"Watch the series instead"

I used to be a big fan of Rugrats years ago, and when I discovered a game was going to be released for the N64, I remember thinking that it was going to be great because it was my two favorite things at the time coming together. When it finally came out, I went to rent it, and while I did enjoy this somewhat at the time, it's been over 10 years since then; does it actually hold up well or does it wind up most other licensed games?

Story
Tommy and his friends are about to play a board game, and as Grandpa tells them a story while it's being setup, they imagine themselves in the board game with that story as a setting for it.

While it is a rather weak story for a video game, you do have to give them credit for making it feel like an episode of the series; even if the story is weak compared to some of the better episodes.
Story: 5 out of 10

Graphics
In an attempt to make the game look like the series while also being in 3D, the graphics in Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt somehow looks worse than Super Mario 64. The characters are very blocky, as is everything else in this game. The stage designs lack variety; there are too many rooms that look alike in this game, which makes it feel like you're going around in circles.

Had this game been released when the system launched back in 1996, this would have been a little more excusable, but considering this came out in 1999, around the same time as Pokémon Snap and many other graphically impressive games, the poor graphics are inexcusable.
Graphics: 1 out of 10

Music \ Sound Effects
The music consists of a few original songs and a decent rendition of the Rugrats theme, though it's nothing special or memorable. The sound effects are also nothing special; consisting of some fairly generic sounds.

What is special, however, is the voice acting; featuring the actual voices of the characters from the series...though they never know when to shut up, because they announce every last thing that happens; when they get cookies, lose cookies, obtain a treasure, lose a treasure, and just about anything else you can think of. While some of their quotes are cute the first time, you'll eventually find yourself muting the TV after hearing the same exact quote dozens of times over in a single game.

Still, the voice acting is a saving grace; allowing the audio to slip by with an average score.
Music \ Sound Effects: 5 out of 10

Controls
This is one of the game's stronger points. The controls are very easy to figure out; making this game very easy for anyone to pick up and play (If they'd want to, that is). The only real problem here is how it's a little loose compared to Mario Party (Of course, seeing as there aren't any mini-games, this fact is mostly ignorable). It may not be the tightest, most responsive controls, but it does work well enough to get by with an above average score.
Controls: 6 out of 10

Gameplay
The game is a party game in style of Mario Party...just with fewer boards (Mario Party has 6, this has 3). You can play as your choice of Tommy, Chuckie, Phil, or Lil, as you attempt to complete the objective (It varies based on the board, though it's basically about finding treasure). Besides treasure, you also earn cookies, which are used to buy items to help you along.

One of the most pointless features it the energy meter; as you move around the board, you slowly lose energy, and if it hits 0, than you have to take a nap and head to the crib room, which actually helps you more than it hinders you; allowing you to jump to any room in the stage. As you play (At least on the Temple of Gloom board), you have to watch out for Angelica, who is far worse than Bowser; not only stealing items from you, but also taking away some of the treasures you're supposed to find from the board (It's possible to lose the game to Angelica, too). This is very annoying, and serves to drag down the pace of the game, which leads me to my next point.

The game's pace is super slow; it takes forever to find what you're looking for because you have to land on a search space and hope you pick the right thing to search. Also, the game lacks mini-games; one of the best parts of any Mario Party clone, resulting in this game being very boring.
Gameplay: 1 out of 10

Overall
This game is best ignored, even if you like the series it's based on. If you're looking for a party game on the N64, I'd suggest buying one of the Mario Party games instead of this; they are far more enjoyable.

Reviewer's Score: 1/10, Originally Posted: 07/17/09

Game Release: Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt (US, 06/29/99)