'Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland' is a fun little 2D platformer that is quite similar to 'Super Mario Bros 2' actually, and what I didn't know before playing is that this is essentially just an NES game with an optional HD skin, not that I have a problem with that.
Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil see a commercial for a new Reptar bibeo game, but of course being babies means they're broke, so now they must go all around the house collecting coins while going on an adventure to save up for the new game.
The gameplay here for the most part is pretty solid, like I said above it is pretty similar to SMB 2 albeit being a bit slower, you can jump on enemies picking them up to throw at other enemies, picking up blocks to stack em up or again destroying your foes. It's similar. Everything functions fine, but since it is an NES game essentially be aware that a couple spots can be infuriating due to poor placement or wonky hitboxes, not all the time though.
You'll go through the game as 1 or either all 4 characters in the game as you can swap to one on the fly, Tommy your all around average, pretty much the Mario here. Chuckie who's got those jumps for days, consider him the Luigi. Lil who you can consider the Peach as she's got some jump/gliding going on. Lastly Phil who doesn't jump very high, but has some strength to lift things up fast, probably the Toad of the group. Honestly the game doesn't rely too much on carrying things and they all run at the same speed so Chuckie is probably the best character to use overall, but at the very least each character aside from speed does feel different enough.
You'll go through 7 different levels in the game, again just different locations around the house but using the power of a baby's imagination it turns ordinary places into fun adventures.;
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[*] The Living Room (Babies in Gameland) which is both used as the introduction and end of the game, nothing really exciting happens here other than the plot, but the end level is essentially a compilation of previous levels to test your skills.
[*] The Backyard (Tumble in the Jungle) which is turned into a jungle, swinging from vine to vine, platforming off trees, going inside of trees climbing your way up, bouncing off flowers super high.
[*] The Sandbox (Sand in my Diapie) which is turned into an Egyptian like desert, avoiding cacti and snakes shooting fireballs at you, having that evil Angelica stare at you as a pharaoh pyramid.
[*] The Fridge (Living in the Fridge) which is turned into an icy arctic you have to traverse trying not to slip off icy platforms, avoiding giant gingerbread men, using cookies as platforms while then having to explore factories.
[*] The Bedroom (Somewhere in Dreamland) which is you traversing a colorful dream. Being stalked by clowns as you platform on pillows and avoid flying fish.
[*] The Attic (Noises in the Attic) which has you traversing the attic having to go multiple routes lighting up torches in order to find treasure as you avoid Cynthia's flying head.
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Levels themselves are pretty fun as it transitions from normal level as a parent grills or something to BAM IMAGINATION. Again some parts are a pain like stated above and some bosses are eh, but overall fun. SPEAKING OF BOSSES!
You'll also battle 6 different bosses coinciding in their respective themed levels;
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[*] Thorg (Tumble in the Jungle) he'll throw stuff at you trying to run away upwards in his tree tower, but thanks to bouncy flowers and him being a dumb@** you can throw back the enemies to hurt him.
[*] Pickles (Sand in my Diapie) he tries to squish you, but you can avoid him as he breaks blocks downwards until you're met with his fat head trying to hit you with rocks falling from the crumbling buildings, but enemies also fall down so grab one to beat Pickles.
[*] Dummi Bears (Living in the Fridge) coming to the end of the factory you battle three dummi bears trying to hit you with arrows, you have to shut off fire surrounding conveyors that are shooting ice blocks at you, throw the ice blocks at the bears.
[*] Mr. Boppo (Noises in the Attic) you can take out your stress by jumping on him as his eyes pop out like the stress toy he is, trying to squish you as you avoid him, but you might have to worry as he can downsize becoming smaller and also sends out hands to try and snatch you up.
[*] Mr. Tippy (Somewhere in Dreamland) that sippy Mr. Tippy tries to hit you with solidified milk bubbles, wait for an opening so you can slam him down, hand me my car keys, I'm ready.
[*] Angelica (Babies in Gameland 2/2) and the most evil saved for last, Angelica will you Reptar statues to try and keep you down as they shoot fireballs at you, but she's an evil moron that doesn't realize that we can use her own statues to shoot her with the fireballs.
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The bosses for the most part are fun to go through, even if most of them aren't as good as the main levels themselves. I really enjoyed the Dummi Bears having to shut off the fire to retrieve your ice blocks as a weapon, climbing up to fight Thorg was cool as well even though it kinda ends I just wish it had one more climbing up section, and I really enjoyed shooting Angelica with fire.
I really loved the visuals here too, everything just looks so good. Even the original NES sprites here look good to play through, I genuinely prefer that to the "Modern" look. I just wish it had a singular key to go back and fourth instead of having to pop up an additional menu, it is nice to mix and match with the visuals/audio, but still.
Would I recommend the game, yes, but only if it's $10 or under. It is fun to go through, but it takes less than an hour and a half to play through, even including grabbing the 4 missable achievements. It just doesn't have much replayability either. If you can get it on a sale, like Rugrats, and also happen to like Super Mario Bros 2, then I 100% would say snag it, it really is fun. Also sorry for the long review.
