Rampage World Tour

Next Generation reviewed the arcade version of the game. They derided the decision to continue using sprites for the graphics instead of polygons, concluding that "Rampage World Tour seems aimed at satisfying gamers' yearning for past titles like Space Invaders or Pac-Man. Fair enough, but all this remake will accomplish is to make gamers yearn for the original more than ever." Critics agreed that the console ports are nearly arcade-perfect, though some criticized the PlayStation and Saturn versions for supporting only two players instead of the three supported in the arcade version. However, they were divided about the game itself. Many hailed it as a fun revival of an arcade classic. For example, Shawn Smith wrote in Electronic Gaming Monthly that "There's nothing like sitting down and playing a good old-time game. It's even better to do it when it has been enhanced, but still has the same feel as the original." Despite giving the PlayStation version a score of only 5.7 out of 10, Jeff Gerstmann highly recommended the game due to its new gameplay tricks and larger levels, and said the only possible way to improve on it would be with three-player support. However, the majority criticized the game's 2D sidescrolling format as antiquated, and some further remarked that the simplicity and repetitiveness of the Rampage gameplay, while highly enjoyable in arcades, was not suited to the home console format. Adam Douglas explained in IGN that the Rampage series "was great for getting your aggressions out and then moving on. Why would you want to play this game for hours at a time?" Sega Saturn Magazine similarly held that "The coin-op was a great laugh for about ten minutes or so, but the lack of variety in the level design and the shallow nature of the gameplay meant that it soon grew quite tiresome. Despite the meagre improvements to the update, the very same criticisms can be levelled at Rampage World Tour." Even Smith showed a loss of enthusiasm in his review of the later Nintendo 64 version, now stating that the game is fun at first but quickly grows old. His co-reviewer John Ricciardi disagreed, saying that though the game lacks variety it can nonetheless be engrossing for hours on end. In a review of the PlayStation version, GamePro was more undecided: "With plenty of special moves and power-ups to discover as you lay waste to more than 100 cities, the gameplay certainly lasts - just don't expect it to change much. Then again, sometimes it's good to turn off your brain and turn up the cosmic carnage." However, a different GamePro critic reviewed the Saturn version, and opined that the game's "utter failure to take advantage of new technology and add new elements to the original Rampage is inexcusable." A third GamePro critic, reviewing the Nintendo 64 version, likewise found that the game added little new and suffers from repetitive gameplay and music, and a lack of variety in the buildings which players spend most of their time demolishing. Next Generation reviewed the Nintendo 64 version of the game, and stated that "Despite the three-player mode, no amount of graphic flash or nostalgia can improve a style of gameplay whose day has passed." Charles Ardai of Computer Gaming World noted that the PC port of the game had performance and graphics issues when played in full-screen mode. The best performance was achieved when the screen was set to a postcard-sized frame. He found the action to be basic, although there is a variety of animation. He added that it is "suffused with all the monster movie fun that was conspicuously lacking in the recent Godzilla film".