Bally Midway's Rampage: A Classic Arcade Experience

Bally Midway's Rampage is one of those arcade classics that still holds its own. The concept is simple enough to learn in seconds, and the sprites and animations are enjoyably detailed for 1986. The gameplay provides compulsive and challenging arcade goodness. It was a frequent favorite in the arcades, so it's little wonder that it received home versions on almost every system imaginable over the next couple of years.

The hard-to-find boxed MS-DOS release is one of the versions I want to take a look at today. This version was converted by Monarch Development and published by Activision in 1988. While it's an awesome game to have on any system, seeing this one play on an old-school IBM or Tandy PC is just something special. Having this box makes it even better. The contents of the box are stored in a clear plastic container with specially-made spots for 3½-inch and 5¼-inch floppy disks.

This only came with 360K 5¼-inch disk originally, but the previous owner wisely made a 3½-inch backup copy. This is doubly useful if your PC has the 5¼-inch drive set to Drive B, since the game always looks to Drive A to verify the disk each time you start it up. Inside the box, there's also a nice, crisp registration card, a command reference guide that's useful for figuring out some of the obscure keys in this version, and a simple instruction manual that's even shorter than the reference guide.

There's not really much to the game at all, as you'd expect for an '80s arcade game. I wouldn't have it any other way. Starting up Rampage with the correct disk in the correct drive will present you with a quick graphics mode selection, and we'll be playing in EGA mode throughout this video. You then get a splash screen with a basic approximation of the arcade cabinet's attract screen and a version number, with this one being 1.0.

The game uses the PC speaker for its sound effects, which is understandable for 1988 but doesn't do the gameplay any favors. The most obvious concession made to get it working is the graphical downgrade. Everything is far less detailed and smaller in scale than what you'd expect from an arcade version. They did their best to get all the climbing, punching, jumping, and smashing as close to the original as possible but feels much slower and imprecise.

Buildings don't have as many spots on them to smash up, which makes this game even harder than the original. You also don't get the random citizens that make easy targets for food and health, which throws the difficulty out of balance. Mix that in with the sluggish movement of your monster and the slowed-down gameplay that makes it difficult to make quick decisions, and you'll find yourself on the receiving end of death quite a bit.

I mean, the arcade game was no cakewalk either but I found myself dying way more often in this DOS version. This is as good as it gets. Still, I kinda like how weak this version is if only for the retroactively comforting memories. It's a kind of strange nostalgia where I find myself missing not having perfect home versions of arcade games because it made the actual arcade cabinet that much more special.

It makes me miss the time when PC hardware just wasn't quite there yet. And it was anyone's guess as to whether or not a developer could actually make it work. Every arcade version was a gamble, and you never knew if you could believe the screenshots on the back of the box or not. Computers were expensive, unruly beasts with command prompts, arcane config files, and IRQ conflicts. They were simultaneously super-powerful and yet horrendously incapable of providing a true arcade experience at home.

But that didn't stop developers from trying their best, packing it into an attractive box and placing it on shelves around the world. And that's why I love going back to play things like Rampage for MS-DOS. Even if it's not really worth playing at all.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enBally Midway's Rampage is one of thosearcade classics that still holds its own.The concept is simpleenough to learn in seconds,the sprites and animationsare enjoyably detailed for 1986,and the gameplay provides compulsiveand challenging arcade goodness.It was a frequent favorite in the arcades,so it's little wonder thatit received home versionson almost every system imaginableover the next couple of years.The one I want to take a look at todayis the hard-to-find boxed MS-DOS release,converted over by Monarch Developmentand published by Activision in 1988.While it's an awesome gameto have on any system,seeing this one play on an old-schoolIBM or Tandy PC is just something special,and having this box makes it even better.Speaking of the box, inside it you getthe contents in a clear plastic container.with specially-made spots for3½-inch and 5¼-inch floppy disks.This only came with 360K 5¼-inch disk originally,but the previous owner wiselymade a 3½-inch backup copy.This is doubly useful if your PChas the 5¼-inch drive set to Drive B,since the game always looks to Drive Ato verify the disk each time you start it up.Also inside is a nice, crisp registration card,a command reference guide, which is usefulfor figuring out a few of theobscure keys in this version,and a simple instruction manual that'seven shorter than the reference guide.There's not really much to the game at all,as you'd expect for an '80s arcade game,and I wouldn't have it any other way.Starting up Rampage with thecorrect disk in the correct drivewill present you with a quickgraphics mode selection,and we'll be playing in EGAmode throughout this video.You then get a splash screenwith a basic approximation ofthe arcade cabinet's attract screen,and a version number,with this one being theupdated release, version 1.1.From here, you're given thesame choices as the arcade game.You can choose to playas George, Lizzie or Ralph,requiescat in pace,and you can also customize thecontrol scheme for each of them.If you are a self-inflicted socialoutcast and playing alone like me,then deactivate the other characters.Otherwise, they'll juststand around doing nothing.And, hey! Look!It's Rampage on the PC! Holy crap!How cool is that?!I don't know what it is,but it never ceases to amuse mewhen I see a popular arcade gamerunning on a computer in my home.Even if it's almost thirty years old.It takes me right back tobeing a 10-year-old again,when I'd go to the localbowling alley or roller skating rinkand drool over games likeRaiden II, Area 51 and Rampage,wishing so badly that I couldplay them at home on my computer.Well little did I know that each ofthese games had obscure PC releasesand I could have actuallymade that fantasy happen, butwhat was I supposed to do,look on the Internet?We only had, like, 15 hours a month for that.And that was with a 28K modemspread across four people in the family,and that ain't gonna happen!Anyway, what was I saying?Rampage for DOS. Right!Uh, so, it's Rampage still, exceptnot as good and kind of a letdown.I mean don't get me wrong, it's not *so*bad for an EGA DOS game from 1988.The basic gameplay is still here.You play as one of three monstersmutated from one of three human beings,roaming around the United States,causing total mayhem.You start in the state ofIllinois and go on from there.And the goal on each mapis demolish every buildingby smashing them with your monstrous fists.The whole time you've got themilitary causing you problems,with sharpshooters, demolitionists,helicopters and tanksall trying to take you out however they can.These soldiers can be eaten for more health,and there items to find insidebuildings that'll help as well,but overall there are way more hazardsthan there are beneficial items.If and when you die, you revertback to your naked human form,and waltz off the screen in shame.Game over.And if it was your friend thatwas playing with you that dies,eat them too. Waste not, want not.And all that sounds fine.It gets the idea across, and it plays...decently, all things considered.But, yeah, these days whereyou can play the emulatedarcade original usingany number of methods,there's just no real reasonto play this version anymore.For one thing, the soundeffects are pretty devastating,and not in the way you'd expectfor a game about devastation.It uses the PC speaker,which is understandable for 1988,but it's as harsh as expected anddoesn't do the gameplay any favors.And that's unfortunate, because whilemost of the gameplay is still here,there are quite a few concessionsmade to get it working,even compared to some ofthe other home versions.The most obvious concession is theunderstandable graphical downgrade,with everything being far less detailedand smaller in scale.They did their best to get all the climbing,punching, jumping and smashingas close to the original as possible,but it feels much slower and imprecise.And buildings don't have asmany spots on them to smash up.And they also take morehits to come crashing down,which makes this an evenharder game than the original.And you also don't getthe random citizensthat make easy targetsfor food and health,which throws the difficultyeven more out of balance.Mix that in with the sluggishmovement of your monster,and the slowed-down gameplay thatmakes it difficult to make quick decisions,and you'll find yourself on thereceiving end of death quite a bit.I mean, the arcade gamewas no cakewalk either,but I found myself dying way moreway earlier in this DOS version,and I've tried this on everything from a386 on up to my Pentium II machines.This is as good as it gets.Still...I kinda like how WEAK this version is(!),if only for the retroactively comforting memories.It's a kind of strange nostalgiawhere I find myself missingnot having perfect homeversions of arcade gamesbecause it made the actual arcadecabinet that much more special.It makes me miss the time where PChardware just wasn't quite there yet.And it was anyone'sguess as to whether or nota developer could actually make it work.Every arcade version was a gambleand you never knew if you could believethe screenshots on the back of the box or not.Computers were expensive, unruly beastswith command prompts, arcane config filesand IRQ conflicts.They were simultaneously super-powerfuland yet horrendously incapableof providing a true arcade experience at home.But that didn't stop developersfrom trying their best,packing it into an attractive box,and placing it on storeshelves around the world.And that's why I lovegoing back to play thingslike Rampage for MS-DOS.Even if it's not really worth playing at all.And if you enjoyed this episode of LGR,I've got some others to choose from here,so you can click these,or stick around and see new videosshowing up every Mondayand Friday here on this channel.And as always, thank you very much for watching.\n"