The Call of the Simpsons episode, along with his four other appearances on "The Simpsons", the best guest appearance in the show's history. "The Call of the Simpsons" received mixed reviews from critics. Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood, the authors of the book "I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide", both criticized and praised the episode saying: "This episode is a bit less than the sum of its parts. The early stuff at the RV Round-Up is much better than the main camping story, although there's some nice Marge-Lisa bonding, and who could resist Maggie and the bears?" In a
The Simpsons: Hit & Run television series, and called it the most accurate representation of Springfield ever put into a game. "Official Xbox Magazine" said that the game did the show justice, and "Play" felt that it was "essentially the show in real time", summing up its review by calling the game a "truly great cross-over product". GameSpot thought that the humor that the game offered included many excellent self-referential jokes, and TeamXbox concluded its review by predicting that the game would be extremely appealing to gamers, especially hardcore "Simpsons" fans. Entertainment magazine "Variety" surmised that "Hit & Run" was the first "Simpsons" game to