Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland is a flawed throwback to platformers of days past. Aesthetically, the teams at The MIX Games & Wallride have absolutely nailed it. If you grew up watching Rugrats, you’ll be swimming in nods to the cartoon, ranging from characters, to environments, to props. And there's even a filter allowing the game to transform into an 8-bit treasure.
This side-scroller sees Tommy Pickles & friends collecting coins to unlock a Reptar item trapped in Tommy’s TV. You control one of Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, or Lil, all while swapping on the fly, a nice touch. They have separate health pools and different stats too, making swapping important if you need someone with a better jump distance for example.
Any great platformer lives and dies by its controls, and that’s an issue here. Basic platforming is adequate, but more elaborate levels call for climbing, jumping, and combat together, asking for a level of precision the game simply doesn’t have. Screen transitions spawn enemies in a way that allows for cheap shots before you move, they respawn too quickly, and the controls don’t handle multitasking of combat and platforming well. Climbing and item manipulation suffer the most here, working poorly, or sometimes not at all. Boss fights have a tendency to combine all of these aspects into one, making things even worse.
Luckily, level design is good, offering sprawling environments with numerous secrets and alternate pathways. Plus the levels feel unique from one another. The kitchen has an industrial aesthetic, the attic more of a haunted house, and so on. They brilliantly take mundane, everyday items and extrapolate them into fantastical environs, much like you’d expect from the mind of a child.
Cumulatively, you end up with a title brimming with nostalgia and good ideas, but controls that hold the affair back.
Comments 12
I think they made it for the NES first (there is a working cartridge available I think) and that might explain the mentioned shortcomings.
The HD graphics where marketed only as an extra in the very first announcement video.
(Which also explains the 4:3)
As someone who saw this show when it was new I don’t really understand how it maintained cultural relevance for so much time. Even when it was at the peak of its popularity it still looked like a weird toddler show with an unsettling artstyle. Maybe I was wrong. I do find that hot cocoa scene to be incredibly funny.(referring to the article’s sub).
On the other side of the coin, the comment above me surprised me in a way. I thought that given this game’s seeming level of care, that this would be a great NES throwback, a charm which I’ve yet to see properly emulated in a modern indie. Guess I’ll be waiting longer huh, or just tap again in my fave NES games for the millionth time when the urge hits again (not that I mind).
The Rugrats PS1 game still comes into my head sometimes
I may check this out if/when it drops to a lower price. I think it was always likely to be flawed given what they were aiming for
@roe the one with silly review? That video was hilarious. (For context: look up “gaming in the Clinton years”).
They need to get Search for Reptar on as a PS1 Classic
I cant wait in like 20 years when you can tell AI make you a game exactly what you want and how you want it... devs just disappoint
Glad I cancelled my LRG order
This is free on PC soon.
@Yousef- I did love this show as a kid, but even with that I don't much disagree haha. I do think the jarring art style is charming (a lot of cartoons from that era had very strange art haha.
You're time's probably better spent on one of your go-tos until this gets a price drop though for sure!
@yazzika They did yeah! Limited Run Games had a hand in producing the title too, possibly because of that.
It's definitely possible though, even though I'm not sure that was the right choice haha, cool as it may be to have it functional on the NES!
@roe
Search for Raptar was it? I remember getting that one on Christmas Eve of 98', along with Cool Boarders 2 & Parapa the Rappa for PS1 when i was 14 years old.
I actually kind of enjoyed Search for Raptar in it's day, in all of it's first wave primitive 3D Glory, which I'm sure has aged worse than a bag of cool ranch chips from the 90's.
Ren & Stimpy was the to-go-to in the land of Nick cartoons back in the early 90's. Next I'd go Doug, then Rug Rats.
Ah Real Monsters! wasn't too shabby either, and maybe Rocko's Modern Life.
Might consider checking this out on pc. Its free on epic game store.
Sounds decent, I'll play this if it comes to PS+ in the future.
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