Rampage Nintendo

Rampage was first released in arcades in 1986 by Bally Midway. Taking inspiration from giant-monster movies like Godzilla and King Kong, Rampage puts players in the role of one of three oversized monsters— George the ape, Lizzie the lizard, and Ralph the wolf.

The players start wreaking havoc in Peoria, Illinois, then cut a path of destruction through the United States. In the arcade version, the monsters' attacks take place over 128 days. After those days end, the cities start to repeat, and after five cycles the game reaches day 768 and the days reset to 1. The console iterations had an actual ending added. The goal in each stage is to knock down every building in the city. The monsters can climb up the sides of buildings and punch out sections of their walls, occasionally eating the hapless humans that they find inside. Take out enough pieces of a building and it will come crashing down. Watch out, though—the National Guard is out in force and will harass the monsters with tanks and jets. If enough damage is taken, the monster will revert to its original human form, sans clothes. In a multiplayer situation, any remaining monsters can grab and eat the ex-monster.

Rampage has seen a number of remakes and sequels over the years with varying degrees of success. Follow-ups include Rampage World Tour, Rampage 2: Universal Tour, Rampage Through Time, and Rampage Puzzle Attack, though none of them have garnered the same positive response as the original.