Review: Retro City Rampage DX

After what feels like a lifetime of teaser tweets, previews. Retro City Rampage DX is finally yours to download and play on 3DS. Looking like a NES game with attitude, RCR brings us a full on explosive nostalgia trip. Run, gun, swim and laugh hysterically to victory! NO SPOILERS are mentioned in the review as you have to discover its charms yourself. It’s the right way.

Pros:

• 8 Bit pixel graphics that pop on screen. The view used is a bit more zoomed in than before and shows off the chunky highly detailed pixel graphics.
• Chip Tune soundtrack covering drum and bass, techno and many more. You can put music on whenever you want by touching the radio dial on the bottom screen. The game is best played with headphones.
• It’s all about the 80s/90s! covering classic games to films to music, it’s all in there. With so many references you cant help but smile as your memories of yesteryear flood back making you feel all warm and fuzzy.
• Controls are tight, driving is easy and again you have a choice to play it with or without manual accelerate. You have a cover system implemented and is easy to use and very effective. You can opt for analogue or d-pad for movement and both are always active so change at will people.
• Campaign is a huge retro filled, laugh a minute over the top explosion of fun. Well scripted and paced very well, it can take hours to go through the campaign alone. Side missions add more spice and longevity. The story has been tweaked to not be as brutal as before. People who got to the chase hq style level know whats up. And you will be glad to know that the VHS level doesnt require so much progress in order for checkpoints to kick in.
• Loads of changeable filters to alter the appearance of the game. You can even add scanlines, spectrum filters, Nes overlay. There really is so many this time round. You can give the game a more modern look if you feel like playing it wrong. 8-Bit mode is there and the true way to play the game, giving you a proper retro look.
• Missions are varied and have a good pacing. Every so often you will come across a mission that will literally kick your ass for days, the key is to just keep at it. Pro Tip: the obvious way may not always be the right way. Think outside the box.
• A few missions actually cross over into other game series.
• Customisation is huge in-game, new haircuts, clothes and avatar in-game pics are all your to tinker with and unlock through game play. Most haircuts are from iconic people of the 80s/90s. Usually with hilarious results.
• You can lose cops by either getting a spray job on your motor, starting a mission or by getting out of their line of sight. And now its a bit easier as all you need to do is clear the screen of cops for them to drop a coin to lower your level.
• Mini games can be played through a separate option from the main menu or they can be found in-game, without fear of messing up your campaign run through. Mini games bring much more and are more like rampages. One for example is a time run in a tank. Your goal is to cause as much damage as possible. A clear score bar at the top will show you how close you are to bronze,silver and gold awards.
• You can save your mini game play through to the 3DS. You can then watch back your runs at will.
•  A free roam mode is an option allowing you to just jump straight in and cruise around, cause mayhem or even find some of the many hidden collectibles. Here you can also play the game as any of the hidden unlockable characters you find in the main game.
• Bottom screen of your 3DS is the mini map that can be tapped to enlarge. Here you can also do things ike change the radio station, see your score/health and select weapons. Luckily weapons can also be cycled through with the R bumper button.
• Armoured trucks are now parked around the city, Here you can buy weapons quicker or try your luck and steal it but only pro thiefs should attempt this.
• Has its own in game achievements.
• Full stat screen that shows absolutely everything you do in game. Distance drove/walked. People killed,missions attempted etc its all in there. Rampages/side missions are included and sectioned off so you can browse through them all separately.
• Campaign throws up a lot of memories in such ways as re doing classic levels/scenes from games to the scripting. Replay new imaginings of games like Paperboy but with better controls.
• You can find cheat codes scattered all over the place.  They may be written down or given to you by other characters in game.
• Best part is in your house, You can play the original prototype of RCR and its an eye opening experience.

Cons:

• The police are really easy to trigger. hitting a cop car briefly gets the 5 o on your tail as does hitting a bystanders car, taking a corner too tight and scaring pedestrians.
• No online leaderboards.
• No 3D, I understand fully why it didnt but it still would of been a cool feature.
• Driving has a bit of a learning curve due to it being quite oversensitive on the stick but slow on the d pad.
• Could still do with an option to have the camera pan out a bit more when driving as seeing things in front can be a nightmare.

In Summary, This is it! This is the definitive version of RCR in many ways. Ignoring the leaderboard ommision, The gameplay has had the majority of the tweaks it needed to just polish it off. New players will not have a clue what half this review is on about, While returning players will be here to see if its worth buying again. In short yes. Simply because its almost a tribute to the fans, Feedback has not only been listened too, but it has been backed up with action. Its still the game we all know and loved but it now has more finish and less of the annoying checkpoints/difficulty spikes. If you did everything in the older versions then maybe hold off just because you are not getting much in the way of new content. But if the thought of a twin screen RCR gets you moist, Then by all means jump in! A small download it looks brilliant and honestly should only be played with headphones. This is Retro City Rampage and its awesome.