I’ve stated this a few times before: I might not like most of the games included in Limited Run’s remastered compilations, but I think they are doing a very important thing: the preservation of all kinds of games, be them licensed or not, good or not. I knew that Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection, a (somewhat incomplete) compilation of Rugrats games released nearly thirty years ago, would not contain a lot of high-quality bangers, but I appreciate their existence. These might actually be nostalgic entries for some people, and they’ll be able to relive their PS1-infused childhood memories, at least for a while.

I grew up playing those Game Boy Color games. They weren’t able to stand the test of time, that’s for certain.

Before looking at the titles included in this collection, it is important to point out the games that are missing from this compilation. There are lots of titles in here, don’t get me wrong, but there are some notable absences. We’re talking about three games in particular: Scavenger Hunt (a pretty mediocre board game released exclusively on Nintendo 64 in 1999), Totally Angelica (a girl-targeted minigame compilation released on PS1 in 2001), and I Gotta Go Party (a 2002 Game Boy Advance title). There’s also a handful of edutainment PC games that weren’t included for obvious reasons. Elsewhere, Limited Run Games and Mighty Rabbit Studios did their usual job: they remastered each title, added a few quality of life features, included a basic sound test mode, and scanned game manuals.

The original Playstation wasn’t my childhood console of choice, so I began testing the remasters of the Game Boy Color titles included in this collection. I owned two of them back in the day, and even back then, I remember thinking they weren’t very good. The Rugrats Movie and Time Travellers are very similar to one another, sharing the same engine, visuals, controls, gameplay, and so on. What differs one from the other is their level design. Regardless, they might be admittedly gorgeous GBC games, with really impressive visuals, but they are slow, unresponsive platformers with confusing level layouts, unfair enemy placements, and unbearable music. I had, like, ten minutes of quick nostalgic fun remembering about their existence, but my excitement faded away almost immediately.

There’s a certain charm in these PS1 games, even though they are, objectively, quite bad.

The best game in Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection is one I had never heard of prior to testing here: Castle Capers. At its core, it’s a standard 2D platformer released for Game Boy Advance, one of the ten trillion licensed sidescrollers available for that system. But this ain’t half-bad. Good visuals, vastly superior framerate and controls, and whilst the gameplay loop itsellf isn’t mind-blowing, it’s charming and enjoyable. Expectations were low for this one, but it ended up surprising me with its overall quality. Sadly, it’s the only actual GBA game included in the collection. Ironically enough, it is also the “newest” title of the entire library.

Most nostalgic fans of the Rugrats games actually remember the sizeable amount of games released for the PS1 by THQ, over a period of three years. Three of the four titles (the aforementioned Totally Angelica is absent) are included, and those are a bit odd to talk about. For all intents and purposes, they are really bad games. Their controls are clunky, the framerate is counted in single digits, the camera controls are nearly nonexistent, and they are pitifully short. But I don’t know how to properly explain… they have a certain charm.

The GBA game, Castle Capers, is the best title in this collection.

The three games in question are Search for Reptar, Studio Tour, and Rugrats in Paris: The Movie. They are all identical in looks and controls. In essence, you control one of the titular babies in a pseudo action-adventure kind of way, in an exploratory hub of sorts. Look for a prompt that leads you to a miniquest, which is usually set inside a minigame. Complete it, earn a collectible macguffin, and keep doing so until each game tells you to stop. The controls are rancid at times, with the camera controls being obnoxious, but there is something about the game feel that makes these three titles… acceptable. You can play them, withstand their many issues, and be done with them without ragequitting. Maybe it’s the charm of the Rugrats franchise: kinda clunky, kinda ugly, but innocent and adorable.

Some games, like the N64-exclusive Scavenger Hunt, are missing. Then again, that game is awful, so are we really missing out on anything?

Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection is, once again, a respectable Limited Run Games effort in terms of preservation of some older, less acclaimed games. Don’t expect gems in this collection: for the most part, the games included in this package are mere licensed shovelware. I can’t particularly recommend them if you’re not a fan of the beloved Nickelodeon cartoon, but if you are, then you’ll probably be able to put up with their many issues. Still, as previously mentioned, mediocre games should be preserved just like any other older piece of software. Even if I don’t think Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection is worth your time, I am glad it exists.

Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection is available now on PS5, PC and Switch.

Reviewed on Switch.

A copy of Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection was provided by the publisher.