Retro City Rampage: DX arrives this month on original game's platforms and two new ones

Retro City Rampage: DX, the remastered version of Vblank Entertainment's old-school take on Grand Theft Auto and its ilk, is set for release this month on seven different platforms, studio head Brian Provinciano announced today.

The changes and additions contained in DX represent "a top-to-bottom remastering of just about everything" in the original Retro City Rampage, said creator Brian Provinciano in a post on the PlayStation Blog. Vblank released DX on Nintendo 3DS this past February, and Provinciano explained that "retooling the game for the smaller screen also really taught me a lot about its play experience."

Leading the list of DX features are new zoom mode, a dynamic camera and a slimmed-down HUD with a larger mini-map. The PlayStation Vita version of DX, in particular, got a lot of attention — the 3X zoom level was designed specifically for the handheld's screen, and the port also boasts a revamped interface with touch support. The 3X zoom is also available on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, and the vast majority of changes are present in all versions of DX.

That includes comprehensive tweaks to all areas of the game. Provinciano said he retuned every mission to smooth out difficulty spikes and pacing, altered controls, rebalanced weapons, expanded visual effects, reworked Arcade Challenges and more. New elements include the ability to hijack weapons, park vehicles in garages for easy access, lose the cops in a new way and listen to the soundtrack in a 147-track jukebox.

Purists can still play the original version of Retro City Rampage in the DX edition by toggling a setting in the options menu. On PlayStation platforms, DX comes with a new set of Trophies, and it's easier to attain 100 percent completion on them. Also included are two sets of leaderboards, one for the old version and a separate one for DX.

The three PlayStation versions of DX — PS3, PS4 and PS Vita — will be released Nov. 11 and are cross-buy with each other at $9.99 (or $7.99 for PlayStation Plus subscribers). Owners of the original Retro City Rampage will have to buy the DX version separately, but can transfer their existing save game to the remastered version. Provinciano noted that DX will replace the original game on the PlayStation Store "in order to avoid customer confusion." People who already own the game will be unaffected, since they can always access it from their PS Store download history.

"While DX includes a mode to play the original RCR, if for some reason you would prefer the pure original, grab it before it's too late," said Provinciano.

On the other platforms — PC, WiiWare and Xbox 360 — DX will be available as a free update to the existing game. The Mac version is cross-buy with the PC version, so those who own Retro City Rampage on PC will get the Mac version free and buyers of DX on Mac version will get the PC version free.

Because of Microsoft's size restrictions on title updates, DX on Xbox 360 includes everything but the remastered screen borders; the new ones are there, though. The WiiWare version, which launches Nov. 13, comes with everything in DX but the zoom modes and HD video filters. DX marks the debut of Retro City Rampage in Australia and New Zealand on non-handheld platforms; the costs associated with the required rating classification prevented the original game from being released in those countries.

All versions of DX are ready to go, according to Provinciano; he's just waiting to confirm release dates on Mac, PC and Xbox 360, and he hopes that all of them will be available next week along with PlayStation and WiiWare. For more on what's new in Retro City Rampage: DX, check out the trailer above.