very limited production run and the cancellation of the television series shortly after the game’s release, physical copies have become rare collectibles, commanding prices between $200 and $800 on auction sites like eBay. This rarity is indicative of its low sales volume and constrained distribution.

Gameplay

Futurama is a 3D platformer that incorporates elements typical of Third-person shooter (TPS) titles. Players take control of four characters: Fry, Bender, Leela, and Zoidberg. Gameplay for Fry involves third-person shooting using various firearms, Bender's stages emphasize platforming challenges, Leela's focus on melee combat skills, while Zoidberg appears only briefly.

Health restoration comes through character-specific pickups: Fry replenishes health with cans of Slurm, Bender uses Olde Fortran and Robot Oil, Leela relies on vitamins, whereas Zoidberg has no health items. These pickups restore either 25 or full (100) health points. Collectibles also vary by character, including Fry’s United States dollar, Bender’s Robobium, Leela’s Gold bars, and Zoidberg’s Fish skeleton. Gathering 25 collectibles grants an extra life via the Re-animator device; losing all lives results in game over. Levels feature hidden Nibbler characters imprisoned by Mom, whose rescue unlocks bonus content such as film clips and image galleries.

Easter eggs

The game contains concealed Easter eggs, notably one uncovered sixteen years after release by YouTuber Oddheader in the initial level, Planet Express. This substantial Easter egg is hidden behind a wall and becomes accessible after collecting enough items and destroying a television. Prior to this discovery, accessing it required cheat codes, camera manipulation, or alterations to game scripts and files.

Plot

The story begins with Professor Farnsworth selling the Planet Express delivery company to Mom, following years of financial decline caused by mismanagement. Through this acquisition, Mom gains controlling interest in Earth exceeding 50%, allowing her to dominate the planet and enslave humanity.

Upon finding the delivery ship damaged, Farnsworth sends Leela and Bender to repair it while dispatching Fry to retrieve a hammer. After Fry dies accidentally but is revived using Farnsworth’s Re-animator device, he is assigned to locate missing tools. Discovering that the ship’s dark matter engine is beyond repair and that the backup has been pawned for a firearm, Fry ventures through hazardous sewers to recover a replacement. The crew escapes Earth with assistance from the Re-animator; however, Mom pursues them with intentions to weaponize Earth by exploiting Farnsworth's specialized engineering knowledge. She captures Farnsworth’s head in a jar and sends their ship toward the Sun with Fry, Leela, and Bender aboard.

On reaching a habitable Sun, Leela assists the Sun People in overthrowing their malevolent Sun God in exchange for dark matter fuel. Subsequently, they journey to Bogad seeking Farnsworth's mentor Adoy, who has developed a time machine powered by a remote generator. Zoidberg activates this generator by turning the machine’s crank to rewind time briefly. Fry, Leela, and Bender then travel back to just before Mom purchases Planet Express. Their attempt to prevent the transaction results in their ship crashing; they commandeer the earlier version of their vessel and confront Mom’s robot Destructor. After defeating it but damaging the Re-animator device in the process, Farnsworth initially declines to sell Planet Express again but ultimately accepts a bribe—a sombrero—thus restarting the cycle of events.

Development

After Futurama initially gained popularity, series creator Matt Groening revealed plans for a video game adaptation at Comic-Con in July 2000, targeting next-generation consoles Xbox and PlayStation 2. In September of the same year, Swedish studio Unique Development Studios secured the rights, intending to release versions for Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color by early 2002. Subsequently, a GameCube edition was announced following a postponement of the game's launch to fiscal year 2003.

Key figures from the series played significant roles in the game's creation: Groening took on the role of Executive Developer, while David X. Cohen supervised voice recording sessions featuring original cast members such as Billy West, Katey Sagal, and John DiMaggio. The soundtrack was exclusively composed by series regular Christopher Tyng. Original narrative content was developed by scriptwriter and producer J. Stewart Burns, who introduced new characters to the storyline. Art director Mili Smythe managed approvals for character models, and visual materials like the manual, box art, and additional artwork were provided by Bongo Comics.

Although development commenced prior to the show's cancellation, the game was launched after the conclusion of season 4 and included 28 minutes of newly created animation.

The planned GameCube release was cancelled in the United States in August 2003 due to disappointing sales figures. While a European launch was initially under consideration, it too was ultimately cancelled shortly before release for similar reasons.

Reception

Critics offered mixed opinions on Futurama, reflected in Metacritic scores of 59/100 for PlayStation 2 and 58/100 for Xbox. The game's humor and cutscenes received commendation; however, its gameplay mechanics were widely regarded as uninspired.

Wired praised the cutscenes as "side-splitting," emphasizing the strength of narrative and voice performances. Douglass C. Perry from IGN awarded it a 6.7/10 rating, highlighting elements such as story, cel-shaded graphics, audio design, cutscenes, and voice acting. Conversely, he noted shortcomings in AI behavior, collision detection, difficulty balance, controls, and overall refinement.

Tim Tracy of GameSpot rated the game 4.9/10, applauding voice performances, cutscenes, visual presentation, writing quality, and plot development but criticized camera controls and targeting mechanics. Alex Porter from Maxim observed that awkward controls and uninspired gameplay diminished the overall experience.

The Russian publication Strana Igr assigned a score of 6.5/10, describing the title as average and unremarkable. Many fans concurred that despite strong branding from the show itself, gameplay quality remained mediocre.

Related media and legacy

A compilation of cutscenes and select gameplay footage was assembled into a 30-minute feature titled Futurama: The Lost Adventure, which David X. Cohen referred to as "the 73rd episode" of the series. This feature was included as a bonus with the direct-to-DVD release of Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs, which debuted on June 24, 2008. Due to Unique Development Studios (UDS) having ceased operations, the production team lacked access to original high-quality video files for the cutscenes and instead captured footage directly from an Xbox console running the game. The Lost Adventure removes meta references related to its video game origin and incorporates new sound effects.

The music used during the game's end credits was later repurposed across all four straight-to-DVD Futurama movies: featured in an extended opening sequence of Bender's Big Score and rearranged during the closing credits of The Beast with a Billion Backs, Bender's Game, and Into the Wild Green Yonder.

External links

• Official Site (UK)
• Official Site