Picture being larger than life; a giant monster, a kaiju if you will. You have a big appetite and an even bigger anger management problem, but at least the world is your oyster to smash buildings and destroy as you see fit. It’s the kind of power fantasy that the world of video games feels perfect for. Watching a fun kaiju movie like Godzilla or Kong is entertaining, but what if you could be the giant monster? Many video games over the decades have entertained this idea, but one of the first ones to do it that left a huge impact on gaming is a fun little title simply called “Rampage.” From countless iterations of a tried-and-true formula to a major blockbuster film starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson in 2018, let us look back on a legacy spanning 4 decades.
Humble Beginnings
The original city smasher was released in arcades in 1986 by Bally Midway. Artist Brian Collin and Programmer Jeff Nauman wanted to create a game with big characters as a contrast to the relatively small characters of arcade games at the time. Collin wanted to create expressive characters, and he wanted background elements to be animated as well. After discussing it with his team, he was told the only thing they could animate for a background element was a rectangle and that made him think of a building, hence the building smashing mechanic was born. Collin is also a big fan of stop-motion monster movies, from animators Willis O’Brien and Ray Harryhausen. George is a clear nod to King Kong and surprisingly, Lizzie was inspired by the Ymir from “20,000 Miles to Earth,” not Godzilla, which was an infamous misconception for a while. Ralph’s inclusion came about to save space, as he is a palette swap for George with a wolf head! The premise of the game is simple: you play as one of the three monsters and wreck shop! In a subtle lore drop,we find out in the selection screen each monster is really a human that has mutated into a monster. It is a fun concept that carries throughout the game series. Collin’s artwork really shines through as the character poses and facial expressions are charmingly rendered. A “smashing” success upon its release,the original Rampage is still a blast to play today.
Bringing the Destruction Home
After being a success in arcades, a whole slew of ports were brought to home consoles and PCs. Due to vastly different hardware between consoles and PCS of the late 1980s, each version has their own distinct look. There were also some differences when it came to the playable characters, for instance in the NES version only George and Lizzie were playable, while the Atari Lynx had the original 3 and included a 4th monster in the form of Larry the Rat.
The Beasts Live Again
Rampage didn’t get a Bonafide sequel until 11 years later with 1997’s “Rampage: World Tour.” This version expands the story with an evil corporation (very realistic) called Scum Labs that experimented on George, Lizzie, and Ralph, turning them into giant mutant monsters. The game was developed by Game Refuge, which was founded by Brian Collin and Jeff Nauman in 1992. The graphics of this game are a mix of 2D sprites and 3D rendered models for the monsters, giving them an almost Claymation look. The charm is raised up to 11, with clever gags that continue to push the fun nature of the series. Some of my favorites are being struck by lightning when you eat a priest or nun and getting to eat a bunch of people at landmarks marked “Tourist Traps.” All in all, this is a solid update to Rampage that doesn’t reinvent the wheel.
“World Tour” received a direct sequel in 1999 with “Rampage 2: Universal Tour,” developed by Avalanche Software. This entry sees the original trio trapped in various parts of the world and they need to be rescued by a new trio of big critters, Boris the Rhino, Ruby the Lobster and Curtis the Rat (Justice for Larry!). Besides unlocking the original trio along the way, players can unlock an alien monster in the form of Myukus. Besides a slight change to the art style, the game is very similar to “World Tour,” but goes for a less saturated, almost more realistic look. There would be a couple of more Rampage sequels in this style with 2000’s “Rampage Through Time” which added Harley the Warthog and 2001’s “Rampage Puzzle Attack.”
The next sequel is the series’ most ambitious game yet with 2006’s “Rampage: Total Destruction.” Developed by the same studio behind the early 2000’s Godzilla fighting trilogy, Pipeworks Studios. This game features the franchise’s largest roster, with 30 playable monsters on the Nintendo GameCube and PlayStation 2 and 40 on the Nintendo Wii. The goofy nature of the series continues with the creation of the monsters this time coming from Scum Labs launching a new soda. This is almost Rampage’s first 3D game; as it allows for 3D movement of its characters, but the levels exist on single city blocks like the older games. So, it’s not quite 2.5D, but also not fully 3D – it sits somewhere in the middle. This game has a lot of fun with its 40 monsters roster and the creature designs are phenomenal. The monsters in this game look like they would have been perfect for an early 3D cartoon; they have an almost Pixar quality to them.
Outside of the Dave & Buster’s tie-in game for the 2018 movie (we will get to that), “Total Destruction” is officially the last Rampage game to come out as of this writing. There was development on a couple of Rampage titles in the 2010’s that never ended up seeing the light of day. Around 2012, a Rampage game for Xbox Kinect was being worked on that looked like it was going to be another reboot of sorts. Motion controls were included in the Wii version of “Total Destruction,” but a Rampage title that was made from the ground up with motion controls in mind could have been an interesting direction for the franchise.
The other notable cancelled title is a mysterious title known as “Rampage X”. It was being developed by Appy Entertainment. The roster was going to have 8 monsters, with 3 of them of course being our familiar George, Lizzie, and Ralph. From what we can glean from some concept art, it looks like George might have been mutated from a chimpanzee instead of a human this time around, which would have been a first for the series and predating that concept before the movie. New additions to gameplay would have been using various vehicles and objects as weapons to cause further destruction. It also would have included boss battles, like a zombified version of George. The coolest addition was going to be in the form of augments that would mutate your character further, like swapping arms for tentacles and having a third eye on your head to shoot lasers. It’s a shame this didn’t end up seeing the light of day; like it could have been an excellent addition to the franchise.
Crumbling With the Stars
In 2018, Rampage got the Hollywood treatment. The film was directed by Brad Peyton, who had previously worked with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson on “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island” (2012) and “San Andreas” (2015). Warner Bros. acquired the rights to Rampage in 2009, with the script going through many iterations over the years, including one where it was more faithful to the game where humans would mutate into the monsters. The finished film follows primatologist Davis Okoye (The Rock) who studies gorillas including an albino gorilla named George. After an encounter with a mysterious chemical from the wreckage of a downed satellite, George begins to grow in size and aggression. Destruction inevitably ensues, culminating with Geroge, Ralph (who can glide like a flying squirrel for some reason), and Lizzie (who is quite the impressive chimera in this film), destroying downtown Chicago. It’s a fun, goofy, nonsensical premise, much like the games, but unlike the games it does take itself too seriously at times (like did George really need to have that tragic backstory involving poachers murdering his mom?) in my opinion. The creature designs and animation are fantastic which is no surprise since the VFXs were mainly handled by Weta FX, the studio behind the effects of “The Lord of Rings” franchise. I think it was a great choice to have George as an albino Gorilla to make him stand apart from the typical big gorilla/King Kong-esque monster tropes. Ralph’s facial design feels the most in line with the goofy nature of the games and they gave him some unique abilities like the ability to shoot out porcupine like quills. The showstopper is definitely Lizzie, who towers over both George and Ralph.
She is a mix of critters from crocodiles to geckos and has some gnarly boar like tusks. All in all, it’s a fun popcorn film with some fantastic VFX, but it could have lightened things up a little to feel more in line with the games.
Monster-Size Merchandise
The release of the 2018 film would be accompanied by fun tie-in products, such as a Dave & Buster’s only game; which is neat in concept, but in execution, it is as a stripped-down version of Rampage as you can get. Outside of that, there was an assortment of action figures from the company Lanard, who the year prior made the toy line for “Kong: Skull Island.” The figures feature the trio in various sizes, but only George got the giant-size treatment. Lanard also released some Stretch Armstrong-like figures that looked more in line with the monsters’ original arcade designs.
40 years ago, Brian Collin, Jeff Nauman, and their team created a very special game. It showed how a simple premise could have legs, spawned sequels and even a movie. Sadly, there has not been a new Rampage game in 20 years. With the recent trend of remastering and releasing collections of older games, such as the “TMNT: Cowabunga Collection” or the “Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection,” I think there are plenty of versions of Rampage to include in a collection (especially if it included all the ports of the original game). For the time being, thanks to indie game creators, we have gotten a whole slew of kaiju games in the bold vein of something like Rampage. There is the fun party brawler by Passion Republic Games “GigaBash” and what feels like a spiritual successor to Rampage with Loren Lemcke’s “Terror of Hemasaurus.” As I was writing this article, a blast from the past was announced. It’s not quite Rampage but possibly the next best thing: The company Pipeworks Studios, which was mentioned earlier, are working on “Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee Remastered,” launching this year on Godzilla Day (November 3rd). So perhaps if this game is successful enough, perhaps we can see other older kaiju games make a resurgence and hopefully that will include our favorite destructive trio!
©Atari ©Pipeworks Studios
References
Rushdy, A. (2020, May 19). Kaiju Video Games – History of Rampage. Control All Monsters! https://controlallmonsters.com/2020/05/19/kaiju-video-games-history-of-rampage-1986/
monokoma. (2020, May 22). Rampage X (2014) [PC – Cancelled]. Unseen64. https://web.archive.org/web/20250816042123/https://www.unseen64.net/2020/05/22/rampagex-pc-cancelled/
Accessed via Wayback Machine.
Couch, A. (2018, April 13). ‘Rampage’ Director Brad Peyton Is Having a Love Affair with Blockbusters. The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/rampage-director-brad-peyton-knew-rock-before-he-was-a-superstar-1102368/
