Rampage: Total Destruction

As we saw early in the Nintendo DS life, Publishers rushed to bring games they had released on other platforms to Nintendo's newest handheld platform. Instead of working on redoing the gameplay, thus making the touch screen features of the game meaningful, we got the same game with strange touch screen additions. Some gave us menus, others forced key gameplay controls to be on the touch screen—when it could have been easier mapped to a key. Rampage: Total Destruction is the Wii equivalent to the mindset that Publishers need to "get games out" for Nintendo's newest console—even if they must unnecessarily force the innovative features onto players.

Since the Wii is theoretically more powerful than the GameCube, it is good to see that Rampage: Total Destruction looks better than the Cube version did months ago. While this game is mainly a 2D brawler with some 3D elements in it, there is nothing that is difficult for the Wii to pump out on your TV. That said, the simple graphics are all animated well and the game looks as good (or better) than any of the other versions of Rampage: TD.

The key element in creating any Nintendo Wii game should be how to implement the unique control method of the console. Rampage tries to accomplish this by having you throw your controller around like a small child would if he towering over his toys. Wave your arms, swing them wildly, and don't forget to tighten that strap... we wouldn't want you to bust a hole in your TV with the tired gameplay of Rampage.

It is true that swinging your arms around like a wild animal is much more fun than just tapping a button. However, was there even a reason to release this game in the first place? For a franchise that has remained relatively unchanged since the 1980's, why is Midway still spending time rehashing the same basic gameplay? Wouldn't the Rampage series benefit from a completely new style of play? Why not give us a 3D world like Sony's War of the Monsters? This is the closest to “next-generation Rampage” we have seen and Midway didn't even make it.

Overall, players who are done with Zelda and are looking for an easy game to pick up and play will probably find at least a few hours of fun out of Rampage. However, stretching the fun even over weekend rental may be pushing it. Proceed with caution.