What can be said about Super Mario Brothers? It’s possibly the single most influential videogame that has ever been made, serving as the inspiration for countless developers, many of whom created behemoth classics in their own right. The private game development community has long emulated (and copied) Mario as well. The simplicity of its mechanics yet perfection in its design provide a tantalizingly reachable goal. 8 Bit Rampage is one such game, but not in the sense that it copies SMB’s mechanics, or gameplay, or philosophy. Rather, 8 Bit Rampage explores an interesting concept: super-glue Mario to the ground and arm him with military-grade firearms. In other words, it’s one of those “turret” games, but set in the Mario universe (read: LSD land). And it works well enough.
So…gameplay. Like I just said, it’s a turret game. So enemies mob toward you, and you have to fend them off with copious amounts of ammunition. Timing your reloads and prioritizing foes is immediately necessary to survive, though, so spraying and praying is NOT an option. There are a good number of weapons available to buy at the end of levels (using coins earned from killing foes), and the ability to do some modest upgrades to things like fire speed and clip size. Or, you could use the same money to make repairs to your tower, which will inevitably be damaged from the many Goombas and Turtles you are mobbed by. So it’s a solid enough game, with some meat to it. But unfortunately, it isn’t terribly engaging. 8 Bit Rampage lacks that addictive, great feel that a good arcade game needs. Shooting feels bland, the difficulty curve causes frustration more often than determination, and…well, there’s not really anything here that you haven’t seen before. It’s a solid, fairly well-made game, but it’s not very memorable.
Graphically, 8 Bit Rampage consists almost entirely of sprites/animation ripped out of SMB (I assume that most of it is from an emulated screenshot, but I could be wrong). And this is entirely appropriate, considering the game’s subject matter. Unfortunately, Guimby’s own additions less than impressive. The gun sprite in Mario’s hand rotates to point where you’re aiming, but it isn’t centered properly, and looks rather odd considering the rest of Mario remains standing perfectly still. Bullets are little black dots, which is fine, but the same sprite is also used for your crosshair, which makes aiming feel a little inexact, especially when black parts of the background “eat” your cursor. Overall, neither of these issues are too severe, but they do lend 8 Bit Rampage an unpolished feel.
The Sound is actually pretty darn good, combining classic Mario music and sound effects with good-quality gunshots and reloading sounds. All the music is well implemented too, with an eye for fan service (for instance, the Mario “win” theme plays in the upgrade screen). I would say that 8 Bit Rampage’s sound is easily its strongest asset.
Overall, 8 Bit Rampage is a solid effort, with some nice sounds and a nifty concept, but it lacks…something. It’s not a bad game at all, but it is a rather bland one. Enjoyable for a few minutes for its concept, but not very hooking in the long run. However, if you’re a fan of Mario, or you enjoy games of this type, you could do worse. I give it a 3/5
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