Ah, puzzle games. From Tetris to Sega’s Columns to Capcom’s masterpiece Puzzle Fighter to Nintendo’s Dr. Mario, they intrigue and excite us like few others. Visions of colored gems and strange shapes falling into place with colourful sounds infested my dreams during the Puzzle Fighter heyday. Even now, finding a copy of Puzzle Fighter for PS One is an adventure in frustration, the game is so popular. Who knows how successful the original Game Boy would have been without the Tetris pack-in? Midway is jumping on the bandwagon with a puzzle game based on the Rampage franchise, and it succeeds quite well.
Rampage Puzzle Attack has a new take on the puzzle genre, with players moving about six coloured blocks in a horizontal line. These blocks can only be moved two at a time, and once you find the combination that works for you, drop them down to the bottom. Blocks will lock to each other once they drop down if they’re the same colour. If you want to remove these locked blocks, you need to use a Detablock to remove them, similar to the flashing circles in Puzzle Fighter.
How does the Rampage license figure into all this? Honestly, not much. They climb up the side of the screen and growl at you during gameplay, but with the exception of one gameplay mode, you could substitute Pogo the Monkey and Rosie O’Donnell in there and it wouldn’t make a lick of difference. There are several different modes to choose from – there’s your standard mode where you have to clear the table, there’s a rescue mode which involves removing blocks that sit on top a cage holding a Rampage beastie, Marathon mode where you go until you can’t go anymore, and Puzzle mode, where there are different configurations of blocks that need to be removed very carefully, since the turns are limited. There is a multiplayer option available, and what’s cooler than cool is the fact that you only need one cartridge to get it going. This is excellent value on Midway’s part.
The graphics are very well done, with some 3D elements and parallax scrolling backgrounds for the cities. The music is tinny, but serviceable enough, although it disappears in 2-player mode. What isn’t such a nice surprise is the lack of battery backup – why is this so tough to implement? Is it a matter of cost? I’d rather pay an extra couple of bucks for a small battery in the cartridge than continue dealing with the irritating password system. Developers take note: entering small characters on a small screen with a small directional pad is nothing more than a big bag of suck. Seriously – please stop it and just include a battery! My straining eyes thank you profusely.
I had a lot of fun with Rampage Puzzle Attack, and found it a very good game. Until Capcom gets around to making a Puzzle Fighter GBA conversion, Rampage Puzzle Attack will do just fine for anyone who enjoys the puzzle genre on the go. The lack of a battery backup is irritating beyond belief, but not enough to keep me from recommending Rampage Puzzle Attack. The license is not the reason to play this game folks, but the fun gameplay definitely is. Check it out.
