Unlike the last N64 Rugrats game, I really wasn't looking foward to this one. I still didn't like the show anymore and I still thought that this license had been dumbed down for young kids. Dispite these facts, I still saw Rugrats In Paris: The Movie which this game is based on. I really liked the movie, so I decided to rent the game based on it. This is a much better game then Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt was, but it's still a little bit of a letdown. I'll start with the good things. I really liked the mini-game idea. It gives this game more replay value. The games, which range from baseball tossing, a bumper car challenge, to mini-golf are pretty fun. This game feels more like Rugrats: Search For Reptar on PS1, and that's a good thing. But sadly, this game isn't as good as Search For Reptar. One problem is the graphics. They're the best graphics in a Rugrats game yet, but the same question I had with Scavenger Hunt entered my mind when I played this game: Why didn't THQ support the Expansion Pak? With games like Banjo-Tooie and Mario Tennis out there that have better graphics, without the need of the Expansion Pak, this just can't compete. The controls are good in the mini-games, but when you're exploring Euro Reptarland, the movement of the characters is very slow, even with the analog stick pushed foward all the way. Multi-Player is sadly a bust, too. That's because you have to take turns playing with four players. It's not a problem with Mini-Golf, but it's an issue with any other mini-game. The sounds, however, are even worse then Scavenger Hunt. The sounds and music are fine(although I would have liked some music from the film), but the voice has as much in common as a baby's bib after dinner: It's a total mess. The voice was commpressed by LucasArts and Factor 5 (the people who did the voice commpression for and made Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Battle For Naboo). In the games I just mentioned, the voice was commpressed fine, but here, it was compressed so badly, they don't sound anything like the characters' counterparts and you can barely make out what they are saying, even with the music off. And there's no option for subtitles, either. For it's target audience, this really doesn't help. So in the end, this is a much better game then Scavenger Hunt, but it's not good enough to make it a must-buy. It is a good game for kids, though, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to buy it for them. But this game can't hold up to all the other N64 3D games made for kids in mind, and with better playing and looking games like Banjo-Tooie out there, it just makes this average game's flaws even more obvious. Until I play the Game Boy Advance and Gamecube Rugrats games, the best Rugrats game is still Rugrats: Search For Reptar on PS1.
Unlike the last N64 Rugrats game, I really wasn't looking foward to this one. I still didn't like the show anymore and I still thought that this license had been dumbed down for young kids. Dispite these facts, I still saw Rugrats In Paris: The Movie which this game is based on. I really liked the movie, so I decided to rent the game based on it. This is a much better game then Rugrats: Scavenger Hunt was, but it's still a little bit of a letdown. I'll start with the good things. I really liked the mini-game idea. It gives this game more replay value. The games, which range from baseball tossing, a bumper car challenge, to mini-golf are pretty fun. This game feels more like Rugrats: Search For Reptar on PS1, and that's a good thing. But sadly, this game isn't as good as Search For Reptar. One problem is the graphics. They're the best graphics in a Rugrats game yet, but the same question I had with Scavenger Hunt entered my mind when I played this game: Why didn't THQ support the Expansion Pak? With games like Banjo-Tooie and Mario Tennis out there that have better graphics, without the need of the Expansion Pak, this just can't compete. The controls are good in the mini-games, but when you're exploring Euro Reptarland, the movement of the characters is very slow, even with the analog stick pushed foward all the way. Multi-Player is sadly a bust, too. That's because you have to take turns playing with four players. It's not a problem with Mini-Golf, but it's an issue with any other mini-game. The sounds, however, are even worse then Scavenger Hunt. The sounds and music are fine(although I would have liked some music from the film), but the voice has as much in common as a baby's bib after dinner: It's a total mess. The voice was commpressed by LucasArts and Factor 5 (the people who did the voice commpression for and made Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and Battle For Naboo). In the games I just mentioned, the voice was commpressed fine, but here, it was compressed so badly, they don't sound anything like the characters' counterparts and you can barely make out what they are saying, even with the music off. And there's no option for subtitles, either. For it's target audience, this really doesn't help. So in the end, this is a much better game then Scavenger Hunt, but it's not good enough to make it a must-buy. It is a good game for kids, though, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to buy it for them. But this game can't hold up to all the other N64 3D games made for kids in mind, and with better playing and looking games like Banjo-Tooie out there, it just makes this average game's flaws even more obvious. Until I play the Game Boy Advance and Gamecube Rugrats games, the best Rugrats game is still Rugrats: Search For Reptar on PS1.