Rampage: Total Destruction

"A pretty decent Wii title"

As a child I would sit there and play Rampage on either the Atari or my Sega master system. Not sure which or if it was even out for both. Either way I loved the game to pieces. After that I didn't play the series again until it hit the original Playstation and boy did I love that game as well. Anyway, I got me a spanking new Wii and a co-worker loaned me her son's copy of Rampage. Does it bring back that classic feel or is it another series that should have stayed dead?

The idea behind Rampage is that some company has released an item that turns people into monsters. This time around it's a brand of soda so a mad scientist is trying to kill the monsters before anyone finds out. Well, you play the monsters so there isn't any character development. That doesn't matter though as the game contains a very arcade feel throughout the entire thing.

The graphics in the game look very much like clay animation. Not sure if that is a pro or con but it's far from impressive. It doesn't look terrible but it doesn't look good either. Kind of in between. The stages and stuff look alright. The pro to the graphics is that the level designs closely resemble the building styles of those cities so that was a plus. Animation and everything is smooth so it's just that the game doesn't look all that grand.

Sound in the game is a mixed bag. The few moments of voice work are decent but nothing special. Sound effects are good but nothing worth mentioning. The music in the game is kind of bland. It just didn't do anything for me. The sound in Rampage and World Tour however is top notch and just how I remember it. Makes me wonder why they couldn't clone that correctly.

This being the Wii version of a normal console game one could expect some rather tacked on controls that aren't good. Well, the controls are tacked on but to be honest they do work. I did have trouble figuring out how to grab someone from the ground and eat them but otherwise it was smooth. Move with the analog stick, B on the Wiimote is jump and A is attack so it's very simple to play this game. Not overly active or complex but it does get the job done.

Game play is simple. This is a game with 3d models but takes place in a 2d world. Fans of the original will feel at home but I think maybe 2.5 would be describe it as you can slightly walk into the stage to climb on buildings that are behind the front ones.

The goal of the game is to conquer these 8 cities. Each city is split up into sections. I'd say about 10 or so per city. They represent real areas in those cities.

Now, on all of those stages except the final stage in each city the main goal is to climb up the buildings and destroy them by punching them, jumping on them. Whatever it takes. The catch is that the army is after you so you'll have guys shooting at you and on later levels there will be tanks and other stuff coming after you.

It's pretty fun and to regain health you need to eat people or food but be careful what you eat. The characters don't seem to like healthy food. Speaking of characters I think there are 29 or so playable guys. Only a few are playable but the rest can be unlocked. Nothing much different about them except they look different. 10 of these characters are available only in the Wii version of the game.

As for replay value the game itself is of decent length. Each stage has a bonus goal that you can do so that's always good and adds a bit. Throw in the bonus characters to unlock, 2 party modes which I couldn't access due to no extra controllers and a time attack. Oh and did I mention the game also offers the classic Rampage and its sequel Rampage World Tour? Those alone make this game a worthy purchase if it's cheap enough.

I would never buy this game or recommend it for its main game. It's the two bonus games that really make the package appealing to me. I doubt if I'll ever buy the game but it is fine. If you're desperate for a new Wii game then maybe this one is worth looking into but as it stands the single player seems to be a rental only kind of thing.

Story - 6/10
Graphics - 6/10
Sound - 6/10
Control - 9/10
Game Play - 7/10
Replay Value - 9/10

Final Score - 7/10

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/02/07