Rampage (arcade game)
Encyclopedia
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.
-like gorilla
), Lizzie (a Godzilla
-like dinosaur
/lizard
), or Ralph (a giant werewolf
), created from mutated humans. When they were humans, George was a normal middle aged man, Lizzie was a young woman, and Ralph was an elderly man. They were experimented on at Scumlabs. As monsters, they need to raze all buildings in a high-rise city to advance to the next level, eating people and destroying helicopter
s, tank
s, taxi
s, police car
s, boat
s, and trolleys along the way.
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 bomb
s, electrical appliances, and cigarette
s. 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. When a civilian is present waving their 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, Lizzy 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 1.
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-three U.S. states. Only Connecticut
, Delaware
, Mississippi
, New Hampshire
, Rhode Island
, South Carolina
, and Vermont
are spared.
s and video game console
s of its time, including the Atari 2600
, Atari 7800
, Atari Lynx, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST
, Commodore 64
, MS-DOS
/IBM PC
, ZX Spectrum
, Amstrad CPC
, 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 the Nintendo GameCube
, PlayStation 2
, and Xbox
. This game is also available as a bonus feature in Rampage: Total Destruction
. Tiger Electronics
released a handheld LCD version of the game in the 1990s.
The Amstrad CPC
port (published by Activision) has in-game music ripped from the basement level of the arcade game Trojan
, though strangely Trojan was never ported to the Amstrad, a finished version was completed for the ZX Spectrum
by Clive Townsend and was to be published by Elite Systems
, but was never officially released.
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 Rampage: World Tour, later followed by console-exclusive games including Rampage 2: Universal Tour
, Rampage Through Time
, and Rampage Puzzle Attack
. The most recent game in the series is Rampage: Total Destruction
.
and Amstrad CPC
. This videogame was widely considered as a ripoff
of Rampage, using the very same mechanics with a different setting.
with John Rickard
set to direct.
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
by Bally Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
. 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 KongKing Kong
King Kong is a fictional character, a giant movie monster resembling a gorilla, that has appeared in several movies since 1933. These include the groundbreaking 1933 movie, the film remakes of 1976 and 2005, as well as various sequels of the first two films...
-like gorilla
Gorilla
Gorillas are the largest extant species of primates. They are ground-dwelling, predominantly herbivorous apes that inhabit the forests of central Africa. Gorillas are divided into two species and either four or five subspecies...
), Lizzie (a Godzilla
Godzilla
is a daikaijū, a Japanese movie monster, first appearing in Ishirō Honda's 1954 film Godzilla. Since then, Godzilla has gone on to become a worldwide pop culture icon starring in 28 films produced by Toho Co., Ltd. The monster has appeared in numerous other media incarnations including video games,...
-like dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
/lizard
Lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with nearly 3800 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica as well as most oceanic island chains...
), or Ralph (a giant werewolf
Werewolf
A werewolf, also known as a lycanthrope , is a mythological or folkloric human with the ability to shapeshift into a wolf or an anthropomorphic wolf-like creature, either purposely or after being placed under a curse...
), created from mutated humans. When they were humans, George was a normal middle aged man, Lizzie was a young woman, and Ralph was an elderly man. They were experimented on at Scumlabs. As monsters, they need to raze all buildings in a high-rise city to advance to the next level, eating people and destroying helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
s, tank
Tank
A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...
s, taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
s, police car
Police car
A police car is a ground vehicle used by police, to assist with their duties in patrolling and responding to incidents. Typical uses of a police car include transportation for officers to reach the scene of an incident quickly, to transport criminal suspects, or to patrol an area, while providing a...
s, boat
Boat
A boat is a watercraft of any size designed to float or plane, to provide passage across water. Usually this water will be inland or in protected coastal areas. However, boats such as the whaleboat were designed to be operated from a ship in an offshore environment. In naval terms, a boat is a...
s, and trolleys along the way.
Gameplay
Monsters can jump and climb buildings, and punch enemies and buildings. Buildings also take damage when jumped on by a monster. The player's monster 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 blimpBlimp
A blimp, or non-rigid airship, is a floating airship without an internal supporting framework or keel. A non-rigid airship differs from a semi-rigid airship and a rigid airship in that it does not have any rigid structure, neither a complete framework nor a partial keel, to help the airbag...
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 bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
s, electrical appliances, and cigarette
Cigarette
A cigarette is a small roll of finely cut tobacco leaves wrapped in a cylinder of thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder; its smoke is inhaled from the other end, which is held in or to the mouth and in some cases a cigarette holder may be used as well...
s. Some items can be both; for example, a toaster
Toaster
The toaster is typically a small electric kitchen appliance designed to toast multiple types of bread products. A typical modern two-slice toaster draws anywhere between 600 and 1200 W and makes toast in 1 to 3 minutes...
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. When a civilian is present waving their 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, Lizzy can hold men, and Ralph can hold businessmen.
Rampage is set over the course of 128 days in cities across North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. The game starts in Peoria, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
and ends in Plano, Illinois
Plano, Illinois
Plano is a city in Kendall County, Illinois, United States near Aurora, with a population of 5,633 at the 2000 census. The city is rapidly growing with new subdivisions such as Lakewood Springs completed and several other developments under construction or in the planning stages. Former Speaker...
. 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 1.
Some of the home port versions of the game start in San Jose, California
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
and end in Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
after going all around North America. The rampage travels through two Canadian provinces and forty-three U.S. states. Only Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, Delaware
Delaware
Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, Rhode Island
Rhode Island
The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
, South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
, and Vermont
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
are spared.
Ports
Rampage was ported to most home computerHome computer
Home computers were a class of microcomputers entering the market in 1977, and becoming increasingly common during the 1980s. They were marketed to consumers as affordable and accessible computers that, for the first time, were intended for the use of a single nontechnical user...
s and video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
s of its time, including the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
, Atari 7800
Atari 7800
The Atari 7800 ProSystem, or simply the Atari 7800, is a video game console re-released by Atari Corporation in January 1986. The original release had occurred two years earlier under Atari Inc. The 7800 had originally been designed to replace Atari Inc.'s Atari 5200 in 1984, but was temporarily...
, Atari Lynx, Atari 8-bit, Atari ST
Atari ST
The Atari ST is a home/personal computer that was released by Atari Corporation in 1985 and commercially available from that summer into the early 1990s. The "ST" officially stands for "Sixteen/Thirty-two", which referred to the Motorola 68000's 16-bit external bus and 32-bit internals...
, Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, MS-DOS
MS-DOS
MS-DOS is an operating system for x86-based personal computers. It was the most commonly used member of the DOS family of operating systems, and was the main operating system for IBM PC compatible personal computers during the 1980s to the mid 1990s, until it was gradually superseded by operating...
/IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
, ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
, Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, and Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
. The Atari Lynx version adds a special fourth character named Larry, a giant rat
Rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents of the superfamily Muroidea. "True rats" are members of the genus Rattus, the most important of which to humans are the black rat, Rattus rattus, and the brown rat, Rattus norvegicus...
. The NES version excludes Ralph, reducing the number of monsters to two. Rampage was included as part of the Arcade Party Pak
Arcade Party Pak
Arcade Party Pak is a PlayStation compilation of six Atari Games , Midway, and Williams arcade titles: 720°, Klax, Rampage, Smash TV, Super Sprint, and Toobin...
for the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
in 1999. More recently, Rampage was included in 2003's Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures
Midway Arcade Treasures is a collection of 24 arcade games developed by Digital Eclipse and released by Midway for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PC....
, a compilation of arcade games for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
, PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
, and Xbox
Xbox
The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console...
. This game is also available as a bonus feature in Rampage: Total Destruction
Rampage: Total Destruction
Rampage: Total Destruction is the latest sequel to the Rampage arcade game produced by Midway Games. The game was released on April 24, 2006 in North America for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 . It has also been released on the Wii .-Gameplay:Rampage: Total Destruction is rendered in 3D but has 2D...
. Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics is an American toy manufacturer, best known for its handheld LCD games, the Furby, and Giga Pets. When Tiger was an independent company, Tiger Electronics Inc., its headquarters were in Vernon Hills, Illinois....
released a handheld LCD version of the game in the 1990s.
The Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
port (published by Activision) has in-game music ripped from the basement level of the arcade game Trojan
Trojan (video game)
is a side-scrolling action game produced by Capcom originally released as a coin operated video game in . The arcade version was distributed in North America by Romstar. A home version for the Nintendo Entertainment System was released during the same year. The original coin-op version is included...
, though strangely Trojan was never ported to the Amstrad, a finished version was completed for the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
by Clive Townsend and was to be published by Elite Systems
Elite Systems
Elite Systems is a UK video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. They are best known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games...
, but was never officially released.
In July 2000, Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
licensed Rampage, along with other Williams Electronics games, to Shockwave
Macromedia Shockwave
Adobe Shockwave is a multimedia platform used to add animation and interactivity to web pages. It allows Adobe Director applications to be published on the Internet and viewed in a web browser on any computer which has the Shockwave plug-in installed...
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 Rampage: World Tour, later followed by console-exclusive games including Rampage 2: Universal Tour
Rampage 2: Universal Tour
Rampage 2: Universal Tour is the third game in the Rampage series. It is a direct sequel to Rampage: World Tour.-Story:George, Lizzie, and Ralph have been captured for the world to see...
, Rampage Through Time
Rampage Through Time
Rampage Through Time is the fourth game in the Rampage series. It was released on June 9, 2000. Its predecessor is Rampage 2: Universal Tour, and it is followed by Rampage: Total Destruction. In the game, seven previous Scumlabs monsters and one new one use a time machine to rampage through...
, and Rampage Puzzle Attack
Rampage Puzzle Attack
Rampage Puzzle Attack is a puzzle game for Game Boy Advance, developed by Finnish development house Ninai Games and published by Midway Games.The game is based on the Rampage characters...
. The most recent game in the series is Rampage: Total Destruction
Rampage: Total Destruction
Rampage: Total Destruction is the latest sequel to the Rampage arcade game produced by Midway Games. The game was released on April 24, 2006 in North America for the GameCube and PlayStation 2 . It has also been released on the Wii .-Gameplay:Rampage: Total Destruction is rendered in 3D but has 2D...
.
Controversy
In 1986, a few months after the release of the home editions of Rampage, US Gold published a similar game called Ramparts on various home platforms, including Commodore 64Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
and Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
. This videogame was widely considered as a ripoff
Ripoff
A ripoff is a bad financial transaction. Usually it refers to an incident in which a person overpays for something. A ripoff is distinguished from a scam in that a scam involves wrongdoing such as fraud; whether or not something is a ripoff, on the other hand, is a matter of opinion.In a related...
of Rampage, using the very same mechanics with a different setting.
Film
On November 18, 2011 it was announced that a feature film based on the game is in tentative development by New Line CinemaNew Line Cinema
New Line Cinema, often simply referred to as New Line, is an American film studio. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye and Michael Lynne as a film distributor, later becoming an independent film studio. It became a subsidiary of Time Warner in 1996 and was merged with larger sister studio Warner...
with John Rickard
John Rickard
John Hellyar Rickard is a former Chief Economic Advisor to the British Government.- Education :* Ilford County High School* St John's College, Oxford * University of Aston in Birmingham ....
set to direct.