The Evolution of ‘Rampage’ Games

From the days of joysticks sticky with soda and Cheetos all the way to a big screen adaptation with The Rock teaming up with an albino gorilla, the Rampage property has been through many permutations. Midway unleashed the video game in 1986 featuring a trio of Kaiju smashing up buildings, evading missiles, and occasionally eating people taking baths. It was a fairly simple premise that had the added hook of destruction, comedy, and cool monsters. Ostensibly the story was about three people who mutated into giant beasts (due to an experimental vitamin, a radioactive lake, and a food additive) and wreaked havoc across multiple cities.

There was George the Gorilla, a knock off of King Kong; Lizzie, the Godzilla homage; and Ralph, a giant werewolf who doesn’t really have an analog in films (except the lost bootleg GODZILLA VS. LEGENDARY WOLFMAN movie). What began as a cabinet arcade game has gone on to appear on all sorts of consoles, including various Atari platforms, NES, PC, iOS, Playstation, Nintendo 64, and even a VR version on Oculus Rift. YouTuber Bits & Beats provides a speedy five minute overview of the many changes Rampage has gone through over the past 30+ years.