Rampage is one of those classic games that was killed off due to the end of arcade, although not for lack of trying. It suffered through numerous attempts to recapture that classic gameplay and make it exciting for a modern audience, even though its main concept is just destroying buildings as a giant monster. Whatever it was, from the lack of scale to the monsters, to the lack of progression, to the end goal being a high score, no one has really be able to figure out that game in a new context. With all that being said, the monster half of Super Man Or Monster is the closest attempt to a working modern Rampage that I've played.
Super Man Or Monster has no need for setup. You play as either a man or a monster. Although you don't play as Superman. I can see where you might be confused by that. In any case, the man is a volunteer flying on a jet pack and wielding weapons against a kaiju. The monster is a customizable beast that stomps and disintegrates buildings. There are still points to be won, but there are also expansive levels to explore and new weapons and/or customizations to unlock.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ8tWUobUlU
The game originated as a browser game, and playing that version gives you a good idea of what the enhanced version will bring to the table. In order to offset the inherent thrills of stomping on buildings as a giant lizard, the human character gets a little Horde mode phase before the monster spawns where he can build turrets and tanks to help him slay the beast and protect his town. Whatever side you play on, the game morphs into a bit of an arena deathmatch once the gameplay begins in earnest, with each round ending fairly quickly to match the arcade pacing.
The graphics are that voxel Minecraft style that everyone loves so much, although here it works due to the necessary destruction that is required for a game like this. So while the player character looks a bit generic since there are only a few "pixels" to work with, the monsters and buildings actually look really great due to their size and the wacky ways you can color and design them. This game also has an edge over its voxel based counterparts because everything goes very quickly, and the animations are fluid, especially on the monster as it stomps away.
As for what the Steam version is bringing to the table outside of a non-browser version, there seems to be a big focus on customization. As stated before, the monsters can be colored and decorated in various fashions, and there will be new turrets and tanks to unlock on the man side. There doesn't seem to be a one on one multiplayer mode in the works, which I feel would really push the game over the top. However, there is VR support baked into the new version, which seems like it would be a lot of fun to mess around with.
Overall, Super Man Or Monster is a simple concept done well in its initial form, and will certainly be worth looking at in its enhanced form if it does hit Steam. It's currently on Greenlight looking for votes, so go check out its page if you're a fan of arcade classics, fast paced voxels, or kaiju games that aren't $60 slow moving generator basing simulators. I already gave it my thumbs up, as I liked what I saw so much that I forgave the developers for including a fart joke in their trailer.
What do you think of Super Man Or Monster? Will you give it a vote, or are you more of a Toobin' kind of guy? Will there be a Superman joke in the final version? Answer these questions and others if you feel like it in the comments below!