Review: Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby In 8-Bit Land

Taking a popular TV show or animated series and cramming it into a video game isn’t a new concept. Some work better than others and then there are the games that exist purely to cash in on the hype. Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby In 8-Bit Land is dangerously close to the latter.

The game begins with the friends receiving a new video game in the mail complete with “awesome” box art. The duo decides to play the shiny new game rather than mow the lawn (who wouldn’t) when they unexpectedly get sucked into the TV, becoming characters in the game. The music and sound effects are all 8-Bit and will induce nostalgic feelings for older gamers but after the first hour or so the sound just becomes annoying.

In a world full of mutant jellyfish and geese, you are charged with the heroic task of making it the far right side of the screen for some reason. There is absolutely no story, not even a cliché princess in peril. Using the X button you can switch characters at any time. This allows for some fun puzzle elements to shine through the otherwise standard platformer fare. The two characters are quite different from each other. Mordecai is taller, more nimble and can double jump, allowing him access to higher areas. Rigby can squeeze through small openings and run across sections with holes in the ground where Mordecai will plummet to his death. While lives are relatively easy to come by, you will die a lot in this game. In a boss fight you will be losing a life about every 20 seconds.

After a few levels of honing your character swapping skills you’ll unlock “Spaceship” mode and shortly thereafter, “Top Down” mode. Provided you are in front of the “space” background you will be able to transform Mordecai into a spaceship loaded with projectile weapons. If however you find yourself in front of the greyish (we’re not sure what else to call it) background you can enter into top down mode with Rigby. In this mode he now has an Uzi for reasons unexplained and can change perspective to walk on specific walls. The puzzles get trickier once you have full access to both characters special abilities, as both allow you to move about the level without worrying about gravity. While that doesn’t sound very difficult, when you have to swap between each character because the special backdrop has ended before you fall to your death, it can be a challenge. It’s also not fun.

Along the way you can collect power ups that allow you to shoot lasers or improve your weapons when using the spaceship or top down skills. The power-ups act as health, giving you an extra hit though you lose the power rather than dying. Littered throughout the 16 levels (yes, that’s it) are cash and VHS tapes. The tapes unlock special features in the main menu like concept art and the cash is spent on a mini game upon completion of a level. Essentially you can spend some money and bet on up to three of 5 set tracks you can’t see the end of. When it’s over, your money will either gain you a life, a continue, some money back or…el zilcho. The mini-game is no fun, pointless and just awful.

Asking $60 for a game that feels like an iPhone app and can be completed in around 3 hours is verging on outrageous. Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby In 8-Bit Land feels like a $10 download title you would find in the 3DS eShop and kick yourself for not waiting for a sale that brings the price down to $6.50. Any game with some puzzle element should be challenging but this quickly becomes frustrating. The solution is obvious, but making your character do what is required becomes the real challenge. The final boss is more than a little disappointing and soon becomes more about how quickly you can mash the fire button than anything else.

Surely this game won’t hold onto its full price status for very long. Even when it’s overpopulating the bargain bin in your local K-mart, I would caution the most celebrated Regular Show fan not to get their hopes up.