Rotor Rampage (Duke/Mcilveen) $10 USD
Game title: Rotor Rampage
Game description: Rotor Rampage is a helicopter-themed arcade game where your objective is to steer your chopper through a labyrinthine complex, rescuing a specific number of trapped people. To do this, you will have to evade alien enemies, missile rockets, and other hazards, all while managing your limited ammo and fuel supply, both of which can be replenished by landing on designated areas within the game world. Large parts of the game world can be shot at or bombed, allowing closed-off sections to be opened up. The game also contains hidden switches that you need to either shoot or fly over to unlock hidden doors. Rotor Rampage comes in two versions - Lite (core level plus 5 more) and Full (core level plus 10 more). Each of the levels on offer has its own distinct graphical theme.
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Production - 68%
68%
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Fun - 81%
81%
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Depth - 85%
85%
Summary
As you start the game, you might be forgiven for thinking that this is a low-budget type of game with its rudimentary graphical style and spare sounds that won’t sustain your interest. But Rotor Rampage is a case of not judging a book by its cover. Not only does each level offer a substantial gameplay arena, apparently containing over 160,000 pixel blocks, but there are also sections of the game environment that you can interact with by shooting them to not only open up access but also provide cover from attacks and hazards. I particularly like how debris and things like lava trickle down the screen, providing a nice sense of playing in a living world.
Controlling your helicopter is an easy affair for the most part as you are not having to deal with hovering or gravity, though the push-type scrolling mechanic does let the game down a little as you need to be quite close to the edge of the screen to invoke a horizontal scroll. Despite this, I found Rotor Rampage to be enjoyable to play as I went around the game complex, looking for hidden trigger points, and having to manage my ammo, fuel, and bomb supplies.
The game is available in two versions – Lite, which gives you 5 levels, and Full, which gives you 10 levels, with each level having different themes. Due to a mix of the level map size and the general difficulty, Rotor Rampage will provide many hours of gameplay. We will note that the price point for the game is quite high, with a starting price of $10 US Dollars for the Lite version and $17 for the full version. At RGN, the cost of a game is not factored in as part of the game score, but we would expect that the cost will be prohibitive to sales, and those that do pay for the game are likely to suggest that the game just fails to stand up to the standard you would expect from its price point, relative to other C64 games.
Setting aside the cost of the game, I had a good time with Rotor Rampage and was able to appreciate its old school gaming style and large expansive game world.
Overall
78%User Review
( votes)Pros
- Interactive game world
- Large levels with different themes
- Good challenge
Cons
- Basic graphical presentation
- Limited sound, no music
- Push style scrolling
- Expensive for what is on offer
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