Rugrats: Search for Reptar

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.

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. They 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]

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.^[5] Among the first projects announced from this deal was a PlayStation game to be developed by n-Space and released in 1998.^[6]

Rugrats: Search for Reptar was developed to appeal to children ages seven to twelve.^[7][8] The game was also designed to appeal to fans of the television series with level ideas inspired by television episodes. It features voice actors from the cartoon that reprise their roles, including E. G. Daily, Kath Soucie, Christine Cavanaugh, and Cheryl Chase.^[9][10]

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.^[11] A trailer for the game was included in PlayStation Interactive Sampler Vol. 8, a demo disk distributed by Sony to promote various video games.^[12] 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.^[11]

The game was released in North America in October or November 1998^[a] and received an "E" rating from the Entertainment Software Rating Board.^[13] It was released in PAL regions in November.^[14][16]

Rugrats: Search for Reptar received mixed-to-positive reviews and held an aggregate score of 68.75% at GameRankings, based on four reviews.^[17] Reviewers stated that the game had an easy difficulty rating appealing to a younger audience, while older players, especially those who were fans of the television show or casual gamers, could enjoy the game^{[4][3][19][20]} but might lose interest after quickly mastering the game's mechanics.^[21] They also noted that the short duration of the levels and minigames prevented younger audiences from becoming bored. The golf minigame was highlighted as a positive aspect of the game.^[4][3]

Reviewers commented on poor camera mechanics: the camera's movement was nauseating,^[4][19] 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. Some highlighted positive experiences with the controls,^[19] while others critiqued poor reaction times to initiate character actions or to stop the character's movement.^[3] The graphics were highlighted as a positive aspect of the game:^[21] 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.^[19] The looping, circus music soundtrack also received a positive reception from reviewers.^[21][19] 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.^[22] In December 1998, it was the fourteenth best-selling home console video game in the United States.^[23] As of June 2003, the game had sold 1.5 million copies^[24] and as of 2021 it ranked the 66th best-selling game on the PlayStation.^[8]

Search for Reptar was declared a "Greatest Hits" title on June 18, 2012,^[25] and subsequently re-released under that label. The game was followed by a sequel titled Rugrats: Studio Tour.^[22]

• Rugrats: Search for Reptar at MobyGames