Why I Love Rocket Knight Adventures

It’s no secret that I’ve at all times been a Nintendo child. The Nintendo vs. Sega rivalry was at its apex again once I was in class, and I used to be firmly on group Mario. However there have been moments once I was good and really jealous of my Genesis proudly owning pals. A few of these got here from Sonic, which was unbelievable on Genesis. Typically it got here from sequels to beforehand Nintendo-exclusive sequence like Castlevania, Mega Man, or Blaster Grasp that turned me envious. However there’s one sport that critically made me think about asking my dad and mom for a Genesis to park subsequent to my SNES, and it stays my favourite Genesis sport to this present day, Rocket Knight Adventures. 

Konami didn’t mess with the Genesis for fairly a while, with the overwhelming majority of their output touchdown squarely on Nintendo’s 16-bit console. And their output was legendary on that machine. However a couple of years in, they lastly determined to get a handful of video games made for the competitors, and similar to the NES and SNES earlier than, they nearly instantly confirmed an unexpected mastery of the {hardware}. Simply have a look at the technical wizardry on show in video games like Contra: Laborious Corps and Castlevania: Bloodlines. They will not be my favourite entries of their respective sequence by a longshot, however there’s no denying they’re extremely cool-looking video games. 

Rocket Knight Adventures although, was a completely completely different animal. This was a brand-new, fully unique sport that starred an opossum with a jetpack that had all of it. Graphics, music, degree design, and gameplay. 

In case you’ve by no means had the pleasure (since Konami has weirdly by no means as soon as reissued any of the Rocket Knight video games since their unique releases) you play as Sparkster, a Rocket Knight, which is strictly what it appears like. A knight with a jetpack. You’re additionally armed with a sword that shoots laser blasts, and an lovely character to maintain the participant engaged. And wow, is Sparkster ever an emotive hero. He’s lovely, but in addition kick-ass and decided. And with the sport being as difficult as it’s, that’s a great factor. 

Rocket Knight Adventures options some completely excellent levels and executives. Within the first couple of minutes of the sport you’ll end up avoiding screen-warping hearth, get a jetpack enhancement that means that you can fly indefinitely throughout an ocean, and combat an infinite centipede robotic that assaults you thru quite a few holes it smashes by way of the partitions. All of this appears simply pretty much as good if not higher than the easiest the Genesis has to supply, and the music, an space the place I’m often not overly keen on on the Genesis, is spectacular. Trustworthy to goodness, this sport has my favourite boss music of all time. It’s simply that good. 

Rocket Knight Adventures is a singular Genesis sport in that it actually takes benefit of what that system is able to in methods that only a few different video games ever got here near. It’s such a terrific sport that it’s additional tragic that so few folks have ever truly performed it. 

Konami did observe it up with three distinctive sequels, although you’d be forgiven for pondering there have been truly solely two. The primary observe up was launched on each Genesis and Tremendous NES, and it was merely known as Sparksster. Or at the very least that’s what the field says. The truth is, these have been two completely completely different video games full with fully completely different levels and enemies, and technically two completely different titles, with the Genesis sport’s title display screen calling it Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2. The music is definitely the identical in each video games, nevertheless it performs in a very completely different order, which is deeply bizarre. Sparkster for SNES performs extra like the unique sport, whereas the Genesis one tries to evolve the formulation in varied methods. I personally suppose the SNES sport is method higher, however neither of them truly comes near the darn close to perfection that’s the unique. 

A number of generations later they launched one more sequel on the PS3 and Xbox 360 known as Rocket Knight. It was okay, nevertheless it misplaced a variety of the unique sport’s character, leaving it feeling reasonably flat. 

Again to the purpose although, Rocket Knight Adventures is a superb sport that everybody ought to play if given the prospect, and hopefully sometime they are going to be. My fingers will stay crossed for a Rocket Knight assortment sometime. Something’s attainable, proper?