Retro City Rampage™ DX Reviews

Scratches that OG GTA itch, really like the NES Zapper and main menu music.

This game feels like a mixture of gta 1 and that old lego game about being a pizza delivery guy and trying to stop the criminal with the blue hand

Sometimes I boot up a game I’ve had in my library for years only to fall in love with the medium of games all over again. It's fair to say that I love this game, not just for the gameplay but for the sublime writing too. It's perfect for the Deck and I wouldn't want to play it on my desktop, and perhaps that explains why I didn't touch it. Back in the day, before GTA was a household name, my Dad caught me playing GTA 2, which I’d got off a video card driver CD. He said “I don’t approve of running over pedestrians for points” and left the room. I guess he thought that the damage was done. Anyway, if he saw this game, he’d have a fit because it gives you combo multipliers for hitting as many peds as possible lol. RCR is more than an OG GTA clone though. It riffs off other games, and has the same sort of humour that you’re find in the old LucasArts points-and-click adventure games. In fact I swear that the main story is inspired by Day of the Tentacle. There’s even Mario influences in here, with jumping on enemy heads to kill them being a mechanic. The bottom line when it comes to vibes and influences though, is that RCR has *soul*. More soul than most games have. It’s not for everyone. You do need to be over a certain age I think. But underneath that crunchy exterior, an incredibly polished game is hiding. I’m not usually one for the “8-bit” aesthetic because it usually comes across as an excuse for cheaping out with the pretence of an “art style”, but it works here because it actually feels like the game is old. Not bad at all for a dev’s first commercial game - some who might be reading this (you know who you are) should take note, because while effort does not equal quality, effort plus a clear vision combined with research and *polish* does. I massively appreciate the DOS version too! That’s awesome, and more importantly, it's *authentic* in that the main game itself *sounds like DOS*, which PLENTY of so-called DOS tributes don't do. DOS sound cards did not sound like a freaking S/NES.