''Rytlock's Critter Rampage'' is a 2013 HTML5-based action-adventure game published by
ArenaNet
ArenaNet, LLC is an American video game developer and subsidiary of NCsoft, founded in 2000 by Mike O'Brien, Patrick Wyatt and Jeff Strain and located in Bellevue, Washington. They are most notable as developers of the online role-playing g ...
, developed and programmed by Delly Sartika. While not an official sequel to the
Guild Wars
''Guild Wars'' is an online role-playing game franchise developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSOFT. The games were critically well received and won many editor's choice awards, as well as awards such as Best Value, Best Massively Multiplay ...
series, it takes place in the same canon realm known to
Guild Wars 2
''Guild Wars 2'' is a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSoft. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the core game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild ...
players as the Super Adventure Box.
It was released worldwide on April 19, 2013 for players to experience in web browsers everywhere. It was developed using the
Construct 2
Construct is an HTML5-based 2D video game engine developed by Scirra Ltd. It is aimed primarily at non-programmers, allowing quick creation of games through visual programming. First released as a GPL-licensed DirectX 9 game engine for Micros ...
game engine.
The gameplay of Rytlock's Critter Rampage focuses on exploration, the search for baubles that are used to purchase items such as potions, defeating foes, and rescuing defenseless creatures known as quaggans. The game's story takes place some time before the events of Super Adventure Box, and follows legionnaire Charr warrior Rytlock Brimstone as he goes on a rampage, destroying hostile creatures.
Rytlock's Critter Rampage was an unexpected addition to the Super Adventure Box release, and is considered by many players a prime example of ArenaNet going above and beyond with their game development and marketing strategy..
Gameplay, graphics, and sound
Players control Rytlock Brimstone, a fierce Charr warrior who is a protagonist in the game
Guild Wars 2
''Guild Wars 2'' is a free-to-play, massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by ArenaNet and published by NCSoft. Set in the fantasy world of Tyria, the core game follows the re-emergence of Destiny's Edge, a disbanded guild ...
. The goal is to explore and survive the game world while collecting baubles and treasures. Combat includes many foes, Guild Wars 2 players will recognize from Super Adventure Box, such as snakes, turtles, beedogs, rabbits and monkeys which can all be dealt with using Rytlock's kick attack.
Players can also rescue some friendly creatures, such as pink quaggans, which act as savepoints, and purchase items like potions from shopkeepers. The game also includes boss fights, which are a combination of
bullet hell
Shoot 'em ups (also known as shmups or STGs
) are a sub-genre of action games. There is no consensus as to which design elements compose a shoot 'em up; some restrict the definition to games featuring spacecraft and certain types of charact ...
and platforming.
The game's graphics are designed to appear like a halfway point between a retro 8-bit
NES
The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit third-generation home video game console produced by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan in 1983 as the commonly known as the The NES, a redesigned version, was released in American ...
game and a
SNES
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in E ...
game, even though the game is coded to be experienced in flash. It was designed this way to make it appear as if the release of the Super Adventure Box was replacing the old fashioned SNES/NES-style gameplay with a new and mind-blowing graphic enhancements. (Similar to the way N64 was an upgrade from the SNES)
The game also features two game modes (Easy Mode or Rytlock Mode), Ten secret treasures players can find, a save feature, and four different endings.
Development
The game was originally intended to be nothing more than a prop for a Guild Wars 2 advertisement video, simply making an appearance briefly before the Super Adventure Box debut in the Adventure Box promotional video. The original plan was simply to create a couple of fake
sprites, but one of the developers, Delly Sartika, decided that he would in-fact take the initiative and create an entire platformer. The entire process took him about three weeks.
-Matthew Oswald, the ArenaNet Cinematics team lead, said "Originally, we just wanted to build out a couple sprites to fake the game in After Effects, but one of the cinematic artists on my team (Delly Sartika) has long harbored an interest in building his own retro platformer, so he volunteered to build out a playable version of our totally fake game."
Release
Rytlock's Critter Rampage was released as a free flash game and made available for everyone with internet access on April 19, 2013. It can be playe
here
Reception
Stories of an
April Fool's
April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...
joke leading to a fun and challenging game that was free and available to all, sparked the interest of several popular gaming sites such as
PC Gamer
''PC Gamer'' is a magazine and website founded in the United Kingdom in 1993 devoted to PC gaming and published monthly by Future plc. The magazine has several regional editions, with the UK and US editions becoming the best selling PC games m ...
,
Giant Bomb
''Giant Bomb'' is an American video game website and wiki that includes personality-driven gaming videos, commentary, news, and reviews, created by former ''GameSpot'' editors Jeff Gerstmann and Ryan Davis. The website was voted by ''Time'' ma ...
,
Joystiq
''Joystiq'' was a video gaming blog founded in June 2004 as part of the Weblogs, Inc. family of weblogs, now owned by AOL. It was AOL's primary video game blog, with sister blogs dealing with MMORPG gaming in general and the popular MMORPG '' Wo ...
and many others. Fans of the Guild Wars franchise and 2d platformers alike greeted the release of Rytlock's Critter Rampage with open arms. Many people who previously lost interest in the Guild Wars franchise, or had never displayed interest in the first place, had a spark of interest that ignited in both Guild Wars 2 and ArenaNet as a company. Overall, ArenaNet accomplished exactly what it set out to do, and the game received generally positive reception from audiences - working wonders for the company's publicity. Some players find Rytlock's Critter Rampage to be a bit too challenging for their tastes, but do not commit negatively to the title, since it is completely free.
References
{{NCsoft
2013 video games
Action-adventure games
Browser games
Freeware games
Guild Wars
Side-scrolling platform games
Video games developed in the United States