Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland from The MIX Games, WALLRIDE, and Limited Run Games brings us a colorful video game take on Nickelodeon’s beloved cartoon. Check our Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland review!
Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland from The MIX Games, WALLRIDE, and Limited Run Games brings us a colorful video game take on Nickelodeon’s beloved cartoon. This one is a brand new old-school inspired 2D platformer for the Nintendo Entertainment System – a.k.a. the NES – that asks: “What if Rugrats got an 8-bit video game back in the day?” It’s thanks to this that you’ll be able to play the game either in classic 8-bit mode or jump into the full HD hand-drawn experience that makes this one feel as if you were right in an episode of Rugrats! And why exactly are we now diving into this new 2D adventure?
One day, Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil see a very special commercial on TV that makes them jump into action. Why is that? Because it’s a commercial for a new Reptar video game! As a fan of the show, you’re very much aware of how awesome Reptar is. This makes the kids start to use their imagination – as one does – to pretend that they’re all now taking part in a video game of their own. They end up transforming Tommy’s house into a proper location for a platforming video game, making the most of the living room, the attic, the backyard, and everything in between.
You can play through this game in one of three difficulty settings, which you’ll choose at the start of your run, depending on how challenging you want things to be. Your options are Newborn, Baby, or Big Kid. Newborn is the easiest of the bunch, making it a good option for those without much experience with 2D platformer while giving you unlimited respawns. Baby offers a standard experience where you’ll manage health by swapping babies as needed. The last option is Big Kid, which will dial up the challenge. You also won’t be able to swap babies if playing on the Big Kid difficulty setting! Collecting cookies can help with this since each cookie will act as an Energy Tank that you can use for an extra health bar.
You’ll take on this game as Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil. Each baby will have different stats for jump and lift, with a one to four-star rating for these stays. Tommy has two stars for jump but three stars for lift. Chuckie has four stars for jump but only a single star for lift. Phile has a single star for jump but a full four-star rating for lift. As for Lil, she has three stars for jump and a pair of stars for lift. If that starts to sound a bit like Super Mario Bros. 2 – which is a reskin of Doki Doki Panic and thus known as Super Mario Bros. USA in Japan – then you’d be correct! As for the role of each baby in relation to the Super Mario Bros. 2 connection, think of Tommy as Mario, Chuckie as Luigi, Phil as Toad, and Lil as Peach, and you’ll quickly get the hang of things.
Once you get started, you’ll control the baby of your choosing by using the left analog stick or the D-Pad. You can switch between all four babies when playing in the Newborn and Baby difficulty settings by pausing the action. The X and Triangle buttons will be used for jumping, and you’ll be able to press the Square or Circle buttons to pick up stuff so that you can then throw it by pressing the Square or Circle buttons again. If you jump and press the down direction on the left analog stick or the D-Pad, the baby you’re controlling will perform a stomp. This can also be done by pressing the Square or Circle buttons after jumping. Oh, and you can switch between 8-bit mode and the full HD hand-drawn graphics by pressing the TouchPad on your DualSense, and you can also mix the HD graphics with the 8-bit audio or the other way around.
The game features a full trophy list with a Platinum trophy for you to work towards. And with this one being a Cross-Buy release, if you own a PS5 console, you’ll be able to download the PS4 and PS5 versions of the game, and each one will have a separate trophy list. Said lists will be split into 4 Bronze trophies, 9 Silver trophies, and 7 Gold trophies. The first trophy you’ll obtain will be for grabbing the screwdriver you’ll use to gain your freedom in the game’s tutorial level. After that, there are trophies for collecting a Reptar coin, collecting all four Reptar coins in each level, beating each of the game’s bosses, grabbing a cookie, having each baby obtain and hold four cookies at the same time, and grabbing a baby bottle to heal your wounds. If you need some extra help, you can check out this Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland Trophy Guide.
Rugrats: Adventures brings us a colorful video game take on Nickelodeon’s beloved cartoon. This one is a brand new old-school inspired 2D platformer for the Nintendo Entertainment System – a.k.a. the NES – that asks: “What if Rugrats got an 8-bit video game back in the day?” It’s thanks to this that you’ll be able to play the game either in classic 8-bit mode or jump into the full HD hand-drawn experience that makes this one feel as if you were right in an episode of Rugrats! Play as Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil, with each baby paying homage to the characters from Super Mario Bros. 2 – known as Super Mario Bros. USA in Japan. Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland is available as a Coss-Buy title, so your $24.99 purchase will allow you to download both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 versions of the game at no extra cost.
Disclaimer
This Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland review is based on a PlayStation 5 copy provided by Limited Run Games.
