Rampage (video game)
Three monsters raze cities across North America.
Rampage is a 1986 action arcade game developed and published by Bally Midway, inspired by monster films. Players control one of three humans transformed into giant monsters who must destroy cities and survive military attacks. The game was a financial success in arcades and spawned multiple ports, sequels, and a 2018 film adaptation.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Bally Midway
- Designer
- Brian Colin; Jeff Nauman
- Programmer
- Jeff Nauman
- Artist
- Brian Colin; Sharon Perry
- Composer
- Michael Bartlow
- Genre
- Action
- Modes
- Single-player, multiplayer
- Arcade system
- Midway MCR-III
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
Up to three players control a trio of humans transformed into giant animalistic monsters due to various experiment-related accidents: George, a scientist who became a King Kong-like gorilla from experimental vitamins; Lizzie, a woman who turned into a Godzilla-like reptile after swimming in radioactive waste; and Ralph, who became a gigantic werewolf after eating a hot dog with an unknown additive. The goal is to raze all buildings in a high-rise city to advance, while eating people and destroying helicopters, tanks, taxis, police cars, boats, and trolleys. Players can climb buildings and punch them to rubble. Non-playable humans can be punched or grabbed, and food items can be eaten to recover health. Damage comes from enemy bullets, shells, dynamite, other monsters' punches, lightning, and falling. If a monster takes too much damage, it reverts to human form and walks off screen; in that state, another monster can eat the human. Continuing returns the monster to full health, or if the human walked off, a blimp brings them back with full health but lost score. Smashing windows may reveal helpful items like food or money, or dangerous ones like bombs, electrical appliances, or cigarettes. A toaster is dangerous until toast appears; a photographer must be eaten quickly to avoid being blinded. Waving civilians increase points when grabbed. After five cycles of 128 days, the game resets to day 1. Developer Brian F Colin stated the hardware could not support more art and they never expected anyone to complete 768 levels.
Development
Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman, the lead designer and programmer respectively, weren't arcade enthusiasts. Colin wanted Rampage to have "no wrong way to play," so he avoided traditional goals like high scores, objectives, or player death. Sharon Perry, Jim Belt, and Michael Bartlow helped with art, testing, and music. The focus on smashing skyscrapers came from a technical limit: the developers could only move rectangular background shapes. Other limitations meant cities looked alike, Ralph and George shared a color palette and head model, and dust from crumbling buildings hid choppy animation. Management was skeptical about letting players be monsters destroying a city, slowing development until new leadership arrived. After launch, extra levels were added to raise the difficulty. For the opening cutscene showing three humans mutating, Colin used his own photo for George, his wife Rae’s for Lizzie, and Nauman’s for Ralph. Colin drew inspiration from King Kong and 20 Million Miles to Earth. Years later, he corrected a common belief that Lizzie was Godzilla; she was actually based on the Ymir from 20 Million Miles to Earth, since Godzilla was too big for the game’s size limits, and Colin preferred the work of Ray Harryhausen and Willis O’Brien.
Release and ports
Rampage was released for arcades in 1986. Colin promoted it via press releases to local media in each town mentioned in the game, styled as unofficial memos stating the town was slated for destruction. The game was ported to many platforms: Apple II, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Lynx, Atari 8-bit computers, Atari ST, Amiga, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, Nintendo Entertainment System, Master System, and Tandy Color Computer 3. The Lynx version includes a fourth character, Larry the giant rat, and was developed by Epyx from an unrelated clone called Monster Demolition. The NES version excludes Ralph, leaving two monsters. The arcade version appears in compilations: Arcade Party Pak (1999), Midway Arcade Treasures (2003), Midway Arcade Treasures: Extended Play (2005), as a bonus in Rampage: Total Destruction (2006), and Midway Arcade Origins (2012). Tiger Electronics released a handheld LCD version in 1997. Basic Fun released a mini arcade port of the NES version with Ralph added in 2017 as #10 of their Arcade Classics line. Rampage is an unlockable in Lego Dimensions (2015). In 2000, Midway licensed it to Shockwave for an online applet, converted by Digital Eclipse. An iOS port was released as part of the Midway arcade app. Arcade1Up released a mini 4-foot arcade cabinet in 2018.
Legacy
The original designers of Rampage World Tour, Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman, created it for Midway in 1997. Console-only sequels followed: Rampage 2: Universal Tour, Rampage Through Time, Rampage Puzzle Attack, and Rampage: Total Destruction. Disney animators have stated that the hero of Wreck-It Ralph (2012) was named after Rampage's werewolf character. A 2018 arcade reboot by Adrenaline Amusements for Warner Bros., tied to the film, launched exclusively at Dave & Buster's with redemption features. A loose film adaptation from Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema, directed by Brad Peyton and starring Dwayne Johnson, came out on April 13, 2018. It reimagines the classic trio George, Lizzie, and Ralph as mutated animals instead of transformed humans.
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