The Speed Rumbler

The Speed Rumbler (Arcade) Demo

Arcade Demo

The Speed Rumbler, known as Rush & Crash (ラッシュ アンド クラッシュ, Rasshu ando Kurasshu) in Japan, is a 1986 Japanese arcade game that was released in North America a bit later the same year. A port is included in Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox.

Plot

In 21st Century America there exists a gang of terrorists known as Zapper (ザッパー, Zappā), dedicated to attacking peaceful towns simply because they want to do their best committing crimes. In one of their raids they attack the home town of the main character, Top (トップ, Toppu) (named Super Joe in English and given no name in Europe), and kidnap their wife, children and all other townspeople. A Special Forces soldier, Top embarks on a rescue mission to save everyone and bring peace back to his home town. Commanding an armored Pursuit Vehicle AMT (Armor Transom) (追撃用車輌AMT( アーマートランサム), Tsuigeki-yō Sharyō Āmā Toransamu) outfitted with guns, Top must blast his way through enemy areas while on the rescue mission. If the vehicle takes too much damage, Top can hop out and continue the fight on foot.

Trivia

• The Speed Rumbler is the first of two instances where Capcom USA renamed a main character after Super Joe, the main protagonist of the 1985 hit Commando (with his name established in the Arcade flyers). This would be followed by the nameless protagonist of Bionic Commando to be called Super Joe as well, and for the character itself to debut as a NPC in the NES version of the game, becoming a recurring character in the series. Capcom USA would attempt something similar in the NES port manual for Section Z, referring to its otherwise nameless protagonist as being the company's mascot at the time, Captain Commando.
• Whereas there's no connection between The Speed Rumbler and Commando in Japan at all, English sources have gone back and forth over whether the main character in both games are meant to be the same or not. One of the facts in Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 establishes the hero of both games to be the same Super Joe, while the Capcom 30th Anniversary Character Encyclopedia more accurately states that it "was likely fabricated by the localization team; it's hard to believe that the developers intended for all three games to star the same guy, as The Speed Rumbler is a sci-fi game that appears to take place several decades after Commando". The Speed Rumbler was also ignored in the Bionic Commando website when describing the classic games featuring Super Joe, whereas it actually aknowledged Super Joe as being the hero of Bionic Commando for Arcade.
• The Speed Rumbler is heavily inspired by the Mad Max film series.

Credits

The Speed Rumbler, like many other games during this era of gaming, credited its staff in its default Score Ranking Table, which is as follows:

• Top 35000 Tokurou
• 2nd 30000 Yukio
• 3rd 25000 Kyoko
• 4th 20000 Harumi
• 5th 15000 Tamayo
• 6th 10000 Kuchino
• 7th 5000 Capcom

However, a secret ending sequence can be activated by holding 1P Start, 1P Left and 1P Button 2 after the ending text appears:

Producer: Tokuro Fujiwara, Yoshimoto
Programmer: Yukio Arai, Kyoko Tomita
Character: Chieko Ryugo, Kimio, Couichi Yotsui
Music: Tamayo Kawamoto, Harumi Ihara
Hard: Shinji Kuchino, Katuhiko Kamimori
Present by Capcom

Gallery

Top/Super Joe

Arcade Flyer Art

Arcade Flyer

External Link

• wikipedia article