Gorilla Rampage

How was King Kong ever a king? Sure, he had a whole island worshipping him as a deity, but to be a king you need a noble lineage, a royal crest, or at least a natty crown to wear at weekends.

King Gorilla, your character in the misleadingly titled Gorilla Rampage, seems even less able to call himself a king, lacking as he does any obvious followers or royal heritage.

He does have a natty crown, though, so I guess I’ll let him off.

Gorilla Rampage, despite the clear inspiration, isn’t a new take on one of my all time favourite arcade titles, Rampage. Rather, it's a one-button rock-throwing, lady-rescuing game - yeah, another one (what?).

Each level plays out with your King automatically marching left and right across a balcony, holding a chunk of building above his head. The aim is to chuck these slabs of concrete back onto a variety of pursuers as they climb up the side to get you, while your damsel acts as a timer for each section.

Hold out long enough and the King snatches the lady and leaps higher up the building, eventually reaching a getaway blimp built for a king (gorilla).

Gorilla Rampage feels strangely like a more destructive and simian version of Tower Bloxx to play, as it relies on one button for all its actions.

The king only turns on the spot if he hits the side or chucks a rock. This forces the player to prioritise targets and time their throws carefully, juggling the choice of either going for a long combo and receiving a power-up or quickly dispatching foes before they can even sniff your hairy Gorilla.

It’s fairly simple at first, but can become surprisingly involving once multiple enemy types start appearing. The latter enemies in particular are devilishly tricky, with some capable of slowing your primate down or even reversing his current direction with their bullets.

While the one-touch gameplay works well in a title like Tower Bloxx, once these zippy enemies and the unpredictable bosses start to rear their heads the lack of control over the big hairy beast becomes incredibly annoying.

The Rockateer in particular had me thumping my chest in rage as his homing missiles and unpredictable darting almost completely stumped me – and he’s only the second boss in the game.

Despite the occasionally frustrating boss battle though, King Gorilla is still an interesting and addictive casual game that’s easy to pick up and play.

But, like King Kong and his dubious claims to royalty, the one-button control system doesn’t always make sense.