Retro City Rampage DX

Genre: Top-Down Open-World Action-RPG

Players: 1

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Review:

Retro City Rampage is an Open-World Top-Down Action-RPG originally released in 2012 on PC, PlayStation 3, and PlayStation Vita, with Xbox 360 and Wii versions releasing in 2013, and PlayStation 4 and Nintendo 3DS releasing in 2014, mobile devices and PlayStation Portable in 2016, and then to Nintendo Switch in 2017. Starting with the Nintendo 3DS game, the game got upgraded to an expanded “DX” version, with other versions later updated to include the additions added in this version.

In broad strokes, Retro City Rampage is a bit like a Top-Down 2D take on a game like Grand Theft Auto, where players take the role of a criminal who can steal any vehicle, wreak carnage on the populace, and get into countless police chases over the course of the game. However, this is really only a surface-level look at the game that doesn’t really describe it. I think it would be more fitting to describe this as a whimsical Action game where players find themselves in all sorts of odd situations based on pop culture, specifically classic videogames, TV, and movies.

Just to give you an idea, the game’s intro mission has Player (the protagonist’s name) robbing a bank under the direction of a Joker-type character, complete with a bus ramming into the bank as an escape vehicle. When things go awry, you’re given a set of speed-enhancing shoes and beat up a blue hedgehog, and not long after this you’re on the run from parodies of the A-Team and the Ninja Turtles before you steal a time-traveling telephone booth from Bill and Ted parodies, only to then encounter a Back to the Future Doc Brown-style character who mistakes you as a time-traveling hero. Again, all of that it in the first intro mission, and I didn’t even mention everything that happens.

This game’s humor is supported by a good presentation with some expressive retro-style pixel art 2D visuals, with these visuals often making nods to videogames it parodies, such as one mission clearly designed to mimic the classic game Paperboy even including a character on his back in the middle of the street struggling to get pants on, even using a very similar 3-frame animation to what was in that game. These visuals are joined by a decent chiptune soundtrack that you can often cycle through just like you’re selecting radio stations in a Grand Theft Auto game, with some of the game’s tunes also mimicking classic videogame songs.

I think the gameplay of Retro City Rampage gets some things right and some things wrong. Unlike many Open-World games, I think this game is at its best when you’re engaging in the game’s campaign missions, which are creative, have some really funny writing, and offer a good variety of gameplay. And while the in-game driving takes a bit of getting used to, once you do it works pretty well.

What I don’t think works especially well are the Open-World elements. There just isn’t enough to do in the game’s Open World other than taking on missions or side-missions, or just causing general destruction. There are some interesting points of interest here and there, such as a videogame arcade with a few playable parody games, but these places are relatively self-contained. Furthermore, while there are a few visually-interesting areas, most of the game’s map looks pretty samey.

I still think Retro City Rampage is enjoyable and it overall works, just maybe not as an Open-World game. While those parts of the game are shallow, the actual campaign missions and side-missions are really fun, and if you focus on those, I think you’ll find this to be a wonderfully creative and varied Action game.

tl;dr – Retro City Rampage is an Open-World Top-Down Action-RPG that looks like a retro-style take on something like Grand Theft Auto, but filled with a multitude of silly pop culture references. This game’s Open World feels a bit shallow and lacking, but the game’s story missions and side-missions are wonderfully varied, and so long as you focus on these, this game can be a lot of fun.

Grade: B

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