I don’t know if anyone was waiting for The Rocky Horror Show Video Game with antici… pation, but here we are. The Rocky Horror Video Game is an 8-bit-era side-scroller, complete with bosses including Dr. Frank, Rocky, and even Eddie. While this may be one of the weirder releases of the year, especially considering how it just dropped into stores without any kind of hype or previews, I’m definitely not opposed to the concept. You venture through the stage play (or movie, for the uncultured) in its somewhat entirety. That somewhat comes from the fact that Janet, at no point, ever fought against flying brains on her way to meeting Rocky. At least not from what I remember.

I’m just a sweet transvestite.

How does The Rocky Horror Show Video Game play? Well, simply put, it’s not perfect. There have been quite a few instances of phasing through objects, or things you’re meant to throw phasing through enemies instead of killing them. I will say the platforming is quite smooth, which is nice, even if it’s the bare minimum to expect; the overall character movement is actually really well polished.

One of my biggest gripes, though, is the fact the majority of the game is comprised of replaying the same sections over and over again, with an extra bit added to the end of them upon each replay, just to make things a bit longer. There are also extra flying skulls and random spike balls to worry about, because, as it seems, Dr. Frank’s castle is built a lot like Bowser’s.

Maybe the movie would have been more fun if it had skeletons to throw boxes at.

Much like older games, the “boss” battles are fairly predictable. The boss goes left and right on the screen, maybe jumps here and there, and takes three hits per phase. The most unique boss fight is probably against Eddie, because you’re not the one to actually finish the fight. If you know the source material, you know what to expect. The other thing that’s fairly predictable is the soundtrack. I hope you’re ready to hear a chiptune version of “Time Warp” over and over again, because that’s a section you go through more than enough times. Whilst cute, I expected more from the soundtrack, especially how this was being touted as one of the game’s main selling points.

Oh yeah, when you get hit you lose your clothes, an obvious nod to Ghosts ‘n’ Goblins.

Considering the source material’s roots, I appreciate the retro-styled look applied to The Rocky Horror Show Video Game. It’s not bad, even if it’s also not the most exciting 8-bit art style I’ve ever seen. There are moments, particularly from the movie, that fans will most certainly recognize. As clearly expected, I understand this was made in 2024 and of course, it’s going to look better than a game made in the 80s, but there are still a lot of games that try to look old, that do just come off as overly dated and ugly. This just gets the job done.

Damn it, Janet!

I had a bit of fun with The Rocky Horror Show Video Game, but I think that stems mostly due to me liking the source material. It will only be enjoyed by die-hard Rocky Horror fans. It has its charm, but as previously mentioned, it’s far from being perfect. The visuals are passable, considering the aimed art style, and whilst the chiptune songs sound fun at first, they are repeated ad nauseum, to a tiresome degree. It’s a somewhat decent way to spend an hour, but that’s about all you’re bound to get out of this game. Especially considering it only lasts for about that timeframe, with no incentive for replayability.

The Rocky Horror Show Video Game is available now on Nintendo Switch and PC.

Reviewed on PC.

A copy of The Rocky Horror Show Video Game was provided by the publisher.