Traumafession:: Reader Lorraine on The Rugrat's Search for Reptar Game

Hey, it's me again. I don't think I've ever seen a video game-related trauma on here before, so I figured: Why not be the first? Now, we all remember good old Rugrats, right? Turns out the show had a few licensed video games out there. I only played one of them as a kid, Rugrats: Search For Reptar. To be quite honest, I would even go so far as to say that I was absolutely addicted to the game. I loved it! I'd say it was one of the games that I played the most, topped only by the famous Spyro the Dragon games.

Like I said, I loved every moment of that game. Well, except for a few trauma-inducing levels. The absolute biggest offender for me was the level, "Let There Be Light". Looking back, this level still gives me the creeps. I even have a hard time playing it to this day. Everything about it was just… I can't even describe it.

First off, there's the overall atmosphere of the level. It's dark, the music is eerie as hell, Tommy's parents are nowhere to be seen, and there are "shadow monsters" everywhere, ghosts, more or less. And then there's the noise that they made when you got too close to them. Oh God, the noise. "Oogie-boogie-boogie!" Oh, you may laugh, but it's just the tone of the noise. It would scare the pants off any kid! I absolutely refused to play that level unless I had one of my parents in the room with me. Often at times, I would just make them play the level for me. When I found out that you could skip whole levels by collecting enough Reptar bars to get puzzle pieces, I would go out of my way to collect as many as I possibly could just so I could avoid that level.

Then there was the Ice Cream Mountain level. You know, the mini-golf level. Now, unlike "Let There Be Light", the whole level didn't scare me. It was just one part, specifically the hole in which you play as Angelica. There's a pyramid at the center. I eventually found out that you could actually go in the pyramid. It was a bad idea.

It started out with a noise. I was creeped out, but curious at the sound. I went in further to find out what it was. Turns out, if you go into the pyramid, you'll be greeted by mummified Mister Friends. They will approach you slowly but menacingly. I freaked out. Because the inside of the pyramid was designed like a maze, there were dead ends… with even more Mister Friends. I was starting to panic. You have no idea how relieved I was to get out of the place.

Come to find out, I'm not alone. Looking in the comments of Let's Plays of the game, many people were scared by the same things. Some, even scared of things that didn't scare me, like the crazy goose in Grandpa's Teeth or the giant gorilla in Toy Palace. Looking back, I have absolutely no clue why those things didn't scare me.