Rampage
1986 · Action · Arcade
Overview
Rampage (1986) is Bally Midway's three-player monster game: George, Lizzie and Ralph climb and smash city skyscrapers while the army fights back.
Deep Dive
Three giant monsters — George the ape, Lizzie the lizard and Ralph the wolf, all humans transformed by experiments — tour North American cities tearing down buildings, eating the fleeing residents and swatting helicopters and tanks. Up to three players take part at once and can punch each other as readily as the army. Designed by Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman, its gleeful destruction made it an instant hit, and it was eventually adapted into a 2018 film.
Developer Story
Rampage was designed by Brian Colin and Jeff Nauman at Bally Midway in 1986. Three giant monsters — George (gorilla), Lizzie (lizard), and Ralph (werewolf) — destroyed cities while being shot at by the military. The three-player simultaneous format let friends each control a monster and compete to eat the most food and destroy the most buildings. The game's anarchic destruction fantasy was immediately popular.
Did You Know?
- Rampage's monsters were legally distinct from King Kong and Godzilla, but their designs were clearly influenced by those characters.
- Players could eat soldiers, people, and even each other — friendly fire between monsters was not only allowed but encouraged.
- George, Lizzie, and Ralph were originally humans transformed by scientific experiments — a nod to the monster movie genre.
- A feature film adaptation was released in 2018, starring Dwayne Johnson — 32 years after the original game.
Sources & further reading
- Rampage (video game) — Wikipedia
