1/29/04–Rocket Knight Adventures

Genesis

Ah, another Genesis classic.Here it is, Konami’s Genesis debut, an arcade-style platformer which could be the closest thing to perfection ever to grace the genre.
Basically, Zebulos is a kingdom of the opossum species, whereas Devotindos is a kingdom of pigs, in full Disney-style anthropomorphic glory. In some parts it’s original, in some parts it’s cliche, but in all ways it’s fitting, and it drives the game well. Most of the story is told through cutscenes or in a few cases, in-game battles, and there are definitely a few surprises waiting for you near the end.

The real star of the story is Axle Gear though. You’ll confront him several times throughout the game, all of which you are severely outgunned. He’s silent, efficient, and always in control, making him one of the better antagonists in the video game world.

However, I would never have picked a name like ”Sparkster,” seeing as there’s nothing he does regarding sparks, and it sounds odd anyway. Like boss battles? Hate motonony? Rocket Knight’s got your number. This game has 7 levels with at least 19 boss battles (which varies by difficulty setting).

The bosses come in all shapes, sizes, and difficulty. They really reminisce of classic arcade game boss battles, where the bosses perform routine waves of attacks, all of which require you to stay alert and keep moving, or suffer the consequences. The first times playing through them are definitely the best, as you never truly know what to expect. Many are persistant multi-stage bosses, refusing to die until you’ve put them away for good.

While the bosses are definitely the highlight of the game, the rest of the game really shines as well. Except for a few parts of the first level, there is hardly any similarity between how any two parts of the game are played out. In the first level alone, you’ll be be fighting footsoldiers, biped robots, and buggies, not to mention running from a wall of fire, going through a short flight section, learning how to use the rocket pack while ricocheting off walls, and fighting 3 bosses.

The gameplay is mainly divided into 3 types of play: swimming, fighting on land, and flying. While swimming and walking, you can charge up your rocket pack and then let loose to go flying in any given direction for a short time, bouncing off walls as you hit them. While on land, you can jump off of the ground, and hang from branches and vines. In all 3 types of play, you can swing your sword to do a bit of damage with the sword itself and send what looks like a disc flying forward, which serves as a projectile attack. The controls are incredibly easy, making the learning curve for the game next to nothing. You also have the standard ”lives and continues” setup of retries, and 8 hearts worth of health to determine how close you are to death. Hearts are taken off in varying amounts depending on what hurts you. Some things take off half a heart, some take off 4 and a half, and some things kill you instantly. Also scattered throughout the world is fruit, which recharges varying amounts of health.

There are also 1up’s scattered throughout the game, which are almost all disappointingly obvious and easy to get. Some are hidden well or tricky to get without sacrificing it immediately, but most are simple.

As far as difficulty goes, Rocket Knight Adventures is pretty challenging, mainly because doing well on and sometimes even finishing any individual part requires a bit of trial and error. The boss battles in particular, as mentioned before, are rather lengthy, so knowing how to deal with each stage and the various waves of attacks requires practice. While there’s only one part of the game that will almost definitely kill you until you know what you’re doing, all of the game can be figured out given a bit of time. So while it’s extremely difficult to win on your first try, this is definitely a game that can be mastered with practice…
Okay, so the slashing doesn’t sound like real slashing, the rocket pack thrusting doesn’t sound like real rocket pack thrusting (not that there IS a real rocket pack thrusting sound) and the explosions don’t sound right either. But all of them are quite satisfactory. The slashing sounds like you’re throwing swords, but that’s not really a bad thing. The explosions are the best I’ve heard on the Genesis next to Contra: Hard Corps. The rocket boosting sound (which you’ll hear quite often) is annoying at first, but gets unnoticeable after an hour or so. Those are pretty much the only sounds aside from a few you’ll only hear once or twice. The voices (actually, pig squeling and rodent squeaking) are very irritating, but that only adds to the humor and feel of the game.Definitely a must play!With all said, RKA is one of the most underrated Genesis games and deserves to be played by everyone.Well, what are you waiting for? Go find a ROM or get the game!