Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
The eighties kind of sucked. I mean, the crime rate was high, people were out of their minds
on ***... But you know what’s funny? Despite all the
things that made the eighties suck—the politics, the culture, the pollution—the nerds somehow
made the best of it. It was, like, as the real world fell apart, the nerds just...burrowed
into their basements and made awesome sh*t. I mean, it was a golden age for video games.
Mega Man alone was worth dealing with...Belinda Carlisle.
Heaven’s not a place on Earth. It’s Rad Raygun for the Xbox 360.
What’s great about Rad Raygun is that...it takes what was good about the eighties, its
video games, and combines them with some of the real-world crappiness. It’s basically
an interactive piece of eighties satire, and that’s awesome. It’s like a history lesson
for today’s nerds...who are, frankly, a lot less productive.
So you play as Rad Raygun, a robot with a ray gun and a simple mission—save the world
from an army of communists. And not just any communists. Communist robots from the Soviet
Union. Soon after saving Washington, you’re sent across the whole world to stop the Soviets—Germany,
Moscow and yes, Irafghanistan.
And for me, that’s by far the most entertaining thing about Rad Raygun. Forget its gameplay
and style for a moment—it totally lampoons the communist paranoia that defined American
politics during the eighties. And it’s hysterical to watch the game weave those jokes into a
larger satirical framework of the decade in general.
The female boss? She fires cones at you from her ***. And the snipers? Yeah, they’re
wearing red energy domes...you know, the DEVO hats? And all these gags about culture and
politics are wrapped up in a very good recreation of the eighties action-platformer. Absolutely
brilliant, and really well thought-out.
As for the gameplay, well...if you like Mega Man, you’ll love Rad Raygun. This is an
awesome nod to the blue bomber, and again...it’s styled like an old Game Boy game, which only
makes the package more cohesive. The robots really have that Capcom look, you know? Those
big-eyed, almost playful-looking evil robots. And the music flawlessly captures the sound
of the era.
Of course, the drawback is that much this game’s appeal is predicated on nostalgia.
Which is to say, if the eighties are only something you’ve only read about in books
or heard about on VH1, Rad Raygun’s lasers are probably firing over your head. But if
you’re old enough to remember when games looked like this and our politics were driven
by this...man, you’re going to love Rad Raygun.
An action/platformer that’s as smart as it is fun.