Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby in 8-Bit Land

Game Info

Being a big fan of the Regular Show and also a fan of WayForward, I was definitely stoked to see what this game would be like. I wasn’t too disappointed. The story for Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby in 8-Bit Land is written by show writer J.G. Quintel. What type of adventure will Mordecai & Rigby be on you ask? It all starts when Mordecai and Rigby decide to slack off as usual and find a package on their front door step. Lo and behold it’s a mysterious console and as their bantering progresses it leads them to a challenge and without ruining the story they find themselves in 8-Bit Land.

The game feels a bit more like 16bit land but I’m not going to complain about that. It does truly feel retro. Along with the graphics, the gameplay varies and you’ll have a lot of challenges along the way. The one disappointing thing about the game is even though the gameplay varies, the story is nowhere to be found in between. This leaves a lot to be desired. I was definitely hoping for more story in between the long and grueling levels.

You play as either Mordecai or Rigby with both having different abilities. Mordecai is tall and can double jump and get to tough obstacles, later on in the game he can turn into a space ship. Rigby is smaller and can get you through those tight gaps and shoots lasers. You’ll need to switch often as the levels are quite large so you’ll have a lot of ground to explore. Three golden VHS tapes are hidden in each stage, they give you a bonus level round at the end. You also get timed on each level so finishing levels quicker also nets you rewards at the end. The one thing I noticed immediately are that the hit states on enemies are god awful. You simply die sometimes from a single enemy hit and if you hit the enemy the wrong way they don’t die, you do. There was countless times where I was screaming obscenities saying I hit you first!

8-Bit Land is distinctive as you have two additional games wrapped up in this 2D platform game. You get a side scrolling shooter, specifically the space levels where Mordecai can turn into a space ship and also a top-down shooter where Rigby is gung ho with laser guns in hand. It’s fun to periodically switch game play styles as it opens up the opportunity to solve some unique puzzles along the way that combines gameplay. However, I felt like in the end there was a clear formula that was used and it got very repetitive.

Bosses and enemies are tuned up to kill you on site, they want your blood now. Children playing this game would probably get frustrated very quickly as you die a lot. Being a gaming veteran I was very frustrated getting my butt kicked by every boss but took up the challenge. It took quite a few tries but in the end the enemies were vanquished. To those hardcore gamers this is a blessing and you’ll have a blast. To those gamers that are casual you could find yourself dropping f-bombs and closing the game.

The Recommendation

There are a lot of original concepts in Regular Show: Mordecai and Rigby in 8-Bit Land, such as switching between characters or game modes to solve puzzles. I wanted to love this game because I love the show and the graphics and art are excellent but it was so sloppy. There are lot of flaws, hit states are bad and the music was repetitive and gets old. You also die so much due to the enemy’s chaotic behavior. Not to mention the story is very weak. If you are like me, a hardcore gamer and are a die-hard fan of the Regular Show you may find some enjoyment out of this game otherwise you’ll wind up being disappointed and frustrated.