I would like, if I may, to take you on a strange journey. It seemed a fairly ordinary night when Brad Majors and his fiancée Janet Weiss – two young ordinary healthy kids – got turned into video game characters in The Rocky Horror Show Video Game! Yes, that’s right, there is finally a video game interpretation of the all-time-classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show!
I have such strong personal ties to the movie. It was one of my favourites growing up as a child, and it really snowballed my love for musical theatre into something crazy. Fast forward to 2024, I’ve done five different productions of the stage musical, amassing nearly 300 performances. I’ve played Brad, Riff Raff, and Dr. Scott. As the local Rocky Horror expert here at Biff Bam Pop!, it made sense that I would have to cover this game from FreakZone Games, and I’m so happy I did.
If you’ve seen the movie, then you know exactly what goes down. Two young adults see two of their close friends get married and decide they want to do the same. On their way back home they experience some inclement weather which causes the road to be difficult to navigate. They then hit a bump and get a flat tire and find themselves in search of a phone to get a repair. They decide to get out and walk to the castle they passed down the road – maybe THEY have a telephone! Ultimately, this decision would change their lives forever. They meet Riff Raff, Columbia, Magenta, and of course, Frank-N-Furter – a mad scientist making the perfect man to satisfy his desires. Brad and Janet are faced with questions about their love, their determination, and their sexuality all in this one crazy night.
Seeing these 8-bit takes on classic scenes from the film as well as these classic characters really did something for me. It dawned on me that somehow nobody thought to adapt this story into a video game. The movie moves at such a breakneck pace, not a second is wasted. In order to make some space for gameplay, the developers added some additional sections. You see Brad and Janet make their way to the castle. You have to run and jump over cliffs and spike-balls. There is an extensive cryo-chamber section, as well as a few Dr. Scott gameplay sections where he makes his way through the theatre during the floorshow. Lots of moments where characters are busy doing one thing and another character has some free time where they become playable. There were definitely some creative liberties taken, but adapting an airtight movie like Rocky Horror without making those moves would be nigh impossible.
Graphically the game is super charming. Seeing 8-bit Frank-N-Furter running around trying to whip you is something I never thought I’d ever see. Riff Raff, Columbia, and Magenta all make perfect sense in this context as they really are just Frank’s henchmen. They stand around in the background waiting at Frank’s beck and call, while Frank commands the scene. Some of the nuance is lost in this 8-bit transition, like the relationship between Riff and Magenta, but it’s hard to really nail any sort of nuance in this style.
The game plays a lot like Super Mario Bros. 2, specifically. You’re picking up rocks above your head and throwing them at enemies. There’s a lot of basic platforming sections and many enemies getting in your way. Floating skulls, floating brains, fireballs, and zombies will try to stop you in your tracks. Just throw a random box or rock at them and they’re done for. I will say, I found it odd that they used zombies as the most common enemy instead of the party-goers we see during the Time Warp and other sections of the film. The added enemies felt a little confusing to me, as floating skulls don’t really make sense in Rocky Horror, but they didn’t take away from the game either. The level design is also a little standard, but there’s even a joke about that made by the developers in the game, so I’ll give them a pass. Some of the boss fights are truly ridiculous. Eddie, for instance, is one of the most bullshit boss fights I’ve had in a 2D platformer since Chill Penguin in Mega Man X.
But let’s be honest, the one thing that everyone wants out of a Rocky Horror game is the soundtrack, and oh my god, these songs were made to be played this way. There is something so beautiful about this particular soundtrack being done in 8-bit chiptune. Hearing “Science Fiction/Double Feature,” “Sweet Transvestite,” “The Time Warp,” “Hot Patootie,” and the rest of the tracks like this bring new life to the songs. They feel like they have always sounded this way… – it’s perfect. I genuinely couldn’t believe how right it felt to hear each song in this style. I’m bummed out that this soundtrack doesn’t appear to be available for streaming, because it’s that good. I really do think that the music alone makes this game worth purchasing.
If you’re a Rocky Horror fan and you saw this game on the Steam Store, you’ve probably already bought it. The Rocky Horror Show Video Game is an extremely charming, yet somewhat frustrating experience. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face, even though I was often dying due to some weird platforming section or a ridiculously hard out-of-nowhere boss fight. However, no matter how tough the game was, I always had the drive to hear the next song. I can’t think of the last video game that really had me in it for the music, but this is one of them. Honestly, even if the game was a complete mess, I’d probably recommend it. Thankfully, this is NOT a mess. This is a totally competent game made by people who clearly love the source material as much as I do. You can beat it within 90 minutes if you really wanted to. Its quick runtime makes it replayable and speedrun friendly, which are both always positives in my book.
Look, it’s a fucking Rocky Horror video game! Of course I think you should buy it! After all, there’s no crime in giving yourself over to pleasure… is there?
