Greetings! Seeing as this is my first post on Touch Arcade, I should probably take a moment to introduce myself. My name is Mitty, and I work for a small Brisbane-based developer named Tagged Software. I mostly do design and concept work, but I am also involved in marketing our products. We are about to release our first iPhone game; B City Rampage B City Rampage. B City Rampage is a side-scrolling beat-em-up with a twist of irreverent comedy. The game initially started out as a tribute to River City Ransom (a.k.a. Street Gangs) but evolved to be so much more. Part homage, part satire, part thumb-crippler; B City Rampage is the culmination of almost two years of hard work. Plot Jerry is late for work! We have all been there before. Perhaps we hit the snooze button a few too many times, or slept through the alarm entirely. To make matters worse, it always seems that when you are in a hurry, people are more inclined to get in your way. Jerry's path is cluttered with a variety of tough enemies, powerful weapons, endearing allies and fun skills to learn! Will Jerry make it to work on time? A gameplay video is available to watch on YouTube. Thank you for taking the time to view this post. I look forward to responding to any questions or feedback.
- UPDATE - Greetings, all! Attached below is a video showing a bit more of the gameplay in B City Rampage, including destructible scenery, vendors and boss encounters. Gameplay Jerry dodged his enemy's punch and quickly responded with a kick, sending the foe flying back. Wasting no time, Jerry followed through with a succession of rapid punches, downing his adversary. Before he could take time to revel in his victory, two more opponents approached him from either side. Jerry took a moment to formulate a strategy as he watched a car casually cruise down the long street meandering through the cluttered sprawl of suburbia. Wasting no time, Jerry charged towards the attacker to his right. He waited until the very last second before dropping down and taking the enemy down with a slide kick. Jerry then leapt to his feet and finished his target off before turning to face the next enemy. This one had picked up a trash can and was waving it menacingly in the air yuck! Jerry charged towards the second attacker. The assailant smirked as he thought he was going to pre-empt Jerry's attack. Jerry was no fool this time he tackled the attacker to the ground and managed to snatch the trash can for himself in the scuffle. Jerry used the trash can to beat his enemy until both the trash can and the downed foe could take no more. Just as Jerry thought he was going to get a chance to catch his breath, he felt a sudden burning, jolting pain in his back. He looked over his shoulder to see two office workers approaching, armed with lasercats. OH boy, this is going to be a long trip to work... Jerry muttered to himself. Kick, punch, run, jump, slide, tumble, toss and smash your way through hordes of unrelenting enemies as you make your way to work! Use your punches, kicks, slide kicks, tackles and other special attacks strategically to maximise your effectiveness in combat. This is no mindless button mashing adventure; you will need to keep your wits about you if you want to make it out of this one alive. Your opponents in B City are as merciless as they are numerous. The only time you will get any relief from their onslaught is if you find a quiet park to hide in or if they leave you alone for a boss to make quick work of you... Be ready to fight for your life, liberty and pursuit of timeliness. As if the endless barrage of assailants was not enough, there are also quests to complete, items to find, secrets to uncover and obstacles to destroy. Do not fear, you will not be alone on your adventures through B City. You will have comrades to help you on your way. Pigeons, a suspicious looking business man (a.k.a. B-Man) and other steadfast allies will help assist you in your quest to make it to work on time! Sharpen your wits and harden your fists; practice your kicks and learn some new tricks. B City is no place for the faint of heart!
Nice! RCR is ace, I'm definitely keen for a game inspired by that Is it sort of nonlinear in the same way? (as in, you can walk back and forth through the different areas) .. I guess if you're trying to get to work there'd be no reason to go back. But that's one of my favourite things about RCR. Another thing I love is the way the environment is slightly interactive, like how you can jump up on top of fences etc. Anything like that in B City? Anyway these are just small things. It's lookin' fun! Any game with bogans in it has to rock
Yes indeed! B City Rampage does involve a lot of exploring. There are quests to complete and objects to find. The player can backtrack as far as they like. Interactivity is something we worked to include. For example; you can walk along fences and benches, destroy obstacles such as post boxes and 'shake' trees to reveal hidden items.
Not a fan of the (lack of) hit stun. Enemies don't seem to even respond as they get hit, they just... die. The slow sliding-walking also turns me off. Good hit stun and attack variety are what make or break a beat-em-up. For example, hitting the enemy with a combo should have each individual attack have its own feedback, as it gives you the option of cancelling it with a higher priority attack, or having the possibility of an enemy attacking you from behind and stop your combo (which means you then have to worry about having two enemies, one on each side - you then have to realize which move to use to escape befoe you're caught between two combos). Beat-em-ups need depth in the combat itself. The way iPhone devs seem to think they're all "press button 50 times" is pretty sad. There hasn't been a single decent game in the genre so far.
Thank you for your feedback, Beto_Machado. There is a slight stun when enemies are punched, and the kick knocks enemies back slightly unless they are holding a weapon (the effect increasing with level). The punch, kick and health stats of the player all increase in level with use. The player can also purchase several special attacks, and each of these has two levels of skill. We have implemented a level of depth and strategy to the combat via the special attacks. For example, the Bogan Boss uses an extremely tough weapon which can kill the player rather quickly. The player will have to deal with this by using the fly-kick to disarm the boss, try to 'kite' him or employ any other successful strategy they should discover. There is also an element of strategy involved in dealing with large groups of enemies. The player will have to employ various tactics to avoid being overwhelmed. Button-mashing will not work in B City Rampage. I could not agree with you more; there is far too much emphasis on button-mashing in existing beat-em-ups. This problem is not endemic to the iPhone; games on many other platforms exhibit this issue. I shall endeavour to ensure that the next video showcases some of the strategy required for some of the hairier combat situations.
In response to previous comments, I decided I should go into a bit more detail regarding some of the special attacks available to players in B City Rampage. The player will have to use these abilities strategically if they want to survive the tough streets of B City... Fly kick The delicate bones of the face can withstand repeated impacts from a wide variety of weapons. However, these defenses are sometimes useless against other weapons. Overcome these shortcomings by using the fly kick to knock powerful weapons from the hands of your opponents! Spin Attack Has the sight of a shiny new weapon in the hands of an enemy set your eyes green with envy? Well warm up those covetous little hands of yours and use the spin attack! Hopefully you will not turn blue from over-using this ability... Slide kick Are you in a hurry, but there's a wall of foes in your way? Slide kick them! They will fall back to the ground, potentially faking an injury momentarily before getting back on their feet once they realise nobody is watching (much like soccer players). Thanks for taking the time to read this post! On a lighter note; what kind of things do others love or hate about existing beat-em-ups? As already mentioned, I am not a fan of mindless button mashing. I also don't like inconsistent difficulty levels. My favourite thing in beat-em-ups is probably RPG elements; I love having stats and skills that gradually like in River City Ransom.
