Rampage 2: Universal Tour

"Not much has changed from the NES version"

I picked up this game from the used bin of my local video store, motivated by a rush of nostalgia at seeing the ''Rampage'' title. It reminded me of a time about 12 years ago when I bought Rampage for the NES, from, funnily enough, the used bin of my local video game store. Imagine my disappointment after taking it home and playing it for a couple of hours only to realize that almost nothing has changed from the NES version!

Maybe it's just that mindless and repetitive destruction was more fun when I was ten, but I couldn't help thinking ''is this all there is?'' when playing this version of Rampage. I had hoped that given all the time they had to tweak and improve the game, not to mention having a more powerful system to work with, there would be noticeable differences. But there weren't, aside from the occasional full-motion video sequence and the fact that you can now play as a genetically altered rat, crab or rhino as well as the traditional Rampage monsters.

Story 7/10
The game begins in the aftermath of the last Rampage. Worldwide repairs have just been completed and the three monsters who caused all the destruction, George, Lizzie and Ralph, have been imprisoned on different continents. However there is an accident at a genetic engineering lab and three new monsters escape. Your goal is to play one of these monsters, travel to each continent and free Lizzie, George and Ralph, and of course wreak havoc and mayhem along the way.

Gameplay 5/10
You begin the game as one of the three new monsters, and can choose which continent to begin on. (You'll get to all three eventually.) Having three new monsters is cool visually, but actually every monster handles more or less the same and has the same moves. More variety here would have made a big difference to the gameplay. As you free each original monster they will be added to your roster, for a total of 6 playable monsters. Each level is a different city, and you have to destroy all the buildings in it to move on to the next level. You destroy buildings by kicking or punching holes in them until they collapse. While destroying the building you may come across items such as food, pipes, and appliances. Some items will hurt you and some will help. You can also take to the streets and squash cars or eat helpless humans that are running around in terror. In later stages, planes and helicopters will shoot at you from the air, and tanks and annoying little men with guns will harass you from the ground. This was fun for about 15 levels, but by then I had realized that every city was almost identical: the buildings were the same, the background was the same, and there were no distinguishing landmarks whatsoever. Destroying buildings is accomplished by monotonous button-mashing that is hard on the thumb, and the constant barrage of missiles from tanks, planes, helicopters and people shooting at you is very annoying. And why do you take damage from the plane's bombs even if you are above the plane when it drops them??

Audio 4/10
The music was very repetitive, and I don't think it fit the mood of the game overly well. When I'm on a spree of destruction I want to hear music that will get the adrenaline flowing! Instead I heard light, almost silly music. Sound effects were average.

Video 5/10
The full-motion video sequences were very nicely done and were a highlight of the game. The in-game graphics themselves were ok in some respects; the monsters looked good and had a fair amount of detail. The other things in the game, however, didn't. I found it hard to tell what some of the items were because many of them looked like little colored blobs. The background scenery and buildings were quite bland and, as I've already mentioned, barely changed at all through the levels.

Replayability 1/10
I doubt very much that you would want to play this game a second time, because by the time you finish it you will have played the same level for 100+ times anyway.

Conclusion
This game must have something special, because it keeps getting reincarnated on each new system that comes out. But with those reincarnations, no significant changes or improvements are being made. People may say ''don't mess with a good thing,'' but there are several things about Rampage that simply aren't good! Maybe it snuck up and became a Classic when I wasn't looking. But I just don't see it that way.

To buy or rent?
If you own a Rampage game already I don't see why you would want to bother with this one. If you are curious about the Rampage series, or think that mindlessly smashing things sounds like fun, this would be a great game because you get 6 playable monsters instead of the usual 3.

Reviewer's Score: 5/10, Originally Posted: 08/12/02, Updated 05/06/03