Observant
readers of this site will notice that I have already reviewed the PC
version of Retro City Rampage, giving it a fairly harsh score based
on both my experience playing the game and the incredible
disappointment I felt after waiting several years for it to finally
materialise. Now that the dust has settled and a new Xbox Live Arcade
version has arrived I felt it was time to come back to it with a
fresh set of eyes and no preconceptions. While the core game remains
the same, there are many notable improvements to the gameplay and as
such I had a great deal more fun with it than the PC version.
The
brainchild of just one man, Brian Provinciano, Retro City Rampage
started life as a homebrew NES game based on Grand Theft Auto.
Entitled Grandtheftendo, it soon grew far too big for its hardware
boots and so Brian made the logical choice to produce it for PC
instead. With the limitations removed he aimed bigger and soon a
whole sandbox world was born. He wanted to stick closely to the NES
roots so began adding references to classic 8-bit games. This soon
incorporated TV and movie references from the same era and, as more
and more nods to classic shows and games were added, Retro City
Rampage was soon a full blown parody game.
Taking
control of the minuscule hero sprite, named 'Player', you are let
loose in an equally tiny over-head city. The main plot is a
wholesale rip-off.. I mean tribute to the Back To The Future movies.
Wild haired Doc Choc meets you in his DeLorean and you soon find
yourself stuck in the wrong time period. What follows is a varied
selection of reasonably short missions consisting of the usual GTA
staple of fetch quests, killing sprees and driving from A to B. These
missions will grant you the opportunity to sneak around a Metal Gear
environment, swim through a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles dam section,
kill everything in sight in a Smash TV twin stick shooter, and much
more. References come thick and fast, and in just a short section of
gameplay you will have murdered the Ninja Turtles and the A-Team,
been involved in a Dark Knight style bank raid, spotted the dog from
Duck Hunt, jumped down a Mario style pipe and head butted a block,
flipping over some Koopas. The rapid fire nature of the missions
keeps you interested and looking forward to what is coming next. Due
to the brevity of the missions though, the game can often feel like a
selection of mini games, akin to Nintendo's Wario Ware titles, rather
than a standalone title. It keeps the energy levels up and the
surprises flowing, but at the same time it doesn't really allow you
to immerse yourself in the game world.
While
many jokes and references hit the mark, and are genuinely amusing,
many others fall flat. Some jokes are repeated so often they become
quite tedious, and some seem like personal digs at certain
individuals and companies, rather than light hearted parody. Almost
everything in the game references something from the 80's era of
games and movies, even the buildings all have names mocking familiar
brands, for example 'F U Mondays' and 'Sixbucks Coffee'. Some are
obvious, but others will only be understood by hardcore fans of NES
games (the Iron Sword box art ribbing 'Fabby-O's Cereal, for
example).
Graphically
the game looks the part, with the excellent retro visual style
perfectly capturing the whole 'Grand Theft Auto' look on an 8-bit
console. Seeing as this was the author's initial premise for the
whole project, I can safely say he was hugely successful. But,
although the world is brimming with character and retro charm, the
main problem is that the sprites are tiny. I mean, really really
small! It can lead to confusion as you try to make out what is
happening on screen, with interior sections in particular being an
eye strain. It seems strange that everything is so small as when
playing original NES games, most of the spites are actually quite
large. You only need to boot up Super Mario Bros. 3 (as if you need
an excuse!) after playing this to see that Retro City Rampage has got
the scale slightly wrong. The 2D sections in Retro City Rampage have
slightly larger sprites (only just) and are much easier on the eye as
a result.
Back
to the positives though, as special mention must be given to the
staggering array of visual options that allow players to choose the
colour scheme of the entire game. These include the NES (naturally),
the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Atari 8-bit, CGA and VGA PC, and even
hand held consoles such as the Virtual Boy and Game Boy. They all
look wonderful and so it is worth trying a new one each time you
play. You can also select a border around the game that resembles old
TVs of the time. You really are spoilt for choice, and it really
showcases the amount of effort gone into the whole package. Aurally
the game also excels, with a suitable catchy selection of chiptune
tracks from talented, and well known chiptune composers;
Leonard
"FreakyDNA" Paul, Jake "Vert" Kaufman and Matt
"Norrin Radd" Creamer.
These
tunes enhance the experience and are a joy to listen to, taking
you back to the good old days of listening to Castlevania or Mega Man
games on NES.
The
core gameplay is kept interesting by throwing in missions that are
both highly entertaining and a welcome break from the constant
carnage of the top-down GTA action that makes up the main bulk of the
game. One moment you are blasting waves of aggressors in a Smash TV
style game-show using flame-throwers and rocket launchers, the next
you are 'sploding your way over pits and traps in a 2D platforming
section clearly 'inspired' by an explosive (sorry) XBLA title. It is
this sheer variety that keeps you enthralled from beginning to the
moment the final credits roll. As well as some in-game sections
resembling Rad Racer, there are some awesome mini-games included in
'Nolan's Arcade', one of the many buildings in the GTA world. The
Bit.Trip Runner spoof is great and I could honestly have
played this for the rest of the game's duration. It captures the
essence of its inspiration perfectly and is immensely playable. Also
representing the indie game crew is Super Meat Boy, here in a forward
running game that resembles the old school racers of yesteryear. The
added bonus being that it is presented as if it were on the
horrendous Virtual Boy console, 3D optional! It is also great fun and
obtaining all the plasters is no easy task, I can assure you.
Brian
has listened to feedback from players of the PC version to tweak and
improve this new Xbox Live Arcade iteration. The game has far more
information and tips on what you are supposed to be doing and what
abilities are at your disposal. In a game with so many different
sections, each involving different controls or gameplay mechanics,
this is a welcome addition. Better implementation of checkpoints
takes away much of the frustration from missions that made you replay
the whole thing if you died. The annoying 'tailing' mission was a
main offender in this respect but is now much more bearable, due in
part to the addition of coffee that can be purchased to speed up the
game. The 2D 'Sweat Bomber' sections have been improved and are now far
less infuriating. They can even be skipped should you die enough
times (though this would make you a massive pussy worthy of ridicule,
of course). Finally, some of the side quests have been tinkered with
to make them fit in better with the main story.
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That
this is the work of just one man is an incredible accomplishment.
Sure, it is not perfect, in fact there are some elements to the game
that spoil the overall experience. The main GTA top-down section gets
repetitive quickly and the aforementioned tininess of the world and
its sprites is an issue. Also the sound effects used by in-game
characters for any vocal exclamation are quite irritating and used
constantly. The cut-scenes move along far too rapidly, often making
it hard to keep track of what is going on, and there are some nasty
difficulty spikes later on in the game that will have you pulling
your hair out. Completing the game allows you to play a 'Turbo' mode,
but it is so fast it is absolutely horrible to play and should be
avoided (annoyingly, 50 achievement points are up for grabs for
finishing Turbo mode, but it isn’t worth the inevitable headache).
The sections that mimic Rad Racer, Bit.Trip Runner, 'Splosion Man
etc. are so fun to play that it actually feels disappointing to have
to return to the GTA part, and once you have finished the game and
seen all the gags there is little to bring you back for more. Like
any 'sandbox' game, once all the missions are completed, running
around an objective-less world is pretty boring. Luckily the arcade
mini-games will keep you coming back until you have perfected them
and earned the secrets.
Overall
though, Retro City Rampage is enjoyable, frantic, amusing, often
frustrating, but never less than a wonderful tribute to the 8-bit
era. It has such a clear passion for its source material that you
cannot help but be charmed and impressed by it. I am unsure how
younger gamers, and those unfamiliar with the games and movies
referenced, will react to Retro City Rampage, but I hope that it will
spark an interest in the games parodied and inspire them to try the
originals. Good games are timeless after all, and while Retro City
Rampage can never achieve the dizzying heights of playability of the
games it lovingly parodies, it is an outstanding tribute to those
games and offers some great gameplay as well as some chuckles, and
who could ask for more than that?
The
Good
- Amazing Retro Visuals with a huge array of options
- Outstanding Chiptune Soundtrack
- Many amusing references and jokes
- Exceptionally fun mini-games
- Lots of variety in missions
The
Bad
- Becomes Repetitive
- Some Humour misses the mark
- The main GTA top-down section is, arguably, the weakest part of the experience
Developer : Vblank Entertainment, Inc.
Also available on : PS3, PC
Price : 1200 points / 9.99
Price : 1200 points / 9.99
