As someone who grew up on late 90s and early 2000s Nickelodeon cartoons, I was quite excited to check out Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland at PAX East. Developed by The MIX and Wallride, this 2D platformer is a nod to classic IP-based platformers, often known for their challenging battles and high replayability.

Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland features Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, and Lil as playable characters. Each of the babies have their own unique abilities that suit different situations. For example, Chucky can jump higher and further, but Phil’s smash attack can blow through multiple destroyable structures at once. You won’t get a proper “game over” until all the Rugrats have been defeated.

After stomping bugs, collecting Reptar coins, and traversing various home and fantasy environments, I eventually faced off against one of the game’s bosses. It was none other than Big Boy, the terrifyingly oversized baby that any Rugrats viewer will remember. As he leaped into the air, I had to avoid his smash attacks while baiting him into destroying the ground beneath us and taking us to the next room. I did this a couple of times until eventually I had to stun mechanical bug creatures, pick them up, and then throw them into his mouth. It was brutal. I lost about 3-4 times before I finally beat him.

The game was more challenging than I expected it would be, and that’s completely by design. The folks at The MIX wanted to create a love letter to the brutally hard licensed platformers that define so many childhoods. So much so, in fact, that Rugrats: Adventures in Gameland includes the option to change the game’s appearance to an 8-bit art style. This old school platformer will aim to deliver nostalgic goodness later this year.