Rugrats: Search for Reptar
Encyclopedia
Rugrats: Search for Reptar is an adventure
video game that was released in 1998 for PlayStation in North America and in the PAL region
by THQ
. The game is based on the popular Nickelodeon
cartoon Rugrats
which aired from 1991 until 2004. The game follows the main character of the cartoon, Tommy Pickles
, who has lost his Reptar
puzzle. It features stages that are typically based on episodes from the television show.
It was developed with the intent of appealing to ages seven through twelve. A marketing campaign, which was the second biggest of 1998, was formed in conjunction between Sony Computer Entertainment America and THQ for its North American release, in order to bolster the children's market on the PlayStation.
The game has been met with mixed reviews from critics, though it has regularly been noted that children will enjoy it. It was criticized for its camera and gameplay by publications such as IGN
and GameSpot
but was given a positive reception for its presentation and was well-received commercially, being the third best-selling game in the first two weeks of its release. It was incorporated into the Greatest Hits brand and sold more than 1.5 million copies.
, Tommy Pickles
, who has lost a puzzle featuring the cartoon dinosaur Reptar
. It is a 3D platform game which requires players to control several of the main characters in order to accomplish the goals. The game has fourteen levels that are accessed by players picking up certain objects and also has bonus levels with Reptar bars. Players can play the levels in any order, but the more difficult levels have to be unlocked to be playable.
The levels that players explore are mostly based on episodes from the cartoon, such as "Chuckie's Glasses", and contain various pieces of the Reptar puzzle. The game also has a training and activities mode, as well as multiplayer mode. The game makes use of several of the voice actors from the cartoon to reprise their roles, including Elizabeth Daily
, Kath E. Soucie, Christine Cavanaugh
, and Cheryl Chase
.
, and published by THQ
for the PlayStation video game console
. It was first released in North America on October 31, 1998, and in PAL region
s in November of that same year.
THQ started a multi-million dollar marketing campaign for Search for Reptar, the second-biggest campaign of 1998, after The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
s campaign for the Nintendo 64
. Marketing included television and print advertisements, promotional tie-ins, and online advertisements; demos were distributed among kiosks, hardware pack-ins, and on PlayStation: The Official Magazine
demo discs; and images of the game were shown on Rugrats Fruit Snacks' boxes.
The campaign took about one 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 only two THQ games to have television advertisements at the time, the other being WCW/nWo Thunder
.
based on four reviews and was the third best-selling game in the first two weeks from its release in North America. Search for Reptar was a consistent chart topper and was described as a "breakout PlayStation hit" by THQ's senior vice president of sales, Alison Locke, who attributed the success of the children's market on the PlayStation to Search for Reptar. On June 7, 2003, it was reported that over 1.5 million copies of the game had been sold. Search for Reptar was re-released as a Greatest Hits title, and was followed by a sequel titled Rugrats: Studio Tour
.
An editor for Electric Playground gave it an 8 out of 10 score, while an editor for Electronic Gaming Monthly
gave it a 6.5 out of 10; an editor for the National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers criticized the controls and difficulty, though commented that it was still a great game for children. In his preview, IGN
's Doug Perry wrote that hardcore gamers looking for an easy game would enjoy the humour and "silly kiddie havoc", while fans of the series may also enjoy it. He praised the presentation, yet criticized the poor camera control and collision detection; in spite of the recommendation in the preview, he felt that the premise would appeal to fans of the cartoon, but that the game may not. An editor for IGN said that it would be likely to appeal to both young and female gamers, due to its less challenging gameplay and "adorable" characters. GameSpot
's Joe Fielder felt that it was a quality title for children, yet criticized it for its camera.
Adventure game
An adventure game is a video game in which the player assumes the role of protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and puzzle-solving instead of physical challenge. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based media such as literature and film,...
video game that was released in 1998 for PlayStation in North America and in the PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
by THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
. The game is based on the popular Nickelodeon
Nickelodeon (TV channel)
Nickelodeon, often simply called Nick and originally named Pinwheel, is an American children's channel owned by MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom International. The channel is primarily aimed at children ages 7–17, with the exception of their weekday morning program block aimed at preschoolers...
cartoon Rugrats
Rugrats
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....
which aired from 1991 until 2004. The game follows the main character of the cartoon, Tommy Pickles
Tommy Pickles
Thomas Malcolm "Tommy" Pickles is the main protagonist of the Nickelodeon animated television series' Rugrats and its spin-off All Grown Up!. He is clad in only a T-shirt and a diaper and is bald with big, blank eyes. He translates everything adult into baby gibberish...
, who has lost his Reptar
Reptar
Reptar is a fictional character from the American animated television series Rugrats. Reptar is a green dinosaur with rounded, blue spike-like appendages on his back, which intentionally causes him to resemble and spoof Godzilla.-The Rugrats films:Reptar appeared in the first Rugrats film as a...
puzzle. It features stages that are typically based on episodes from the television show.
It was developed with the intent of appealing to ages seven through twelve. A marketing campaign, which was the second biggest of 1998, was formed in conjunction between Sony Computer Entertainment America and THQ for its North American release, in order to bolster the children's market on the PlayStation.
The game has been met with mixed reviews from critics, though it has regularly been noted that children will enjoy it. It was criticized for its camera and gameplay by publications such as IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
and GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
but was given a positive reception for its presentation and was well-received commercially, being the third best-selling game in the first two weeks of its release. It was incorporated into the Greatest Hits brand and sold more than 1.5 million copies.
Gameplay and premise
The game follows the main character of the cartoon RugratsRugrats
Rugrats is an American animated television series created by Arlene Klasky, Gábor Csupó, and Paul Germain for Nickelodeon. The series premiered on August 11, 1991, and aired its last episode on June 8, 2004....
, Tommy Pickles
Tommy Pickles
Thomas Malcolm "Tommy" Pickles is the main protagonist of the Nickelodeon animated television series' Rugrats and its spin-off All Grown Up!. He is clad in only a T-shirt and a diaper and is bald with big, blank eyes. He translates everything adult into baby gibberish...
, who has lost a puzzle featuring the cartoon dinosaur Reptar
Reptar
Reptar is a fictional character from the American animated television series Rugrats. Reptar is a green dinosaur with rounded, blue spike-like appendages on his back, which intentionally causes him to resemble and spoof Godzilla.-The Rugrats films:Reptar appeared in the first Rugrats film as a...
. It is a 3D platform game which requires players to control several of the main characters in order to accomplish the goals. The game has fourteen levels that are accessed by players picking up certain objects and also has bonus levels with Reptar bars. Players can play the levels in any order, but the more difficult levels have to be unlocked to be playable.
The levels that players explore are mostly based on episodes from the cartoon, such as "Chuckie's Glasses", and contain various pieces of the Reptar puzzle. The game also has a training and activities mode, as well as multiplayer mode. The game makes use of several of the voice actors from the cartoon to reprise their roles, including Elizabeth Daily
Elizabeth Daily
Elizabeth Ann Guttman , better known by her stage names of Elizabeth Daily and E.G. Daily, is an American voice actress, actress, singer-songwriter, and musician...
, Kath E. Soucie, Christine Cavanaugh
Christine Cavanaugh
Christine Cavanaugh is an American former voice actress who had a distinctive speaking style and had provided the voice for a large range of cartoon characters. She is best known as the voice of Babe in the hit film, Babe, Chuckie Finster on Rugrats, and Dexter for the original Dexter's Laboratory...
, and Cheryl Chase
Cheryl Chase
Cheryl Chase is an American voice actress best known as the voice of Angelica Pickles on Rugrats, All Grown Up! and Angelica and Susie's Pre-School Daze...
.
Development and release
Rugrats: Search for Reptar was developed, with the intent of appealing to children ages seven to twelve, by n-SpaceN-Space
n-Space is an American video game developer founded in 1994 by Erick S. Dyke, Dan O'Leary, and Sean Purcell. n-Space is focusing mostly on Nintendo consoles since 2001...
, and published by THQ
THQ
THQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
for the PlayStation video game console
Video game console
A video game console is an interactive entertainment computer or customized computer system that produces a video display signal which can be used with a display device to display a video game...
. It was first released in North America on October 31, 1998, and in PAL region
PAL region
The PAL region is a television publication territory which covers most of Asia, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and most of Western Europe...
s in November of that same year.
THQ started a multi-million dollar marketing campaign for Search for Reptar, the second-biggest campaign of 1998, after The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
is an action-adventure video game developed by Nintendo's Entertainment Analysis and Development division for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It was released in Japan on November 21, 1998; in North America on November 23, 1998; and in Europe on December 11, 1998...
s campaign for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
. Marketing included television and print advertisements, promotional tie-ins, and online advertisements; demos were distributed among kiosks, hardware pack-ins, and on PlayStation: The Official Magazine
PlayStation: The Official Magazine
PlayStation: The Official Magazine is a magazine originally known as PlayStation Magazine . After Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine was canceled, Sony Computer Entertainment announced on October 1, 2007 that PSM would become "PlayStation: The Official Magazine"...
demo discs; and images of the game were shown on Rugrats Fruit Snacks' boxes.
The campaign took about one 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 only two THQ games to have television advertisements at the time, the other being WCW/nWo Thunder
WCW/nWo Thunder
WCW/nWo Thunder is a video game released on the PlayStation console by THQ. Thunder is the sequel to WCW Nitro. This game combined the rosters from the Nintendo 64 and PC games with a host of new and unusual characters...
.
Reception and sales
Rugrats: Search for Reptar has received generally mixed reception. It holds an aggregate score of 68.75% at Game RankingsGame Rankings
GameRankings is a website that collects review scores from both offline and online sources to give an average rating. It indexes over 315,000 articles relating to more than 14,500 games.GameRankings is owned by CBS Interactive...
based on four reviews and was the third best-selling game in the first two weeks from its release in North America. Search for Reptar was a consistent chart topper and was described as a "breakout PlayStation hit" by THQ's senior vice president of sales, Alison Locke, who attributed the success of the children's market on the PlayStation to Search for Reptar. On June 7, 2003, it was reported that over 1.5 million copies of the game had been sold. Search for Reptar was re-released as a Greatest Hits title, and was followed by a sequel titled Rugrats: Studio Tour
Rugrats: Studio Tour
Rugrats: Studio Tour is a 1999 PlayStation game based on the Nickelodeon television series Rugrats developed by n-Space and published by THQ.- Plot :...
.
An editor for Electric Playground gave it an 8 out of 10 score, while an editor for Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly
Electronic Gaming Monthly is a bimonthly American video game magazine. It has been published by EGM Media, LLC. since relaunching in April of 2010. Its previous run, which ended in January 2009, was published by Ziff Davis...
gave it a 6.5 out of 10; an editor for the National Academy of Video Game Testers and Reviewers criticized the controls and difficulty, though commented that it was still a great game for children. In his preview, IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
's Doug Perry wrote that hardcore gamers looking for an easy game would enjoy the humour and "silly kiddie havoc", while fans of the series may also enjoy it. He praised the presentation, yet criticized the poor camera control and collision detection; in spite of the recommendation in the preview, he felt that the premise would appeal to fans of the cartoon, but that the game may not. An editor for IGN said that it would be likely to appeal to both young and female gamers, due to its less challenging gameplay and "adorable" characters. GameSpot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
's Joe Fielder felt that it was a quality title for children, yet criticized it for its camera.