That Rugrati somehow managed to stay in the public consciousness for so long is impressive in itself. This was partly due to Nickelodeon continuing to show it for younger generations and the series running for 13 years for 172 episodes and spawning two feature films. However, the most important reason for the extended shelf life is its unexpectedly broad appeal. Conceived by Hungarian-born Gábor Csupó and his wife Arlene Klasky, Rugrats looked like a show about babies for babies, but it was actually a show about babies for children and adults. Thanks to clever writing and deeper maturity — the usual course The Simpsons-inspired by the ’90s — those who loved it 30 years ago will still enjoy it today.
Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland’s most important triumph, then, isn’t necessarily its set design or graphical style, but rather its use of the series’ intelligence. It’s a shame the original voiceover isn’t available, with the exchanges presented in text instead, but you can still recall Tommy’s raspy tones in your head.
As has been the case in almost every episode of the series, the plot of the game revolves around the imagination of the Rugrats gang that goes wildly out of control. After seeing a TV spot for the new video game Reptar (Reptar is a fictional dinosaur riff on Godzilla), the babies turn their limited world into their own video game. Stages are set in areas around the household: attic, yard, kitchen, sandbox, bedroom and living room. Of course, everyday life turns into something magical through a child’s lens, the sandbox becomes a vast desert full of traps, the kitchen refrigerator a mechanical maze of cables and electrical spikes, and the attic a complete house of horrors. Everything is thoughtfully designed, conceptually speaking, to capture the spirit of the play.
You can choose from four playable Rugrats: Tommy Pickles, siblings Phil and Lil, and nerdy fire-haired Chuckie. The parents appear around the house, the maniacal Angelica is featured prominently during cutscenes, and those familiar with the series will recognize the game’s bosses.
The goal is to recover the special Reptar Coins scattered throughout each stage to unlock the door behind the TV in the living room, which leads to the final area of the game. You can take on the initial six stages in any order you want, and you can switch between any of the four Rugrats on the fly as you play. All characters have a ground pound, and enemies are usually released by head jumps. Babies can also pick up certain objects, such as blocks, and use them to build structures to climb on. Some enemies will be dazed from a normal headbutt and can then be picked up and thrown – a technique that comes into play during certain boss fights.
Stage layouts are built around exploration. Recovering the Reptar Coin is the main objective, but you’ll also need to find a screwdriver to unlock the boss door. Fortunately, it’s well-designed and enjoyable to take apart thanks to Rugrats’ various gameplay properties. Lil can hover briefly in the manner of Princess Peach, Chuckie has Luigi’s long jump arc, Phil has a higher jump, and Tommy, our hero, responds more in classic Mario style. Once you get to grips with the strengths and weaknesses of your young team, you can switch them off by pausing the game, and this works equally well in single player and two player modes. Ideally, we’d like a more fluid option to switch between characters in the game instead of going to the pause screen, which seems cumbersome, but isn’t a problem.
While using different Rugrats for different degrees of air travel is fun, it doesn’t go as deep as other games that use the same structure. But those who enjoy platform exploration with a decent level of challenge will have fun with this one, and keeping your baby team in the game by deploying health items definitely requires strategy.
As Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland is based on a well-known cartoon, aesthetics are actually very important here. Fortunately, the style is completely accurate, missing nothing in terms of characters, colors, and even line work. Indeed, we tend to find the Flash-style rendering – that ultra-pure shadow puppet movement – unappealing, but admittedly it does represent the show very well here. Plus, a CRT filter wouldn’t be out of place, just to capture some of that 90’s Saturday morning TV crowd.
However, what is truly impressive is the ability to switch the game to 8-bit mode on the fly. We’re not even sure why it was necessary, since the effort that went into repainting the game twice seems excessive – but man, are we thankful they did. Switching to graphics mode brings everything back to an incredibly authentic NES game, complete with blinking sprite limits. It’s so faithful, in fact, that Limited Run Games is releasing an 8-bit rendering on a physical NES cartridge for $60.
It’s up to the player which graphics mode they stick with: a game that almost identically resembles a cartoon in wide format, or one that evokes incredible nostalgia and works great as an 8-bit title. Personally, we think the 8-bit variant is the right one, not only because it’s a throwback to the era in which Rugrats first aired, but because it seems to make more sense to put the game together. The music is also excellent and available in modern and chiptune varieties, and you can combine soundtracks over both visual options.
Conclusion
Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland is a well-made platformer that captures the core of what made the TV show go, and that’s perhaps its greatest achievement. The character swapping system isn’t unique, but it works well thanks to some clever and occasionally quite challenging scene design; and, while it doesn’t reinvent the wheel, here’s a fun action game with a good level of exploration. Whether you’re drawn to the HD or retro aesthetic variants depends on which nostalgic feelings you feel the strongest. Either way, the 8-bit display is so accurate to the hardware of the era that we can’t believe it wasn’t actually released three decades ago.
