Rock, Paper, Shotgun

By Nathan Grayson on October 6th, 2012 at 12:00 pm.

True fact: Retro City Rampage has been in development since the late ’80s. I mean, look at it. To this day, no one knows exactly how it managed to pre-date many of the games it originally set out to parody, but you can’t argue with the sheer history that’s written in charming 8-bit graphics. It has, in other words, been quite a long wait since VBlank first took the wraps off Retro City Rampage. Next week, though, you’ll be able to tastefully array its files on your hard drive or maybe even play it if you’re into that kind of thing.

It’s officially careening into town on October 9th for the princely sum of $14.99. Steam and GOG will both stock its virtual gametape on their e-shelves, or you can head over to VBlank’s website for a standalone DRM-free version – in addition to a free Steam or GOG key. (Hint: the correct answer is to buy it from VBlank. Or the strange man on the corner who’s offering games and candy. Candy! The choice is obvious.)

For the uninitiated, RCR’s basically old-school Grand Theft Auto re-imagined with all sorts of winks and nods to classics from the 8-bit era. For example: “When it comes to enemies, weapons are only the beginning! Put on your boots and jump on their heads! Toss ‘em around to knock the rest down! Become truly unstoppable with awesome power-ups!” Apparently, the television, movies, and pop culture of the time are also in for a fond skewering, so prepare to have your brain’s nostalgia folds relentlessly probed.

And now – since I just found out about it today – here’s this bizarre piece of promo work for the game. It’s like an old TV commercial… only not. Because I’m pretty sure old TV commercials didn’t trigger my fight or flight response.