Rugrats: Adventures In Gameland Preview – Painting The Town Orange

The ’90s are still a fond memory for many. Rugrats With great affection. It was one of the most iconic cartoons from the Nickelodeon network and of that decade. Rugrats It’s no secret that the video game industry has produced its share of licensed games. But last week, announcing a new title was still shocking. That game, Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland, doesn’t just feature retro sensibilities – it’s an actual all-new retro game built in 2023. Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland is a retro game that pays homage to a gaming era Rugrats totally missed in spite of first airing in 1992.

Rugrats Adventures in Gameland is a game that goes beyond the usual homages to the late 80s and early 90s. (Read our preview here of Mina the Hollower which will be released at PAX West in the year 2023). The Mix Games & Wallride didn’t just make a game to look and play like an NES. They actually made it for the NES. Limited Run Games is handling the publishing, so you will have the option of buying a real NES cartridge. You don’t need to worry if, like me, you do not have a functioning NES. This game is also available on other modern platforms.

The demo I played on the NES covered one level of the game. In Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland, you can choose between the core baby group – Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil – each with distinct jumping stats. You can play the stages in two-player cooperative mode or single-player. If you take too much punishment, players will be able revive their downed babies. After watching a Reptar commercial, the story is about babies who imagine they are playing a video game. Six stages are set in Pickles’ home, and after the first screen the scene transforms to a fantastical environment.

My demo begins with an 8-bit title card, which includes a chiptune version. This is a great touch, especially given the style of presentation the developers chose. The stage starts in Tommy’s backyard. When I see Tommy’s Dad, Stu, distracted with the grill, the character that appears climbs a large tree, and everything around him transforms to a jungle.

Tommy was the most all-round jumper of our group. Then, after dodging and jumping over jungle animals I break open a blossoming bud to get me up higher. In other sequences, I have to stack blocks to get higher. The most challenging part of my demonstration required that I jump from vine-to-vine while birds flew around me, knocking into a pit below.

My playtime culminated in a boss fight against a giant gorilla who climbed in the canopy of trees out of my reach. Above, the beast will drop projectiles or enemies. The best way to win is to leap on the top of enemies, stun them and toss the stunned ones back at gorilla. All the while, avoiding hazards that fall from above. Although it’s not a particularly difficult battle, I can see why some players might find the fight challenging.

The 8-bit look is great, but I’m happy that I can switch over to an HD widescreen version using the same style of the Nickelodeon animation. The NES version was my demo so I never got to play it. However, once I had the game in my hand, I knew that would be my favorite art style.

Rugrats Adventures in Gameland came as a surprise, but it was also pleasant to discover how much I enjoyed the game. Rugrats Adventures in Gameland allows us to imagine the possibilities of what the Rugrats game could have become. It’s expected to be released in 2024 for modern consoles, as well as NES.