Rampage (arcade game)

Infobox VG
title = Rampage


developer = Bally Midway Maufacturing Company
publisher = Bally Midway
designer = Artist: Brian Colin, Sounds: Michael Bartlow, Software: Jeff Nauman
release = 1986
genre = Platform game
modes = One to three simultaneous players
cabinet = Upright
arcade system = Midway MCR-III
display = Raster standard resolution (Used: 512 x 480) (Horizontal)
input = Per Player: Joystick, 2 buttons
platforms = Arcade

"Rampage" is a 1986 arcade game by Bally Midway. Players take control of gigantic monsters trying to survive against onslaughts of military forces. Each round is completed when a particular city is completely reduced to rubble.

Description

Up to three simultaneous players control the monsters George (a King Kong-like gorilla), Lizzie (a Godzilla-like dinosaur/lizard), or Ralph (a giant werewolf), created from mutated humans. They need to raze all buildings in a high-rise city to advance to the next, eating people and destroying helicopters, tanks, taxis, police cars, boats, and trolleys along the way.

Monsters can jump and climb buildings, and punch enemies and buildings. Buildings also take damage when jumped on by a monster.

The player receives damage from enemy bullets, grenades, shells and so forth, and from falls. Damage is recovered by eating appropriate food such as fruit, roast chicken, or soldiers. If a monster takes too much damage, it reverts back into a naked human and starts walking off the screen sideways, covering its genitals with its hands. While in this state, the player can be eaten by another player. If the player continues, the human mutates back into the monster, or flies in on a blimp if off-screen, with a full life bar.

Smashing open windows generally reveals an item or person of interest, which may be helpful or harmful. Helpful items include food or money. Dangerous ones include bombs, electrical appliances, and cigarettes. Some items can be both, for example a toaster is dangerous until the toast pops up, and a photographer must be eaten quickly before he dazzles the player's monster with his flash, causing it to fall. If a monster eats a toilet, it immediately goes into a humorously animated choking fit.

When a civilian is present waving his or her hands out a window signaling for help, a player's points meter rapidly increments when the civilian is grabbed. Each player can hold only one type of person. George can hold women, Lizzie can hold men, and Ralph can hold businessmen.

"Rampage" is set over the course of 128 days in cities across North America. The game starts in Peoria, Illinois and ends in Plano, Illinois. In Plano, players receive a "mega vitamin bonus" which heals all the monsters and provides a large point bonus. After this, the cycle of cities repeats five times. After 768 days, the game resets back to Day One.

Some of the home port versions of the game start in San Jose, California and end in Los Angeles, California after going all around North America. The rampage travels through two Canadian provinces and forty-four U.S. states. Connecticut, Delaware, Mississippi, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont are spared.

Ports

"Rampage" was ported to most home computers and video game consoles of its time, including the Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Lynx, Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, MS-DOS/IBM PC, ZX Spectrum, NES, and Sega Master System. The Atari Lynx version adds a special fourth character named Larry, a giant rat. The NES version excludes Ralph, reducing the number of monsters to two. "Rampage" was included as part of the "Arcade Party Pak" for the PlayStation in 1999. More recently, "Rampage" was included in 2003's "Midway Arcade Treasures", a compilation of arcade games for Microsoft Windows, Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2, and Xbox. This game is also available as a bonus feature in "".

In July 2000, Midway licensed "Rampage", along with other Williams Electronics games, to Shockwave for use in an online applet to demonstrate the power of the shockwave web content platform, entitled "Shockwave Arcade Collection". The conversion was created by Digital Eclipse.

Unlike the original arcade game, most of the home ports (such as the NES, Sega, and Atari Lynx versions) actually end, rather than repeating levels endlessly.

About a decade later, a sequel was released entitled ', later followed by console-exclusive games including ', and "Rampage Through Time". The most recent game in the series is "".

External links

*KLOV game|id=9261|name=Rampage
*moby game|id=/rampage|name="Rampage"
*WoS game|id=0004017|name=Rampage
*StrategyWiki|Rampage
* [http://www.midway.com/page/ClassicGames.html Play Rampage] on Midway's homepage