It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly (or more than…) two decades since we spent our free time after school sitting in front of our chunky desktop computers, dressing up digital dolls — sorry, Dollz — with trendy drag-and-drop tube tops, low-rise bell bottom jeans and Claire’s-worthy accessories.
Even though Olivia Rodrigo was just a newborn at the height of DollzMania in 2003, and therefore probably a wee bit too young to actually have any firsthand connection with the pixelated dress-up dolls game (real ones know you either went with prep style or goth style), it’s safe to say from the teen pop star’s Lizzie McGuire-esque fashion sense and throwback pop-rock sound that she’s got some serious Y2K FOMO.
And truth be told, our own unrelenting early 2000s nostalgia is totally activated by the singer’s new web game, Brutal: The Game.
Created in partnership with creative director extraordinaire Petra Collins and featuring Dollz-inspired avatars (you play as Rodrigo, complete with “Brutal” music video outfit), the browser-based side-scroller is a fun love letter to the days of Bratz video games, Mary-Kate and Ashley: Magic Mystery Mall and adoptable GIFs.
The gameplay itself is fairly simple — scroll along in a pixelated suburban mall setting, jump to avoid obstacles and collect soda bottles, and blast away zombie mall goths… you know, usual Friday night teen fare — but thanks to its throwback design (and a killer soundtrack, courtesy of Rodrigo), it’s nevertheless addictive, not so unlike those early 2000s games of yesteryear. (Neopets? Star Doll? Gaia Online? Those were the days…)