Roady Rabbit 2
Release type: Freeware
Release date: 1998?
Levels: 18
Author: Chris Laviolette
Website: Noproblo
Related games: World Warriors, Roady Rabbit 3
Roady Rabbit 2 is a work of great ambition and awkward execution. The game spans over a dozen levels, several time zones and characters, and a complex story line. Its levels are riddled with secrets and treasures. Aside from the music and the digitized sounds, every part of the game appears to be original. The downside is in the controls and the baffling level design, and in the way the two work together.
Completing a level often requires keys or other special items. To collect those items, often the player needs to walk through illusory walls. Then often the level's goal is as unclear as the process to attain it, which results in a great deal of wandering. Further frustrating the issue is Roady's slow and uneven gait, which makes it desirable to cut down on the walking as much as possible.
The streets are also scattered with random objects and hazards, which the player needs to sort out through trial and error. Generally if it's sharp or red, the object is harmful. If it's green, it's almost certainly good. If it's moving, get as far away from it as possible.
There is an order to the game. Once the player has found a few secrets, some patterns do reveal themselves, lending the levels a bit of a gonzo problem solving aspect. How do you reach the key up there? Well, what if you walk on the side of this house, up through the cracked wall, onto the side of that other house, around the windows, and back onto the sidewalk? Brilliant!
As the game progresses, its ambition also becomes clearer. Animated in-game cutscenes appear. The character grows more powerful. The levels start to become more interesting, and populated with in-jokes. The music, apparently borrowed from Epic Megagames' Drum Blaster, also contributes greatly to the atmosphere.
For the patient player, Roady Rabbit 2 has plenty of surprises to offer.
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Contents
Story[edit]
ROADY RABBIT IS BACK AND BETTER THAN EVER!!
As Roady Rabbit, you have been sent by the King of Rattville, to defeat the evil Lord Flame, who has tried to score revenge ever since you foiled his last plan to put an end to the World Warriors.
You have been informed by the king that the only thing that can destroy him is the Thunderbolt - a super weapon which can only be used by the forces of good. The problem is, the thunderbolt has not been completed yet.
You must go into the future and find the thunderbolt. Only then can you finally defeat Lord Flame and go down in history as the "World's greatest Rabbit".
GOOD LUCK....
Instructions[edit]
Like the original, You control Roady Rabbit.
- You must find your way through the streets to find the Lab.
- You can then go to the future to find the Super-weapon Thunderbolt.
- Then you must find your way through the mazes of Lord Flame's castle.
To control Roady on this adventure, use the arrow keys to walk around and press spacebar to jump. You can also press Z and X to slash with your carrot sword.
Once you find the 'bolt, you turn into Rampage Roady. When you are in Rampage form, press enter to shoot thunder.
ENJOY!!
Credits[edit]
Design -
- C. Laviolette
- C. Brady
Programmer -
- C. Laviolette
Director -
- C. Brady
Special thanks to:
- Everyone who helped me out
Background[edit]
"This game was originally called World Warriors 2, but we changed it because none of the other characters actually appear in the game. Also, the title screen says "Special Edition", but that image was done in preparation for an overhaul which never came to pass.
"[T]he World Warriors, led by Roady Rabbit, were a group of semi-anthropomorphic heroes that were designed and drawn up by me and Colin when we met in the third grade (age 8). The only other WW's I can remember by name are Duke Duck and Fearless Ferret, and their main nemesis was an amphibian called Lord Flame.
We made quite a few stories, comics, board games, and other artworks based on these characters which really fleshed out their world and personalities - it was a big part of our childhood to say the least - but most of this never translated into the computer games. We were just excited to be creating and playing Roady's digital adventures.
"Roady Rabbit carries a carrot-like sword and a multi-purpose explosive... something... some kind of round green vegetable. We tried working these into the games, but for some reason they were cut, probably because it was troublesome to make them work properly and our main focus was on the level design.
"The credits list me as the "Programmer" and Colin Brady as the "Director". That really just means I handled most of the GM work and Colin led the level design and imagery, but we both took turns doing some of everything.
"The early levels are quite strange. You'll find Roady on some residential streets, traveling between them via sewer systems. (They do NOT LIVE in the sewers as they are NOT NINJA TURTLES; it is merely a MEANS OF STEALTH TRANSPORTATION.) But these houses are not what they seem to be. Call them holograms, or illusions, or chemical-induced visions, any way you look at it, Roady must find his way through the noncorporeal segments to find keys, points, and other items to progress. Some of the levels have hidden exits to bonus rooms if you can find the well-hidden keys. Later levels take place in the depths of Lord Flame's castle."
Tips[edit]
"Don't fall in the water or touch hypodermic needles because both are deadly.
"If you want to pick up a vegetable to restore some health, make sure it's the right colour.
"Make good use of GM's preprogrammed ability to cut around the corners of solid blocks, which Colin dubbed "phasing"."
Trivia[edit]
- "One of the street levels was based on street I (Chris) lived on at the time. The background contained some particularly nasty inside-jokes directed at disliked neighbours, which were mostly removed after the game's initial release.
- "The two young gentlemen of the science lab, who offer Roady the advanced Thunderbolt weapon, are meant to be Chris and Colin of Techno Games.
- "The kittens sleeping on the laboratory floor are Spot and Smudge, Chris's real-life beloved cats. The "brothers" are only a few months apart in age, so their size difference in the game indicates that they were drawn in late 1994. Smudge (black and brown) passed away from a very sudden illness in November 2009, while Spot (orange w/ white belly) is going strong at 16½ at the time of this writing.
- "Roady Rabbit 2 uses music from Game-Maker's resource set and from Drum Blaster by Epic Megagames. Roady's over-the-top death animation was inspired by Mortal Kombat."
Availability[edit]
This game seems to have been made available on several shareware compilation CD-ROMs. More precise details TBD.
Archive History[edit]
While researching Game-Maker for a series of articles, a long post about the engine by Chris Laviolette turned up on the YoYo Games Web forums. While actively searching for a means of contact, Mike Perrucci discovered Roady Rabbit 2 in a CD-ROM shovelware archive and submitted it on July 13, 2010. Laviolette was later contacted through other means, for further context.
Links[edit]
Social Media / Discussion[edit]
- All About DOS Game-Maker (yoyogames.com)
- Ever Lose an Excellent Game? (yoyogames.com)
Misc. Links[edit]
Downloads[edit]
- Roady Rabbit 2 (304.2kB)
- Level 1 map (13.4 kB)
- Bonus level 1 map (5.6 kB)
- Level 2 map (18.9 kB)
- Level 3 map (7.8 kB)
- Level 4 map (32.0 kB)
- Level 5 map (7.1 kB)
- Level 6 map (32.2 kB)
- Level 7 map (10.3 kB)
- Bonus level 2 map (33.5 kB)
- Level 8 map (20.5 kB)
- Bonus level 3 map (5.8 kB)
- Level 9 map (24.8 kB)
- Level 10 map (6.7 kB)
- Level 11 map (7.5 kB)
