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Retro City Rampage is a bit of a love letter to the 80's and 90's gaming, and it just had a surprise Linux release.


Retro City Rampage is a bit of a love letter to the 80's and 90's gaming, and it just had a surprise Linux release.

Disclosure: Thanks to GOG we have been sent over a key to see how it is!

About the game (Official)
Wreak havoc in in the open-world of Retro City Rampage! You’ll meet a variety of very familiar characters, including a certain time-travelling scientist, engage in various modes of gameplay such as stealth, platforming, early coin-ops, and even encounter radioactive plumbers who await with eager anticipation their chance to murder and masticate you, The Player! But, wait, there’s more! Stomp on hapless pedestrians like they are Goombas and claim your coin. While you are taking the world by storm, you’ll encounter a few guest stars such as Super Meat Boy, Splosion Man and Ms. Splosion, and BIT.TRIP Runner. Last but not least, you’ll be able to tear through Minecraft for even more crossover goodness!

You are out on a lovely jaunt of CRIME CAPERS when you were ambushed by the EVIL GOOD GUYS, who will stop at nothing to end your RAMPAGE OF DOOM throughout Theftropolis City. Retro City Rampage is a parodic paean to old-school gaming and the culture of the 80’s, referencing many classic game experiences while providing modern-day open-world mechanics, all wrapped in glorious 8-bit graphical goodness.

Are you a bad enough dude to defeat the EVIL GOOD GUYS?

My thoughts
This is tested on the GOG version of course, so buying it there will give you access to an 18mb .tar.gz file to extract.

Holy hell this is true retro flavour here, and I'm loving it. The Linux version from GOG launches and works flawlessly so far as I can tell. I haven’t come across a single bug, so that’s fantastic.

Everything about it is retro! The whole game is even played inside what looks like an old CRT screen and it looks fantastic. I’ve seen other games use graphical filters that make it look awful, but Retro City Rampage DX truly nails the retro aesthetic.

It does have a few notable advances over the games it aims to poke fun at, like the cover system of being able to duck and fire over objects while aiming. Little things like that have made it quite nice to play, as older games tend to feel frustrating when going back to them. I’m glad they included a few small advancements from newer games like the cover system.

This is as close to Grand Theft Auto as Linux has right now, even if it is a parody of a lot of things. It plays a bit like the very first GTA, and doesn't look too dissimilar either. Looks is mostly where it ends though, as it’s very over the top with everything, especially the campaign.

The game has kept surprising me so far, and the Mario reference at the start was gold. I won’t tell you where it is though, as I don’t want to spoil it. It was a totally unexpected reference for this game, loved it.

I’ve picked up on a number of references during my time in the campaign, and I’m actually impressing myself at remembering some of them.

Final thoughts: It’s great to finally have this game on Linux, I look forward to seeing what it has in store later in the campaign. If you’re into a bit of nostalgia and a silly campaign, go for it.

You can find Retro City Rampage DX on GOG, and on Steam. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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I am the owner of GamingOnLinux. After discovering Linux back in the days of Mandrake in 2003, I constantly came back to check on the progress of Linux until Ubuntu appeared on the scene and it helped me to really love it. You can reach me easily by emailing GamingOnLinux directly. Find me on Mastodon.
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JudasIscariot Jul 29, 2015
Brian Provinciano, the developer, has also ported the game to DOS, yes actual DOS!, and Windows 3.1 :) We included those versions in the bonus goodies section of the game. Enjoy! :)
Zeroedout Jul 29, 2015
Best broken promise ever! The dev claimed since it worked fine on Wine he wasn't going to port. So glad he backed on it!!!

I happen to live in the same city as the dev, I'm tempted to ask him to talk about the port at the next Linux User Group meeting.
hidekin Jul 29, 2015
I heard that he's even releasing a NES version :-) It's really nice to have a linux version of this game. It's really fun.
tuniek Jul 29, 2015
Quoting: ZeroedoutBest broken promise ever! The dev claimed since it worked fine on Wine he wasn't going to port. So glad he backed on it!!!

I happen to live in the same city as the dev, I'm tempted to ask him to talk about the port at the next Linux User Group meeting.

I agree! :) I wrote him an email few years ago ... and he wrote that he is not going to port it to Linux :) !!
Linas Jul 29, 2015
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Quoting: JudasIscariotBrian Provinciano, the developer, has also ported the game to DOS, yes actual DOS!, and Windows 3.1 :)

Now I am seriously impressed. This game runs on everything. I bet the Linux version was one of the easy ones. :)
JudasIscariot Jul 29, 2015
Quoting: hidekinI heard that he's even releasing a NES version :-) It's really nice to have a linux version of this game. It's really fun.

ROM City Rampage, the NES compatible version, is actually built into the game :)
Mnoleg Jul 29, 2015
Instantbuy!

I got the game here: http://www.retrocityrampage.com/buy.php
I think the developer gets more money (Am I wrong?) and you get Humble Store + (Steam or GoG).

Is the NES version compatible with the Power Glove?
JudasIscariot Jul 29, 2015
Quoting: Linas
Quoting: JudasIscariotBrian Provinciano, the developer, has also ported the game to DOS, yes actual DOS!, and Windows 3.1 :)

Now I am seriously impressed. This game runs on everything. I bet the Linux version was one of the easy ones. :)

You're probably right since the NES has quite a few constraints related to the color palette and how objects interact with other objects :)

There's a short article with a video about ROM City Rampage where Brian talks about this:

Gamasutra article on ROM City Rampage
slaapliedje Jul 29, 2015
Now he needs to port it to the Amiga... After all, it was it's birthday.
Magamo Jul 30, 2015
And totally purchased. Glad I waited for a Linux port.
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