Rampage Puzzle Attack
Score: 100% ESRB: Everyone Publisher: Midway Developer: Midway Media: Cart/1 Players: 1 - 2 Genre: Puzzle
Graphics & Sound: Rampage Puzzle Attack and Fortress have launched within a few months of one another and both have some similarity to the classic Tetris, but it's ironic that Rampage Puzzle Attack looks less like Tetris and still manages to outdo Fortress in total playability and appeal. We're often lured into thinking that moving too far away from the 'design' of classic puzzle games spells disaster for the new breed, but Rampage Puzzle Attack proves this wrong. The best thing about the look of the game is the great animation, both in puzzle pieces and the backgrounds behind your playing board. As you play, the characters from Midway's classic Rampage climb up around the play pieces, not distracting so much as just adding humor. When you manage to destroy a row, you'll see them punching away madly, helping you out. The gameplay pieces are just squares, but they morph and flow together as you match colors, making for some interesting visuals. Little surprises, like the little 'movies' in Rescue Mode after you liberate one of the captured creatures, are really nice.
Gameplay: Unlike Fortress, which differentiated gameplay only by duration and scoring, Rampage Puzzle Attack has some serious depth and many different ways to play. Four single-player modes and three multiplayer, link-cable modes are included, and each presents a very different slant on the old block-matching strategy. Clear Mode is the most like Tetris, in that you try to eliminate blocks and clear stage after stage in sequence. But, the difference in how things are played here is that you spend time matching block colors and not shapes. Every once in a while, you'll see a flashing, colored block called a DETO block. When dropped on a block of the same color, or network of connected blocks, the DETO block causes them to detonate and disappear. So, the end goal is the same, but the mechanism is somewhat different. In fact, the way you move blocks around is very different. You can move two blocks by swapping them left-to-right, and move a single block left or right by swapping it consecutively in that direction. After getting the right set of blocks positioned, you drop them. No moving is allowed while they drop, so positioning is everything. The Puzzle Mode gets my vote for most addictive activity possible on a GBA! Instead of just trying to clear layers, you have to figure out how to clear all the blocks on the screen in a set number of drops. The most amazing and frustrating part is knowing that it CAN be done, seeing how many drops are allowed, and still not understanding HOW it can be done. Beating Puzzle Mode took all my little brain cells, for sure. Rescue Mode is much like Clear Mode, except that you only have to clear the area above a cage that houses one of the Rampage monsters. Once free, you'll move on to the next round after a cool animation of the monster up close and personal. The last mode is Marathon, which is just you trying to stay in business as long as possible against the clock. Fun, frantic and challenging. The level of challenge is exceptional, and as fun as this is for a single player, plugging in another GBA is even better. Attack, Score and Rescue mode can be played via link cable, basically modified single-player games without Puzzle Mode. This is great fun, but with the hundreds of single-player levels to play, you may never find time to share!
Difficulty: This is not the kind of game that adjusts for less experience players. It starts simple and gets very tough, so some may find they reach a point where they are just stumped in Puzzle Mode. Rescue is a combination of Clear and Puzzle, requiring twitch reflexes but plenty of smart strategy. The 'smart' factor means you'll struggle at times, but the beauty of this type of game is that it's accessible on some level by everyone.
Game Mechanics: Like the great puzzle game it is, Rampage Puzzle Attack has simple controls and rules that are easy to learn. You swap two blocks with one button and drop them with the D-Pad. Otherwise, you're only using the D-Pad and buttons to navigate menus, making it very simple to jump right in. With a link cable, another player does NOT need a second copy of Rampage Puzzle Attack to compete, so you'll find it easy to launch a multiplayer game if you have a cable and a friend with a GBA. One look at this stuff, and your friend will want her own cart! The strategy is what ends up being deep and complex here, and after watching those blocks and wondering how you can make them all disappear for hours on end, you may go on your own little Rampage! Nothing feels better suited to the GBC and GBA than this type of puzzle game, and it's no wonder Tetris and Game Boy rule the world. In many ways, fans of Tetris may find Rampage Puzzle Attack to be the successor to the throne, or at least a full partner in the kingdom. Where a game like Fortess copies the Tetris gameplay and adds a dimension, Rampage Puzzle Attack jumps right into new territory and comes out with something that is no less addictive and full of neat surprises that make it a clear winner in the category.
-Fridtjof, GameVortex Communications AKA Matt Paddock
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