Software:Rampage World Tour

From HandWiki
Short description: 1997 video game
Rampage World Tour
Arcade flyer
Developer(s)Game Refuge[lower-alpha 1]
Publisher(s)Midway
Ports
Designer(s)
  • Brian Colin
  • Jeff Nauman
SeriesRampage
Platform(s)Arcade, PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, Windows
Release
Genre(s)Action
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade systemMidway Wolf Unit

Rampage World Tour is a 1997 action video game developed by Game Refuge and published by Midway Games for arcades. It is the sequel to 1986's Rampage, and was designed by Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman, who designed the original game. Ports were released for the PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Color, and Microsoft Windows. It was re-released on Midway Arcade Treasures 2 and included in Software:Rampage: Total Destruction.

Plot

The evil and corrupt Scumlabs causes an accident that unleashes three giant monsters named George, Lizzie, and Ralph. The trio begin to destroy all of Scumlabs' bases scattered throughout the world and kill its employees. In the last levels, Scumlabs CEO Eustace DeMonic turns himself into a monster in an attempt to combat George, Lizzie, and Ralph, but is defeated during a battle on a lunar base. After this, the only surviving Scumlabs employee, Dr. Elizabeth Veronica, tries to disintegrate the monsters with a ray gun on her spaceship, but it instead shrinks them to a miniature size, and they wind up inside her ship. George and Ralph pose on the shelves, while Lizzie bounces atop of Veronica's breasts (though the latter portion is censored on home ports).

Gameplay

The player's goal is to destroy buildings; as pictured here in the arcade version, George is smashing a building as a tank approaches.

Like in the first Rampage game, the goal of every stage is to destroy all the buildings in each city while avoiding or destroying the military forces. If the player takes too long in destroying the city, jets will fly in and bomb the remaining buildings, ending the stage with a lower score.

In the first level, Peoria, a tourism billboard cycles through different regions in the country (Northeast, Southwest, etc.). Destroying the billboard when it is showing one of these regions will send the player in that direction. Players may also choose to eat or ignore the "World Tour" power-ups and control which country they can visit. After getting a World Tour power-up, the next few levels take place in a foreign location until a Scumlabs plant is destroyed. Purple radioactive waste temporarily transforms the player into a super monster known as V.E.R.N. The game will not end until every Scumlabs city has been destroyed, which may cause some erratic traveling around towards the end of the game (including multiple world tour trips if the players have missed or purposely kept from getting world tour flags).

The arcade version supports up to three players simultaneously. Though it was announced that the PlayStation version would also support three players, both the PlayStation and Saturn versions allow only two players.[3][4] Three player support apparently was programmed into the port at one point and pulled at the last minute, since a review of the PlayStation version in Electronic Gaming Monthly describes three player gameplay.[5] The Nintendo 64 conversion includes full three-player functionality.[6][7]

Release

The home ports were published in Europe by GT Interactive.[8] Shortly after the home ports were released, Rampage World Tour was exhibited at the JAMMA arcade show in Japan, but garnered little interest.[9] Despite this, the game was never released in Japan.

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
ArcadeN64PSSaturn
EGM5.75/10[12]7.75/10[5]
GameSpot3.0/10[13]
IGN4.9/10[6]5.0/10[14]
N64 Magazine54%[15]
Next GenerationStarStar[16]StarStar[17]
PlayStation Pro4/10[18]
Sega Saturn Magazine69%[4]
Aggregate score
GameRankings57%[10]59%[11]

Next Generation reviewed the arcade version of the game. They derided the decision to continue using sprites for the graphics instead of polygons, concluding that "Rampage World Tour seems aimed at satisfying gamers' yearning for past titles like Space Invaders or Pac-Man. Fair enough, but all this remake will accomplish is to make gamers yearn for the original more than ever."[16]

Critics agreed that the console ports are nearly arcade-perfect,[5][19][3][13] though some criticized the PlayStation and Saturn versions for supporting only two players instead of the three supported in the arcade version.[3][20][21] However, they were divided about the game itself. Many hailed it as a fun revival of an arcade classic.[5][19][3][6] For example, Shawn Smith wrote in Electronic Gaming Monthly that "There's nothing like sitting down and playing a good old-time game. It's even better to do it when it has been enhanced, but still has the same feel as the original."[5] Despite giving the PlayStation version a score of only 5.7 out of 10, Jeff Gerstmann highly recommended the game due to its new gameplay tricks and larger levels, and said the only possible way to improve on it would be with three-player support.[3] However, the majority criticized the game's 2D sidescrolling format as antiquated,[12][13][14][17][4][21] and some further remarked that the simplicity and repetitiveness of the Rampage gameplay, while highly enjoyable in arcades, was not suited to the home console format.[12][14][4][22] Adam Douglas explained in IGN that the Rampage series "was great for getting your aggressions out and then moving on. Why would you want to play this game for hours at a time?"[14] Sega Saturn Magazine similarly held that "The coin-op was a great laugh for about ten minutes or so, but the lack of variety in the level design and the shallow nature of the gameplay meant that it soon grew quite tiresome. Despite the meagre improvements to the update, the very same criticisms can be levelled at Rampage World Tour."[4] Even Smith showed a loss of enthusiasm in his review of the later Nintendo 64 version, now stating that the game is fun at first but quickly grows old. His co-reviewer John Ricciardi disagreed, saying that though the game lacks variety it can nonetheless be engrossing for hours on end.[12]

In a review of the PlayStation version, GamePro was more undecided: "With plenty of special moves and power-ups to discover as you lay waste to more than 100 cities, the gameplay certainly lasts - just don't expect it to change much. Then again, sometimes it's good to turn off your brain and turn up the cosmic carnage."[20] However, a different GamePro critic reviewed the Saturn version, and opined that the game's "utter failure to take advantage of new technology and add new elements to the original Rampage is inexcusable."[21] A third GamePro critic, reviewing the Nintendo 64 version, likewise found that the game added little new and suffers from repetitive gameplay and music, and a lack of variety in the buildings which players spend most of their time demolishing.[22] Next Generation reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game, and stated that "Despite the three-player mode, no amount of graphic flash or nostalgia can improve a style of gameplay whose day has passed."[17]

Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World noted that the PC port of the game had performance and graphics issues when played in full-screen mode. The best performance was achieved when the screen was set to a postcard-sized frame. He found the action to be basic, although there is a variety of animation. He added that it is "suffused with all the monster movie fun that was conspicuously lacking in the recent Godzilla film".[23]

Notes

  1. ↑ PlayStation version developed by Midway Studios San Diego; Saturn and Windows versions developed by Point of View; Nintendo 64 version developed by Saffire; Game Boy Color version developed by Digital Eclipse.

References

  1. ↑ Akagi, Masumi (13 October 2006) (in ja). アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005). Japan: Amusement News Agency. p. 125. ISBN 978-4990251215. https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n125/mode/2up. 
  2. ↑ Johnston, Chris (October 21, 1997). "Midway Goes on Rampage". Archived from the original on February 21, 1999. https://web.archive.org/web/19990221145024/http://headline.gamespot.com/news/97_10/21_midway/index.html. Retrieved August 7, 2022. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GSPS
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Nutter, Lee (February 1998). "Review: Rampage World Tour". Sega Saturn Magazine (Emap Images) (28): 66-67. https://archive.org/details/Official_Sega_Saturn_Magazine_028. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Kraig Kujawa; David Siller; Shawn Smith; Sushi-X (December 1997). "Review Crew: Rampage World Tour". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (101): 205. ISSN 1058-918X. https://retrocdn.net/images/1/15/EGM_US_101.pdf. Retrieved 2020-06-08. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Casamassina, Matt (March 30, 1998). "Rampage: World Tour". https://www.ign.com/articles/1998/03/31/rampage-world-tour-3. 
  7. ↑ "Rampage: World Tour: Big Ol' Monsters on the N64". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (105): 36. April 1998. 
  8. ↑ "Preview: Rampage World Tour". Sega Saturn Magazine (Emap International Limited) (27): 26–27. January 1998. 
  9. ↑ Ken Ogasawara; Major Mike (January 1998). "The 1997 Amusement Machine Show: The Year of the Cobra". GamePro (IDG) (112): 50. 
  10. ↑ "Rampage World Tour for Nintendo 64". Archived from the original on 2019-12-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20191209001154/http://www.gamerankings.com:80/n64/198410-rampage-world-tour/index.html. Retrieved 2022-05-13. 
  11. ↑ "Rampage World Tour for PlayStation". Archived from the original on 2019-12-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20191209001001/https://www.gamerankings.com/ps/198411-rampage-world-tour/index.html. Retrieved 2022-05-13. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "Review Crew: Rampage World Tour". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (106): 99. May 1998. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Smith, Josh. "Rampage World Tour Review". ZDNet. https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/rampage-world-tour-review/1900-2534058/. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 Douglas, Adam (October 28, 1997). "Rampage: World Tour". https://www.ign.com/articles/1997/10/28/rampage-world-tour. 
  15. ↑ Kitts, Martin (June 1998). "Rampage World Tour". N64 Magazine (Future Publishing) (16): 57. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 "Finals: Rampage World Tour". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (34): 183. October 1997. ISSN 1078-9693. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_34. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 "Finals: Rampage World Tour". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (41): 108-109. May 1998. ISSN 1078-9693. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_41. 
  18. ↑ PlayStation Pro #18 (March 1998) p. 26–27
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named GS64
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Bad Hare (December 1997). "PlayStation ProReview: Rampage World Tour". GamePro (IDG Communications) (111): 166. ISSN 1042-8658. https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_111_Volume_09_Number_12_1997-12_IDG_Publishing_US/page/n167/mode/2up. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 Boba Fatt (March 1998). "Saturn ProReview: Rampage World Tour". GamePro (IDG Communications) (114): 101. ISSN 1042-8658. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Scary Larry (May 1998). "Nintendo 64 ProReview: Rampage World Tour". GamePro (IDG) (116): 76. 
  23. ↑ Ardai, Charles (October 1998). "Crush, Crumble, and Chaw: Rampage World Tour". Computer Gaming World (San Francisco, CA: Ziff Davis) (171): 230. https://archive.org/details/Computer_Gaming_World_Issue_171/page/n233/mode/2up. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  • No URL found. Please specify a URL here or add one to Wikidata.

Template:Atari





Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Software:Rampage_World_Tour&oldid=3960497"