Originally only to be released for Xbox Live Acade and WiiWare, Indie mega-game Retro City Rampage is now set to release on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita in May of this year. Announced as part of the PAX 10 in 2010, Retro City Rampage is an 8-bit game that plays like an open-world modern shooter. The game takes the best parts of classic and modern games and puts them into 8-bit form.

I had been following the game’s development since its first announcement almost two years ago. A few months ago, I had a chat with VBlank Entertainment’s Brian Provinciano, the creator and developer of Retro City Rampage and he game me an overview of what the game was about.

 “It’s kind of like Super Mario meets GTA meets a celebration of the entire history of video games. So steal cars, shoot people, jump on them like Mario stomps Goombas, collect coins, collect powerups and you get the idea.” 

Hit the jump to learn more about Retro City Rampage.

Hey! Haven't I seen this land somewhere before?

Remember the old school Grand Theft Auto games for the PC where it was top down? That’s kind of the game Retro City Rampage plays like. It’s got a colorful 8-bit look to it and lots of game references and in-jokes that hardcore gamers will definitely enjoy.

It’s also got a kick-ass story that people who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s will dig. When asked about the game’s plot and gameplay, Brian told me that RCR is a mixed bag of gameplay styles, characters and elements from other games that gamers will recognize.

 “The story mish-mashes gameplay styles, characters, and world elements from other video games to other movies and TV shows and so that means that the weapons are fairly recognizable. For example, you have a bionic arm, a light gun, and a thing kind of like a Ghostbusters Proton Pack. You’ll also get a chance to drive a DeLorean with flames coming out of the back of the car, setting people on fire.

And then what about the missions themselves? You get a job as a henchman for a super criminal and you start working for him to do a bank heist. But then something happens and you stumble across these guys kind of like Bill and Ted from Excellent Adventures and steal their time machine. So in GTA you’re stealing cars, in this, you’re stealing cars and and telephone booths (for time travel).  That’s where all the different possibilities come.”

The booth gets damaged, but you want to repair it and you think that you’re going to do a time and space crime spree. So you have to repair the booth to do that.” 

8-Bit Mayhem only in Retro City Rampage

Oh and let’s not forget about the super-secret game crossover cameos. Just like inXile Entertainment’s excellent Choplifter HD featured a Duke Nukem and Minecraft Cameo, Retro City Rampage will have characters from other IPs making their apperances in the game. So far we know that the Xbox Live Arcade’s recognizable ‘Splosion Man and the NES-era’s Duck Hunt dog will make their apperances in RCR.

 “Well, the cameos in the game fit right in perfectly. Starring other huge characters. So most of the game is a parody with homages and nudges to characters; there are some that are actually the REAL characters. They mix it up so they add some sidescrolling stuff, fast button timing stuff, rhythm, and one of them even supports red and blue 3D glasses. Not entirely hinting what they are. People have guessed what some of the crossovers are and I’ll just say they’re right in what their guesses are.” 

Finally, for an 8-bit game,  Retro City Rampage has about 50 story missions, more than 25 badass weapons, and about 30 arcade challenges. The arcade challenges are of course very repeatable, players will definitely want to beat everyone’s scores and get the coveted gold medals for picture perfect playthroughs.

Retro City Rampage is coming to the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita via the PSN on May 2012. For now, check out the most recent trailer for the game.

Discuss:

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