WayForward’s specialty is creating 2D games with licensed properties like Adventure Time and soon DuckTales. They’re the perfect team to work on a Regular Show video game, which stars a lazy blue jay and a troublemaking raccoon. The Cartoon Network series is rife with video game references too, so it’s fitting that Mordecai and RIgby are in a video game that feels like it’s from the Super Nintendo era.
Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby in 8-bit Land is actually a mix of different video games with a new genre in each world. The first world is set in a park and plays like a 2D platformer. I ran through the first level and tried to avoid enemies since, in true retro game fashion, you lose a life after getting hit once. Money is scattered in the level to collect and if you can get to the goal before time runs out you can get a cash bonus.
The second world is a side-scrolling shooter where you control a Mordecai spaceship. The stage I played had UFOs to shoot and unlike Gradius the screen doesn’t auto scroll. You can fly backwards, but if you want to clear the level on time you probably want to avoid shooting enemies and whiz past them instead. I also saw a third kind of game with Rigby. This stage looked like a regular platformer level in the beginning, but the level changed to a top down shooter when Rigby climbed on a wall.
I’m not that familiar with Regular Show, but I was told the creator JG Quintel wrote the story and the 3DS game will feature bosses from the cartoon. There are also collectables like golden tapes and fanny packs to find that unlock concept art. Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby in 8-bit Land is slated for release this fall on Nintendo 3DS.
