Retro City Rampage is an amazing XBLA/PSN/PC (And soon to be WiiWare) title that harks back to a simpler time in gaming. It's a delicate blend of parody and homage to numerous games and pop culture of the late 80s and early to mid 90s. There are references to Grand Theft Auto, Metal Gear, Robocop, Back to the Future, Mario, The Legend of Zelda, Sonic, Batman, PaperBoy, PunchOut and many more. The Gameplay: Gameplay wise the game is very similar to the old top down GTA games and it's clear that GTA was the main influence for the base gameplay, however the more you play the more you realise there's a lot more to the gameplay. You can jump and stomp people like Mario and Sonic, you can hide behind walls like Solid Snake and you can sling around on the arm from Bionic Commando. The city is vibrant with lots of missions and side quests and plenty to do. Most of the characters are parodies/references to real ones and they raise a chuckle. Notable early on apperances from a bandanna clad, cardboard box wearing veteran by the name of Major Lee Solid and an evil scientist called Dr Von Buttnik. Gameplay is fun and fruity and it doesn't get too boring or repetitive. Graphics: Most of the game is in mock 8-Bit and really does feel like an old NES title in that respect (apart from it being too vibrant and smooth) The game looks beautiful and it has a real charm about it. Unlocking extra characters for free roam mode sometimes yields a change in the city (MineCraft Steve turns everyone into block heads and the city's colours become a lot softer for example) Everything runs smoothly and fills you with nostalgia. Audio: The audio, like the graphics, is very true to the time period the game tries to mimic. Chirpy bit tunes and midi sound effects really go toward creating the atmosphere of an early 90s video game. Some tracks sound very similar to those from actual games/shows and you'll notice that more as you play. Longevity: There's plenty to do in the game and a lot of exploring to be had. The main storyline keeps you busy with quests and missions whilst giving you plenty of freedom to explore and do things your own way. There's a Free Roam mode which is intense fun and allows you to play as cameo characters that you unlock within the story mode. Free Roam gives you unlimited money and no set missions which really opens the city up to you. I've spent a fair while taking on the army in my pimped out gold shopping cart (complete with a cannon) and even more time just driving around mowing down civilians for coins. The city is full of secrets, warp pipes, different areas and vehicles to mess about with. There's even an in game Arcade you can play games on. My Verdict This is a title not to be missed, especially for anyone who was gaming back in the 80s/90s. At only 1200 ms points (roughly $15 I think? It's just under £10 here) you can't really go wrong. The city and colourful parodies will keep you busy and seeing all the homages and nods to other franchises will constantly have you cracking a smile. Probably the best arcade/WiiWare release of 2013 thus far.
Moved this to the community reviews section. :P Anyway, nice review. I've never played RCR, but I've heard about it all over the internet. It seems pretty fun, especially after reading your review, so I'll have to check it out on Live sometime.
The trial lets you free roam for a fair time to get a feel for things (You can only play the story up to the part where you meet Major Lee Solid however) The development story might be the most interesting thing about the game. Started off as a fan made homebrew 8bit GTA 3 remake titled "Grand Theftendo" for the NES. The more he worked on the game the more the creator started to put in homages to other things he loved and the concept and game grew from there.
