Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Rana Rama offers a top-down dungeon crawler experience that balances exploration, combat, and puzzling mini-games. You guide Mervyn, a hapless wizard’s apprentice turned frog, through eight increasingly challenging levels. Each level is divided into 16 screens, containing over 50 individual rooms. This structure encourages methodical exploration and keen observation, as entering an unseen room is the only way to reveal its contents—be it loot, traps, or enemy wizards.

Combat in Rana Rama is straightforward yet satisfying. You have four distinct power meters—Power, Offence, Defence, and Effect—each enhanced by collecting runes earned through the RANARAMA mini-game. Battles require timing and positioning: melee encounters demand precise strikes, while ranged magic benefits from constant movement to avoid retaliatory spells. Losing a life strips you of all runes, upping the stakes for each fight.

The RANARAMA mini-game is a clever twist that breaks up the action. Every time you meet a warlock, the letters “RANARAMA” are jumbled on screen. By swapping letter pairs in sequence, you must reconstruct the title in the shortest time possible to earn up to four runes. This mechanic not only rewards quick thinking under pressure but also injects variety into the core dungeon-crawling loop, reminiscent of Paradroid’s sub-games for upgrades.

Graphics

Visually, Rana Rama embraces a retro pixel-art style that is both charming and functional. The overhead viewpoint provides a clear perspective on room layouts, enemy positions, and environmental hazards. Each level showcases a distinct color palette, from dank dungeon corridors to glowing arcane chambers, ensuring visual variety as you progress.

Character sprites are small but detailed: Mervyn’s frog form hops with a satisfying bounce, while invading wizards gesture dramatically as they cast spells. Environmental details—burning braziers, mossy walls, and trapdoors—help immerse you in the dungeon’s atmosphere. Though not cutting-edge by modern standards, the graphics are crisp, legible, and brimming with nostalgic appeal.

Special effects for your runic powers—fireballs, invisibility pulses, and teleportation flashes—stand out nicely against the darker dungeon backdrop. These animations, though simple, convey impact and give a palpable sense of power as you unleash your upgraded abilities on hordes of enemy wizards.

Story

Rana Rama’s narrative begins with a comedic misfire. Mervyn, an overeager wizard’s apprentice, attempts a spell to make himself irresistible to women—only to discover he’s now alluring exclusively to female frogs. Suddenly-emboldened amphibians swarm his tower, prompting him to disguise himself as a humble frog to survive.

The plot takes a darker turn when 96 hostile wizards invade Mervyn’s dungeon. These invaders seek to purge all traces of his magical experiments. Stranded in frog form, Mervyn must traverse eight perilous levels to defeat each intruder and reclaim his apprentice status. The story unfolds through brief text interludes, offering humor and context between the action-packed levels.

While the narrative isn’t deeply complex, it provides ample motivation for progression. The mismatch between Mervyn’s grand ambitions and his amphibious predicament adds charm and humor. This lighthearted premise is a refreshing counterpoint to the game’s escalating difficulty, making every small victory feel well earned.

Overall Experience

Rana Rama is a delightful blend of dungeon crawling, action, and puzzle-solving. The core loop—explore rooms, dispatch enemy wizards, earn runes via RANARAMA, and upgrade your powers—remains engaging throughout all eight levels. The risk of losing your hard-won runes on death keeps the tension high without feeling unfair.

The balance of challenge and reward is well tuned. Early levels allow you to master basic combat and navigation, while later stages demand strategic rune usage and quick reflexes. The mini-game interludes break monotony and reward cognitive skill, reinforcing the game’s playful spirit.

Whether you’re drawn to retro aesthetics, enjoy methodical exploration, or relish light puzzles within an action framework, Rana Rama delivers a cohesive, entertaining experience. It may not revolutionize the genre, but it stands out for its quirky premise, solid design, and replayable dungeon layouts—making it a worthy adventure for fans of classic top-down action games.

Retro Replay Score

7.4/10