Futurama is a 3D platform video game based on the science fiction animated series of the same name. It was developed by Unique Development Studios and published by SCi Games in Europe and Oceania and by Vivendi Universal Games in North America for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, both of which use cel-shading technology. The game follows the main characters (Fry, Bender and Leela) and main members of delivery company Planet Express, trying to stop Billionaire Carol "Mom" Miller from acquiring over 50% percent of Earth and turning it into a giant warship, after selling Planet Express to her by its owner Professor Farnsworth, due to lack of resource and company's mismanagement.
The game has received mixed reviews from critics. While storytelling, writing, humor and voice acting was praised, many of the gameplay aspects, controls and camera were generally criticized. The cutscenes and in-game footage of the game were repurposed into a DVD feature Futurama: The Lost Adventure as a bonus in The Beast with a Billion Backs, released on June 24, 2008.
The game is considered to be as one of the rarest and most expensive games on PlayStation 2 and Xbox in a physical copy, ranging in places like eBay around $200 to $800. This is mainly due to incredibly low sales of the game, since it saw a very limited run of printings and partly due to the show's cancellation shortly after its release.
Gameplay
Futurama is a 3D platform game with elements of third-person shooter (TPS). As the game progresses, players play as each of four characters: Fry, Bender, Leela and Zoidberg. Fry's levels mostly involve third-person shooter (TPS) mechanics, as he can use a multitude of guns. Bender's levels are platformer-oriented, while Leela's revolve around hand-to-hand combat. Zoidberg is featured in a short segment as well.
Plot
The game begins with Professor Farnsworth, wearing a sombrero, selling the Planet Express delivery company to Mom, explaining that it had been losing money for years due to mismanagement. The buyout gives Mom ownership of more than 50% percent of Earth, allowing her to become the planet's supreme ruler. Soon after this, she enslaves humanity.
Finding the ship inexplicably broken, the Professor tasks Leela and Bender with repairing it, and sends Fry off to find a hammer to keep him out of the way. After Fry is crushed to death under a pile of debris, he is resurrected by the Professor's new invention, the Re-animator (which closely resembles a giant toaster), which brings the crew back to life every time they die. Fry is then tasked with locating the Professor's missing tools. After discovering that the ship's dark matter engine is beyond repair, and informing the crew that the back-up was pawned in exchange for a gun, the Professor sends Fry off to retrieve it, having to travel via the sewers to avoid curfew. After Fry returns, they escape from Earth with the Re-animator. However, Mom pursues them in an effort to capture Farnsworth. She hopes to turn Earth into a giant warship, and Farnsworth is the only person who knows how to build an engine large enough to move the Earth. After Bender frees the ship from a suck beam generated from a desert asteroid, Mom ultimately captures Farnsworth, places his head in a jar, and sends the ship hurtling into the Sun with Fry, Leela, and Bender on board.
After discovering that the Sun is habitable, Leela helps the Sun People to defeat their evil Sun God in exchange for a full tank of dark matter. After Leela destroys the Sun Temple, the crew then head for the planet of Bogad, where Farnsworth's mentor, Adoy, lives. Adoy has invented a time machine, but its generator is inconveniently placed a great distance away, with hazardous swamps in the way. Using the time machine's hand crank, which turns back time by two minutes if cranked for that long, Zoidberg (who had inexplicably appeared on Bogad "making a cameo") manages to reach and activate the generator. Fry, Leela and Bender manage to travel back to a few minutes before Mom buys Planet Express from the Professor. However, the ship crashes into Planet Express, destroying the ship. This prompts them to steal the ship of the past, leaving the broken ship to be repaired by their past selves. They attempt to stop the sale, which prompts Mom to send Destructor to attack them. They defeat the robot, but the Re-animator gets damaged and falls on Destructor, causing it to fall on top of them. Angry at the fact that the robot killed his crew, the professor refuses to sell Planet Express. But after Mom bribes him with a sombrero, he sells, and the events of the game continue in an endless cycle.
Many of the series crew members was involved in development of the game. Matt Groening served as Executive game developer, and David X. Cohen directed the voice acting of the original actors from the series like: Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, and David Herman.
Development on the game started before the series' cancellation, but the game was not released until after the last episode of season 4 had already been shown. The game includes 28 minutes of new animation.
Release
Swedish game developer Unique Development Studios had acquired the rights to develop the game in September, along with planned handheld game liquor-up Bender for Game Boy Color, meant to be released in 2002, but which was never produced. A GameCube version was also announced after game was delayed to financial year of 2003.
The game was showcased at E3 in May 2003. It was released on PlayStation 2 and Xbox in Europe on August 1, 2003. In Australia on August 8, while in North America, it was released on August 13. That same month, the GameCube version was later confirmed to be cancelled in United States, due to the console's slow and low sales. While there were debates about the European release, It was ultimately cancelled due to similar reasons a month prior.