Rats

A common enemy type and obstacle appearing in various retro action and adventure video games.

Driving

Racing

Games

1994–1998

Years

Platforms

About

In Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1994) and Ultima Runes of Virtue II (1994), rats serve as minor dungeon hazards that damage the player on contact. They also appear as hostile creatures in the platforming games Rascal (1998) and Rugrats: Search for Reptar (1998).

In the Indiana Jones franchise, these rodents evoke the cinematic sequence in the Venice catacombs, requiring players to navigate tight spaces or utilize specific items to bypass them. Within the Ultima spin-off, they represent the lowest tier of the fantasy bestiary, populating early-game areas like the Caverns of Dishonor to help players master basic movement and weapon ranges.

The depiction in Rascal utilizes the game's time-travel theme, placing the creatures in historical settings such as the medieval Castle Hackback. In Rugrats: Search for Reptar, the rodents align with the Nickelodeon animated television show's perspective, representing oversized, menacing obstacles in levels like the "Toy Palace" and "Chuckie's Glasses" to reflect a toddler's exaggerated imagination.

Across these diverse genres, the implementation of these pests showcases how late-1990s game design utilized common real-world animals to populate environments, scale difficulty, and reinforce thematic settings.