Totally Rad

Totally Rad is a colorful side-scrolling action platformer released for the NES in 1991. Developed by Aicom and published by Jaleco, it follows Jake, a young magician who sets out to rescue his girlfriend after she is kidnapped by an evil sorcerer. The premise is deliberately over-the-top, matching the game’s bright visuals, comic-book presentation, and playful take on fantasy adventure.

Jake’s quest takes him through a series of dangerous stages filled with platforms, traps, enemies, and large creatures that put his magical abilities to work. In addition to ordinary movement and attacks, he can use spells and transform into different forms, giving the game more variety than a straightforward run-and-jump platformer. Choosing when to rely on magic is important, since Jake’s abilities are limited and the stages frequently demand careful timing. The controls are familiar to NES players, but the unusual transformation system gives Totally Rad its own identity.

The game balances action with exploration, sending Jake through environments that range from natural landscapes to more fantastical locations. Its humor and exaggerated style keep the adventure light, while the later challenges provide a solid test of reflexes and persistence. Totally Rad is not the most polished platformer on the system, but it has plenty of personality and remains an appealing example of the inventive, character-driven action games that appeared during the NES era.

Whether you remember it from the early 1990s or are discovering Jake’s magical adventure for the first time, Totally Rad is an entertaining curiosity with a distinctive visual style and a few pleasantly strange ideas. RetroCloud lets you play online on your browser and revisit this offbeat Jaleco release without needing original NES hardware.