*** Rampage: World Tour ***
 Developed by Game Refuge
    Published by Midway

2d Action
1-2 player(s) simultaneous.

It seems bringing back titles from our youth of gaming are all the rage 
these days.  Not that that's that long ago really, but in terms of 
technology, I guess, it's eons.  One of the popular quarter munchers 
back in the not-so-long-ago past was Rampage.  The premise was simple.  
Smash, devour, loot, pillage, repeat.  It appealed to a beserker nature 
in gamers and was subsequently fairly popular despite it's simplicity.  
And as what normally happens to popular arcade games, it's ported to 
every home console imaginable until it's marketability fades away.

A year ago or so, to cash in on all the retro-gaming nostalgia, Midway 
released an update of Rampage into the arcades.  The 2d graphics were 
given that CGI look, which most assume is the "in" thing now, and the 
gameplay was tweaked, albeit a minor tweak.  The game was still 
basically the same, and I guess because of that, it got a fair amount 
more play.  Everybody loves Rampage on some level for some amount of 
time, don't they?

Well, the home port was inevitable, and now, here it is, on our beloved 
Playstation.  The question is, as always, how did it port?  Fairly 
well.  Apart from the drop in quality of the sound effects, and the 
lack of a third player, the game is practically identical to the arcade 
code it was ported from.  Even the ability to continue as many times as 
you want has been converted, however it doesn't cost you a quarter this 
time.

Graphically, the game is the arcade, and let's face it, the arcade 
wasn't anything visually impressive.  It did an adequate job of what it 
was trying to convey given current standards.  All of the sprites have 
that CGI look that started with titles such as Donkey Kong Country.  
The stages and play elements are vibrant with color, and the overall 
look has a Saturday morning cartoon atmosphere.  The variety in 
backgrounds seems to be fairly large.  Unlike the original, it isn't 
very often that you'll be smashing buildings in front of the same 
backdrop.  The whole graphics package is definitely pleasant to the 
eyes.

The sound, however, hasn't ported quite as well.  Given past 
Playstation 2d achievements, the sound is usually a title's strong 
points, unless the game's graphical requirements are more demanding 
than the machine is capable.  Honestly, I don't find the game to be 
much of a 2d accomplishment on the Playstation, especially since the 
third player is missing.  So when the sound effects end up with a lower 
sample rate than the arcade, there is an understandable 
dissappointment.  I guess maybe that's partially the fault of the 
arcade, or at least the arcade where I originally played Rampage:World 
Tour.  Using my memory of playing this game in a noisy arcade perhaps 
isn't a fair comparison, but when I imagine playing large monsters 
demolishing a city, I want to hear real loud explosive booms as 
structures fall to the ground, all with alot of bass.  And, sadly, this 
game doesn't have that.  I found myself pumping up the volume of the 
sound effects in the option menu to help compensate, but it still 
wasn't enough to satisfy me.

The background music is straight from the arcade, which is to say, it's 
just as bland.  There seems to be about 2 or possibly 3 background 
tunes, with the majority of the time it being the same music, which is 
some sort of cheesy rock n'roll.

When this title was upgraded in the arcades, Midway basically only 
enhanced the graphics.  Some play mechanics have been modified or 
added, but they're pretty minor as the gameplay still is, for the most 
part, simple Rampage.  Destroy buildings, pick up goodies to sustain 
health, repeat.  The punch button has been tweaked.  No longer can you 
cling to the side of a building, hold down on the joystick and keep on 
pressing the punch button.  This tactic, which was the main method of 
destroying buildings in the original, no longer works.  However, now 
you can bring buildings from the top down merely by sitting on the roof 
and pummelling it with your fist, or jumping on top of it.  Jumping on 
top of a building will also shake out all those pesky soldiers who are 
shooting at you from the windows.  A kick button has been added, and 
with this, you can shake the whole floor of a building, or, if you're 
at the bottom, destroy the base and topple it from the bottom.  As a 
result of these minor tweaks, buildings come down much faster than in 
the original.

A couple of other power ups and play elements exist, although they're 
pretty minor in the scheme of things as they aren't a very regular 
occurence.  They don't last very long, save for the VERN power up which 
morphs you into an invincible flying purple gremlin, but they are 
catastrophic to the poor local buildings for a short period of time.  A 
neat little addition is the ability to ride some of the man-made 
vehicles and use them against the buildings.  Problem is, jumping on 
them at the precise spot to be able to use them is difficult, so you're 
probably just better off using the three punches it takes to destroy 
them.

Unfortunately, Midway kept too many of the original Rampage play 
elements in the upgrade, meaning, they kept in some things that really 
should have been taken out or modified.  Just like the original, this 
new version has well over a hundred levels, 130 in all I believe.  Who 
will be able to sit through 130 stages of Rampagin' is beyond me, as I 
find it difficult to play more than 30.  What this game needed was a 
shorter goal, one that would cut the game time to get to the finish 
down to something reasonable.  Or at least they should have implimented 
some sort of stage warp system.  An option to save your highest 
achieved level and replay the game from there is available, so, you 
don't have to play the game all in one sitting if you want to see the 
end.  Even then, there's still too many levels to play through, one 
could argue that it's a painful amount.

Another of the game's biggest faults, and one which seriously detracts 
from any serious replayability, is the lack of any skill settings of 
any sort.  You are given unlimited continues.  So, if you wanted, you 
could play this game from beginning to end, although it would take a 
whiles.  It wouldn't have taken much for the developers to have added a 
"Number of Continues" option.  Make "Easy" unlimited continues, 
"Normal" 9 continues, and "Hard" 3 continues.  As it stands now, 
skilled Rampagin' isn't that big of a deal.  Go after the tank head-on 
instead of jumping from building to building around it.  If you die in 
the process, so what?  Just hit start and try again for the umpteenth 
time.  It just doesn't feel like you're being rewarded for good 
gameplay.  Your score doesn't even reset to zero when you continue, so 
acquiring an extra life when you hit half-a-million isn't much of an 
accomplishment, nor is getting your name on the high score list.

Sadly, these faults filter through to the 2 player mode as well.  
Fortunately the game indicates who scored more points in a given stage 
during the point tabulation screen.  So, I guess, one could make a 
competitive game out of that aspect.  Maybe even a party game could be 
based on this, by making the person who lost the point score to give up 
their controller to another player.  But it still would have been nice 
if a Versus mode was already in the game to select and play.  As it 
stands now, there is only one option for playing the game available on 
the menu, and this is the arcade mode.

The exclusion of a 3 player mode holds back the home port from 
achieving true party title status.  Alot of the game's faults could 
have been overlooked easier had this element been retained.  When I 
look at the game as a whole, it seems this option was left out for one 
reason, and that is, of course, money.  Midway has always been a 
company quick to capitalize off of any title's success in as short 
amount of time as possible.  Witness the MK phenomenon, or the rush of 
barely mediocre Nintendo 64 titles for examples.  Slowdown seldomly 
occurs during the 2 player mode when there's quite alot of animated 
sprites on screen.  Programming in a 3 player mode would most likely 
have made this fault obvious, and would have required more code 
optimization, which in turn would have lead to more development time, 
which in turn leads to more money.  As is the norm, Midway's more 
concerned with making a quick buck than putting in a little extra 
effort and releasing a great game.  And this is the true tragedy here, 
as with a few minor and obvious tweaks, mainly in the available game 
options, this game could have been great.  As it is now, it's merely 
ok, and a direct port of the arcade for 2 players, continue option and 
all.

Is this update of Rampage worth your time or money?  Well, I have to 
admit, despite the game's faults, it's still some mindless fun.  It's 
that simplicity of bashing and destroying everything in sight which 
appeals to gamers, and is part of the game's undeniable charm.  Then 
there's also the nostalgia factor, but that does dissipate fairly 
quickly.  Just don't expect any deep gameplay here, as there is none to 
be found.  The updated arcade version was kept as simple and basic as 
possible, and this port of it is unbelievably direct, no extras added 
whatsoever.  Because of this, I believe it might be best to wait until 
you can pick this title up when it's been discounted.  Had the 3 player 
mode survived in the conversion, it might have been worth the money to 
have as a party title.  Everybody loves Rampage on some level or 
another, but, when you think about it, it only warranted a couple 
dollars worth of tokens in the arcade when it was originally introduced 
and later rehashed anyway.


Peter Bott
faethor@ptd.net


*** Overall - 5.3 ***


*** Graphics - 7 ***

 +  Characters and environments achieve a Saturday morning cartoonlike 
    monster atmosphere.
 +  Graphics are practically identical to the arcade.

+/- Play elements are all composed of 2d sprites.


*** Sound - 5 ***

 -  Sound effects have a low sample rate, barely average.

 -  Background music isn't much to write home about.
 -  Only 2, or perhaps 3, background tunes altogether.
 -  Majority of the time, it's the cheesy rock n'roll tune.


*** Gameplay - 5 ***

 +  2 player cooperative gameplay.

+/- Game mechanics are only a minor improvement over the original.

 -  Repetitious gameplay.
 -  No skill level options as there is unlimited continues. 
 -  No extra gameplay options, arcade mode only.


*** Replayability - 4 ***

 +  Excellent conversion of the arcade hit.
 +  2 player simultaneous play.

+/- Nostalgia factor.
+/- Ability to save highest level achieved and replay from there.

 -  Repetitious gameplay.
 -  Novelty wears off after 30 levels, and there's over 130 in all.
 -  No 3 player support like in the arcade.
 -  Unlimited credits.
 -  10 second load times between levels.