Someone Finally Turned The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Californication’ Into A Video Game
You can stop dreaming of Californication and actually play it instead.
Twenty three years after the song’s release, you can actually play a faithful re-creation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ seminal song ‘Californication’, thanks to the efforts of a one-man indie developer.
The animated video clip released back in 2000 saw the band navigating haunted forests and collapsing skyscrapers as video game characters, and captured the hearts and minds of ’90s kids.
The project, aptly named ‘Californication’, allows you to play as each member of the band, and features seven faithfully re-created levels from the clip. I’ve personally had a lot of fun on the snowboarding level, getting sick air and ploughing through barn doors as bass player Flea.
Developer Miquel Camps Ortezal said he was inspired to make the video game after watching the RHCP clip as a child. “I wanted to play that game so bad! It’s 2022 and I haven’t seen anyone made the game so I challenged myself to create it,” he said.
Ortezal developed the game entirely in Unity and has evidently used some technical wizardry to make the game look like the video clip from 1999.
Concerns over copyright issues mean that the game doesn’t actually come with its titular song. However, there’s a link at the main menu that helpfully navigates you to several versions of ‘Californication’ you can listen to in your internet browser while playing — including a surprisingly good metal cover.
Ortezal, who has just released an Android version of the project, has a pretty hilarious roster of prior work, including the highly relatable Escape From Ikea Simulator.
While nobody from the band seems to have played it yet, Junkee has reached out to the Red Hot Chilli Peppers for their thoughts on the game. Check out and play the video game of Californication here.