Rugrats: Search for Reptar is a 1998 platform video game developed by n-Space and published by THQ. It was released in North America in October or November 1998 and in Europe in November 1998, exclusively for PlayStation. Based on the television show Rugrats, the game follows the show's main character, Tommy Pickles, who has lost his Reptar puzzle. It features stages based on episodes from the television show and minigames. Its sequel was Rugrats: Studio Tour.
The game was developed with the intent of appealing to children. A marketing campaign, the second-biggest of 1998, was formed in conjunction between Sony Computer Entertainment America and THQ for its North American release to bolster the children's market on the PlayStation. The game received mixed reviews from critics, though it has regularly been noted that children will enjoy it. It was criticized for its camera and control mechanics and praised for its graphics. It was well-received commercially and was the third-best-selling game in the first two weeks of its release. The game was incorporated into the Greatest Hits brand and sold nearly 1.5 million copies in the US, becoming one of the best-selling games on the PlayStation.
Gameplay and premise
In-game screenshot. Tommy Pickles and Chuckie Finster stand by a bench near hedges in front of a goose, while a bottle of milk depicts Tommy's health.
The game follows the main character of the cartoon Rugrats, Tommy Pickles, who has lost pieces of a jigsaw puzzle featuring the cartoon dinosaur Reptar. It is a single-player 3D platform game in which the player controls several of the main characters from the television show to accomplish various goals.[1][2] The game has fourteen levels that are accessed when players pick up certain objects. The levels can be played in any order, but some more difficult ones must be unlocked first by completing tasks in earlier stages.[3]
The levels that players explore are mostly based on episodes from the television show. The levels contain pieces of the Reptar puzzle that players collect. Upon completing the main storyline, a golf minigame can be accessed; it can be played with up to four players.[4] The game features several voice actors from the cartoon that reprise their roles including E. G. Daily, Kath Soucie, Christine Cavanaugh, and Cheryl Chase.[5][6]
Development and release
In 1997, THQ signed an agreement with Nickelodeon to develop and publish video games using the Rugrats license through December 2002. The deal gave THQ exclusive rights to Rugrats for all current and future game systems from Nintendo, Sony, and Sega.[7] Among the first projects announced from this deal was a PlayStation game to be developed by n-Space and released in 1998.[8]
Rugrats: Search for Reptar was developed to appeal to children ages seven to twelve.[9] THQ created a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign for Search for Reptar, the second-biggest campaign of 1998 for a video game after The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time's campaign. Marketing included television and print advertisements, promotional tie-ins (including images of the game on Rugrats Fruit Snacks' boxes) and online advertisements.[10] A trailer for the game was included in PlayStation Interactive Sampler Vol. 8[11] and demos were distributed among kiosks, hardware pack-ins, and on PlayStation: The Official Magazine demo discs. The campaign took about a year to formulate, and was a collaboration between Sony Computer Entertainment America and THQ to expand the younger children's market on the PlayStation. It was one of two THQ games to have television advertisements at the time, the other being WCW/nWo Thunder.[10]
Rugrats: Search for Reptar received generally mixed to positive reviews. It held an aggregate score of 68.75% at GameRankings, based on four reviews.[16] Reviewers stated that the game had an easy difficulty rating geared towards a younger audience. They stated that older players might enjoy playing the game, especially those who were fans of the television show or casual gamers.[4][3][17][19] They also noted that the short duration of the levels and minigames would prevent younger audiences from becoming bored[3] and the golf minigame was highlighted as a positive experience.[4][3]
Reviewers highlighted poor camera mechanics: the camera's movement was nauseating,[4][17] the button to reorient the camera was not always effective[3] and sometimes the camera angle, when entering a room, would cause the controls to reverse.[17] Some reviewers highlighted positive experiences with the controls,[17] while others critiqued poor reaction times to initiate actions or stop movement.[3] Doug Perry, writing for IGN, stated that the game's use of simple Gouraud shading techniques, similar to those used in the television show, was visually appealing. He also complemented the looping, circus music soundtrack.[17] Scott Alan Marriott, writing for AllGame, stated that fans of the television show would be attracted to the game's use of the same voice actors.[3]
Search for Reptar was the third best-selling game in the first two weeks of its release in North America.[20] As of June 2003, the game had sold 1.5 million copies[21] and is one of the best-selling games on the Playstation.[22]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
