When we first got the original Boxed set of Gamma World, it felt like a strange, new game. This version lacked the fantasy elements of the 2nd Edition and beyond, there were no elf, fairy, gnoll, or dragon equivalents, but it remained this strange offshoot of AD&D for us that felt like an entirely new experience and world.
Admittedly, the game did not really take off for us until 2nd Edition Gamma World, as the fantasy elements were familiar enough to create some interesting differences between "new world" and "old world" ways. This version felt strangely like the box cover, strange explorers in some strange technicolor land of danger and sinister mutants. There was this feeling of human descendants coning out of vaults and exploring the world, much like a precursor to Fallout by many years for us, and that pitted the new world versus the old and began that conflict in our Gamma World games.
The fantasy elements in 2nd Edition did solidify that conflict, and give the "new world" a familiar fantasy-style face. The fae-like lils were troublemakers, there were elf-like grens, talking animals, and many more of the fantasy tropes present creating a rich and interesting contrast between new worlds and old. The new world was a messed up fantasy world pulled into the ruins of the old civilization. The old world were thinking computers, humans, robots, and the way of living in the past.
Also worth mentioning is the first module Legion of Gold, which includes rules for conventional firearms, has some cool pieces of interior art, and features a campaign setting and a collection of adventures and locations. Including "normal" guns dials back the settings futuristic feeling just a tad, and I prefer the more sci-fi version where you can't find M-16 rifles and M1911A1 pistols lying around. By the time we get to Gamma World 4th Edition, we have nearly every Call of Duty style weapon represented, and I feel that game loses the feeling of "wrecked future society" once you put in Uzi SMGs and all sorts of other weapons. I mean seriously Gamma World 4th, why do they still have tasers when stun ray pistol and rifles are on the same list?
Wrecked future society! Please give up the modern weapons and simplify the gear lists! It is way too easy to fall into an Aftermath or Mad Max style feeling and play with these 1970-2020 weapons lying around.
Back to 1st Edition, and I hope Wizards puts out a 2nd Edition reprint soon, since that version is close to GW 1st while introducing the fantasy elements. No idea what is holding this up, but I am keeping my hopes up. As it is, I have the Fantasy elements in 3rd and 4th well enough, but I like 2nd Edition and that was the version that took off for us and captured our imagination. 3rd Edition is where it went downhill for us, and that felt replaced by Marvel Superheroes.
All that said, I would probably just play Mutant Future with the Gamma World creatures and special gear items pulled in. Nothing beats the basic, OSR feel and simplicity of that basic rules set. It works like most everything I know, and I am not sitting here trying to read and comprehend a set of rules that changed with every version of the game.
In my feeling, Gamma World should have kept close in rules to the current version of D&D - always. It felt like they chased unique mechanics to make the game fun, instead of putting that work into making the game fun. The setting as well, you cannot have a great game without a setting with a clear conflict, characters, and an overarching metaplot to drive interest.
If I were to pull in fantasy elements, I would probably use the Labyrinth Lord collection of creatures as my base, strip the magic off them, add mutations, and make the mutations and origin a random type with the start of every campaign. The fairies? Based off plants in one game, mutants in another, robots in another, cyborgs, psi-creatures, or any other origin I roll for the origin chart with powers rolled and tweaked to match. The psi-fairies would have a lot of standard mental powers, probably be incorporeal glowing purple things, and fly around at night.
And every game would be different, yet share the same fantasy-style elements with an unpredictable factor. The new world? A fantasy world come to life through the "new power" brought to the world. There are some things in Gamma World that feel like classics, but to tell you the truth, I could probably clone them, improve them, and make better versions inside of Mutant Future. Again, you want to be careful to not overshadow the new versus old fight, and balance those additions with that power struggle.
Part of the problem with turning Gamma World into a fantasy "paint by numbers" game is you lose the unpredictability that is a core attraction of the game. What is that fish and why is it swimming above the water? It can talk? Uhhh...I know the game and every monster in the book but I don't know this! And then, the inevitable "run back into the cave" statement with the fantasy Gamma World always comes up, "Why aren't we just playing fantasy?"
This is what randomizing the fantasy monsters powers, origins, intelligence levels, and other aspects brings to the game. The game is not supposed to be predictable. Players are supposed to poke, prod, observe, and try things. They are supposed to figure things out. Is that monster a possible friend or is it trying to eat us? Even the technology to a degree should be mazing and unpredictable. Why does this laser turn things different colors based on a color wheel on top and do no damage? What is that good for? That type of device? In my players' hands? Probably cause more damage than a Mk VII blaster. Players love this stuff.
Perhaps I need to create a book for my ideas and publish it. That is the beauty of OSR, to take what came before, and make it your own. And you are not forced to learn rules that kept changing, getting bigger and more complicated, and took away the focus from story to mechanics.
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