Nowadays I like to reminisce about the ’90s because it was an era when things were simpler. Games weren’t locked behind DLC paywalls, and when you purchased a game it would take several nights playing til dawn to beat it, then several more to 100% it. I feel that during those days you got your money’s worth. Anyways, with Rad Rogers I am taken back to that time, when I had to argue with my parents to let me play until I beat the game, or when I had to wait until they were asleep to sneak in some game time, for I was kind of like Rad.
Rad Rodgers is a gamer, like many of us, who doesn’t rest until beating a game. This has him in arguments all the time with his parents and one day after a long gaming marathon he is sent to bed, right after getting to the final boss! Grumbling he obeys and goes to bed, however, something cool and unpredictable happens, his game console turns on and a vortex appears on his tv, then it sucks him inside. Once inside the gameworld Rad is surprised to see his trusty console, Dusty, alive, after growing a pair of arms and moving up to take residence in Rad’s backpack he pulls out a gun and hands it to the kid. He says the iconic “dangerous to go alone” reference and starts to fill Rad in on what is happening and then unlikely duo head out to shoot everything on sight and restore the Elder Tree. That’s basically the story in a nutshell, Rad Rogers is a game that might raise some eyebrows because Dusty, has a foul, foul mouth. I played the game in the normal mode with all the jokes, and Dusty’s shenanigans, which are mostly just foul words, for me, it’s fine it adds a little personality to the game. However, as a parent I am glad the game offers a kid-friendly mode that sensors all profanity and foul language whenever Dusty is running his mouth. It censors by bleeping the words, so I can rest assured that my kid won’t get exposed to that kind of language, although kids often times do things behind their parents backs…, and they can enjoy the run and gun action the game offers.
Gameplay wise , Rad Rogers offers what I expected from a Run’N’Gun game. You move in a 2D layout shooting enemies on sight, your main gun can do the job just fine, but it wouldn’t be a respectable Run’N’Gun without weapon upgrades. You can find them, however, they are only temporary upgrades, because they don’t have unlimited bullets like your main gun. It’s really fun to blast enemies with a machine gun or with exploding flame bullets, I wished they would last longer but that’s the way it is. Dusty is not there only for aesthetic purposes he can do a punch attack that can send enemies flying, and when jumping if you end up getting close to a ledge he can pull Rad up. You will find yourself jumping over platforms collecting gems, after obtaining 100 and you get an extra life, but that’s not all you can do. You can enter the denizens huts and get items or even some funny skits, there are also hidden areas throughout the levels. One mechanic I really liked that changed the pace is when you are going through the level you can find some pixelated distortions, these distortions can affect the game, for example removing a platform needed to get across damaging water. This is where Dusty enters into action, you can send Dusty to those distortions where he enters a pixel world, and while there, he must locate the missing platform or obstacle and send it back with a well-placed punch, however, is not as easy as it sounds since enemies are lurking in the pixel world. If you look closely bellow Rads health bar there is a glowing gauge, this gauge is used by Dusty’s attacks, he calls them pixels, and he needs those to enter pixel world. If while inside the world he gets hit he loses part of that gauge and once it’s depleted he gets sent back to Rad and you need to let the gauge to recharge in order to attempt to fix the distortion again. This adds another layer of challenge to the game and it feels fresh, I also like how Dusty calls these distortions, “code left by lazy devs”, he doesn’t pull any punches.
I like how the game looks and never had any issues with slowdown or choppy textures. I like that you can play the game co-op and there is even a player vs. player mode. You can unlock several characters like Duke Nukem and Evil Rad, which adds to the replay value. I also like how the stages are different from each other, in one level you play in a pinball machine, which made me remember space cadet on PC, in another you use a pogo stick to move around, these types of changes made the experience fresh and I commend the devs for that. The music is really good as well and both the explosion sounds and voice acting, for me at least, was spot on.
Bottom Line: Rad Rodgers is a really fun Run’N’Gun platformer that tries to keep the player entertained through its 12 levels. I certainly had a lot of fun with the game, while the foul language can make some parents wary, the fact that there is a kid-friendly mode tells about the devs desire for everyone to enjoy Rad’s adventure. And, let’s be honest, aren’t we all like Rad?
A Review Code was provided for this review.