Adult Swim Banks in on Nostalgia

Adult Swim is a television channel that has been around for nearly 15 years. Its broadcast schedule consists mostly of controversial cartoons that often employ crude humor and experimental presentation styles. The channel's name derives from its mature target audience. Its relationship with Cartoon Network also makes it incredibly popular with those in their late teen and early adult years that grew up watching the same channel for its tamer daytime material.

We know you're a '90s kid because you always talk about it.

Among Adult Swim's more recent successes is the cartoon series "Rick and Morty," which follows the crazy space adventures of a drunken mad scientist, Rick, and his unintelligent grandson, Morty. The show is extremely popular with older teens and young adults because they grew up watching cartoons and science fiction plots. '90s kids have taken over social media with nostalgic images of old cartoons, toys, and pop culture references. Our generation loves to think fondly on our childhood and argue that they had the best experiences growing up. "Rick and Morty" makes use of that by employing animation styles and general plot structure.

Adult Swim has taken further advantage of this nostalgia by creating a new "Rick and Morty" game for cell phones called "Pocket Mortys." The handheld game dropped on Jan. 13, 2016 (earlier than originally anticipated) for Android and iOS. The most exciting part of the game is its striking similarity to the famous handheld game, "Pokémon." In the game, you act as a Rick who travels interdimensionally to meet other Ricks and duel your respective Mortys. Each dimension that you travel to has a different Rick that acts as a converse to "Pokémon's" gym leaders. You battle them in order to earn badges. You can also catch, evolve, and train your Mortys in different fighting styles and learn new attacks. The animation and map setup is nearly identical to "Pokémon's" and the name of the game is an obvious homage to the translation of the word pokémon, "pocket monsters."

They're not even trying to be subtle.

Adult Swim has really struck a chord with their audience here. By playing on the nostalgia for what is arguably the most beloved '90s kid game, I foresee their brand loyalty and dedication to the show skyrocketing. The second season of "Rick and Morty" ended in October 2015 with a prospected premier date of March 2017 for the third season. This new handheld game is a great way to keep audiences engaged until the next installment. It has immense potential for expansion and replays in order to unlock new quests, Morty evolutions, and items. Without this breakthrough project, many audience members would get tired of the wait and desert the show entirely (much like I did with BBC's "Sherlock"). Its similarity to "Pokémon" and availability to smartphone users are also sure to rake in new followers and raise Adult Swim and "Rick and Morty" activity across the board.

As a certified '90s kid, "Pokémon" lover, and fan of "Rick and Morty," I am ecstatic about this project. I downloaded the game as soon as I heard about it and have been playing it in my spare moments ever since. It is user friendly, exciting, and it induces good memories of simpler days, where Gameboys were even colored. I applaud Adult Swim for their ingenuity and cannot wait to see how else this project will expand. One final thought: my Mortys can totally beat up your Mortys.

Until next time!

Kathryn