Of all the things on my 2026 bingo card, a Rugrats video game return was not on them.

And yet, many moons ago this cartoon was one of the biggest things on the air and spired many beloved games that people still gush about to this day. So perhaps it isn’t the surprise I thought it was to get a Limited Run Collection of 6 classic Rugrats games.

3 from the PS1 era and 3 others from a mix of handheld and 8 Bit platforms, all doing something a little different, alternating between platformers, objective based missions and even random mini gameshat include throwing hcokey pucks at geese and playing crazy golf.

It depicts the humour of the series well with the usual cast of Chucky, Tommy and of, course, Angelica with the others all getting involved and enjoying the ride. The interesting thing about this package is that many will come with for the PS1 classics with the voice acting and 3D graphics, but will end up preferring and appreciating the side-scrolling platformers.

The sad truth is, most of these games haven’t aged brilliantly. Camera controls for the PS1 games feel awkward now, often causing you to spin in circles or not set up well for cutting sharp turns. And many of the objectives require good timing and patience, difficult to pull off with the button mapping.

The first game – Rugrats: Search for Reptar is a unique one where you race around the Pickles house and complete a series of fun mini games in order to claim Reptar bars and puzzle pieces. From chasing Angelica around the house to be the first in the kitchen to claim cookies, to taking part in Angelica’s wacky outdoor circus in a three part level that requires some daredevil acrobatics, and even searching a house and shining torches on ghosts.

It’s a fun game and at least there’s variety, though definitely struggles at times on certain games. At least it tried to do something different and captures the essence of the TV show at times with fun character back and forths.

Rugrats: Studio Tour follows swiftly in its footsteps which is more story focused and lets you pick levels from the outset as you play as the different Rugrats with their own objectives across different film lots, from treasure hunting to outer space and gold gathering in mine carts.

The last 3D Rugrats is based on the Paris sequel movie as players choose their favourite Rugrat and wander Paris or Euroreptarland. The cutscenes here are a noticeable upgrade, though quite grainy and less centered on the in-game engine. But this one is more open world as you explore and complete mini games – many of which are brutal and can lead you to wandering pretty aimlessly.

This one maps both the left and right analog to one analog stick which makes it difficult to move and orient yourself as you gather tickets to play more mini games with red and gold tickets, wandering a fairly vast map with lots of possibilities.

Each game does something a little different and smartly updates the formula so you get slightly different stories and settings, with gradual improvements between them all.

As for the other three titles, they are much more traditional platformers as you collect items and move through time, as well as other quirky out of this world environments. All mostly handle quite well, though there is quite a lot of limitation in the control and the control you have over your characters.

But for the most part, all ports handle decently enough on PS5 with some slowdown here and there and glitching. he games themselves also look sharper and more defined than before, getting a bit of extra lick of paint. As with all titles of this type, you’ll also get some CRT and Dot Matrix options with borders and screen size changes.

Similarly, you have a museum of content to celebrate the releases, looking at their classic box arts and manuals, as well as an option to listening to the soundtrack. And in particular, that iconic score.

But it is fair to say these games, while still holding up in some regards, haven’t aged well in other respects. Controls are an issue across pretty much all of them, and the two sets of games themselves, while different, do end out playing in much the same way.

That said, in the art of game preservation, of being able to replay these iconic titles again, and have them preserved on modern hardware is enough reason to celebrate. And any reason to remind folks of Rugrats all these years later and really stoke on that nostalgia is enough to give me cause to dive back in. If only for a short hop.

Verdict

Rugrats: Retro Rewind Collection is a surprising throwback to a series of games I never expected to see on modern systems. The ports mostly work well, though many of the games are quite dated now through their controls and wider mechanics. It’s great for preservation and wonderful to have so many games in one place, but this one might just be for super fans and those who played the originals way back in the day.