"Retro City Rampage" Review: A serious 8-bit nostalgia overload!

Developer Vblank Entertainment brings us "Retro City Rampage" - a bombastic roller coaster designed to tickle the nostalgia centers of your brain. Filled with pop culture references from the past thirty years beyond count, the game is designed from the ground up to be a mash-up of your favorite video games of the 8-bit era.

Described as the "Grand Theft Auto" the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) never had, "Retro City Rampage" plays as a top-down, open-world arcade shooter. Characters and missions are easily recognizable as they pull from games, movies and pop icons that have been at the forefront of geek culture for the past three decades. References are thrown at you fast enough to make Anthony Dinozzo's head spin; from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Back to the Future, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, The Dark Knight to Frogger - and that's just the first five minutes!

The game is relentless enough with its references that - if you can keep up with them - they'll have you grinning and giggling on your floor clutching your controller on nostalgia overload. Unfortunately, if you're not of the appropriate generation, most - if not all - of these treats will be lost on you, effectively leaving the game to stand firmly on its own two legs.

This is where the game begins to falter just a bit. While certainly a solid experience chock full of colorful characters and diverse mission levels - regardless of their inspiration - things do sometimes turn frustrating.

Like the 8-bit games "Retro City Rampage" draws upon, it too suffers (intentionally or not) from insane difficulty spikes that drive you mad as the game continually tallies your failures despite there being no real penalty for death. This coupled with occasionally long stretches between checkpoints and mild repetition can bring the overall experience down just a few notches.

Children of the 80's rejoice! This game - in all its shameless homages, inside jokes, 8-bit graphics and retro gameplay - is for you. Everyone else should definitely jump in and experience this celebration of gaming and geek culture.

"Retro City Rampage" is available now for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC and PlayStation Vita.