Open World. Action Parody. License to Steal.
This fall, Vblank Entertainment Inc. brings us the highly anticipated release of Retro City Rampage. Available for download as an Xbox Live Arcade title. This game has pretty much achieved a cult status already within the world of hardcore and old school gamers for its amazing nostalgic qualities. It takes old generation greatness and appears to make it look awesome all over again, with some good old fashioned humor thrown in.
The more I’ve read about RCR this past month, the more I knew I had to play it. I love the newer cinematic, interactive style games that are out there today (i.e. COD, Homefront, FFXIII, etc.) but nothing stands the test of time more than a great game. Just look at some of the classics we still talk about today, Contra, Grand Theft Auto, Metroid, Castlevania, Zelda, Bionic Commando, Dragon Warrior. The list goes on and on.
The first nod to these classic titles comes from developer, Brian Provinciano, with his choice of graphics and an outstanding musical score (created by Leonard J. Paul, Matthew Creamer and Jake Kaufman). The graphics look like they hit the nostalgia senses brilliantly while the score brings back so many memories of countless great days spent with friends. You can be sure there will be plenty other nods to the great days of old, all throughout the RCR experience. The game boasts roughly 40 story missions and 30 challenge levels in total, all taking place in a wide, open world environment that should lead to some frantic action and nerve pounding button smashing.
I do love the interactive cinematic style of the games we are being bombarded with as of late, but will these titles hold up to the test of time as so many 8-bit classics did? I love a game that shocks me with its mind-blowingly- good graphics, but would I ever trade that for an honest, challenging, fun game… never! The release of this game could be a turning point in the future of game releases. It has the potential to do for video games what Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse films did for B-movies everywhere, remind people once more that something old can still be good entertainment. Do we want a large quantity of digital accomplishments to brag about or do we want good, quality hours of fun?
Below are a few more screenshots and the first gameplay trailer below. We are definitely looking forward to this one.
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