Rocket Knight Adventures is the first in an odd series of games. It was released into a diluted field of new mascot side scrolling games. In a few ways, it feels like the developers saw Awesome Possum and thought, “Oh, we can do better than that!” Almost like Konami took it as a challenge to make Possums badass.
This is one of the many games I came across while collecting games back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I thought the name was cool, and I liked the cover art. That was really all I had to go on most of the time.
The first game is a Genesis exclusive because Konami canceled the SNES version of the game. For a while, I didn’t know this game had a sequel. I’ll get to both versions of that at some point.
Konami released this game in 1993, after their console exclusivity deal with Nintendo ended. I’m not aware of any Konami games that appeared in the Genesis before this. Like how Capcom would license some of their properties to Sega in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Konami would end up releasing some of the best games on the system in the mid 1990s.
TLDR: Rocket Knight Adventures is a fun side scroller that has great graphics and gameplay.
Narrative
The game has a more elaborate story than this type of game really needs. In the early to mid 1990s, stories were starting to become more important to video games. For a game like this, a story isn’t overly important, but it is nice to have.
There is this whole backstory for the main character and a conflict that took place before the events of this game. There is this thing called the Pig Star, which was sealed away, and the key to unlock it is being held by the royal family. An Empire of anthropomorphic pigs kidnaps the princess, and eventually gets the key.
The player’s character, Sparkster, was adopted and trained by the leader of the Rocket Knights. He expels a traitor from the knights and becomes their new leader after his father is killed. Sparkster is tasked with getting the princess back and defeating the Pig Star.
For what it is, the story is good. Konami went above and beyond with this game, and I really appreciate that they did. The developers crafted a fun story for this game. While you don’t have to know the whole story to enjoy the game, it does help.
Gameplay
The gameplay is what you should expect from a platformer from this era. The controls are solid, it has a gimmick to help it stand out, and it is an easy to learn game. This is a fun little game that has quite a bit of gameplay for you to enjoy.
Each of these games has something to help it stand out. In this case, it is the rocket attacks. You hold down a button to charge the attack, and then you get launched in a direction. This helps you clear some obstacles, as well as being a powerful attack.
You can also charge your regular attack. The developers gave the player some tools to get through all of the challenges thrown at them. Once you get used to them, the game gets easier. The game turns into a side scrolling shoot’em up at times. I like this quite a bit.
Rocket Knight Adventures has some large levels. It is refreshing to see a game like this where things aren’t too confusing, but they’re challenging. This, along with the solid controls, is what you should expect from a Konami game.
The manual is available online (Link). There is more story inside it, which is nice when you want to check the plot synopsis for anything missing or something you find interesting. The controls are also there, but this game uses the three button controller, so it isn’t too hard to figure everything out.
I like the gameplay in Rocket Knight Adventures. It is a step up from some of the other platformers, and it helps this stand out from a very crowded field of mascot centric games. A small part of me wishes this game were more of an action RPG, but it works well as a platformer.
Visuals
The game looks very good! Sprites are large and detailed, levels look very good, and there are a few cutscenes. Konami put out a wonderful looking game.
Sparkster, the enemy sprites, and the bosses all look great. I know that Sparkster is a knight, but he looks like he’s wearing a space suit. This does go along with how the game goes into space.
The enemies and bosses look great! Even with the palette swaps, the developers got the most out of the, You’ll also run across some enemies that are riding mechs, which is very cool. Boss patterns are somewhat easy to identify and exploit.
The levels look good, and get more complex as the game goes on. To go along with the beautiful graphics, the cutscenes look great! You can tell that the developers knew what they were doing, and how to maximize the hardware.
Everything in this game looks great! It feels like this could’ve been a Saturday morning cartoon, or at least have a toy line. I didn’t come across either when I was looking things up, but I would definitely like to see some tie-in media with these characters.
Reviews at the Time
Rocket Knight Adventures has a lot of reviews! Whoever decided to archive them, they did a wonderful job. There is a split between the reviewers, with the game receiving higher reviews in North America and Europe. Most of the European reviews are in the 9/10s, North America gave it 8s and 9s, while the Japanese reviews are 6s and 7s.
Computer and Video Games gave the game an 88/100. The reviewer said that he wasn’t expecting much from this game, but was surprised by how much gameplay there was, and the size of the levels. They continued to praise the graphics.
Electronic Gaming Monthly had five people review the game. Their scores were all 8/10s. They didn’t spend too much time on this one, aside from saying that they liked it.
Mean Machines gave this game a 91/100. The reviewer called it “one of the best games I’ve played ever.” They went on to call the game a classic.
Mega Tech gave the game a 92/100. They praised the game for being “original.” The reviewer went on to call it “one of the best MD platformers around.”
It is fun to see a game like this being universally praised in markets outside of Japan. I’m not sure why the reviews in Japan were as low as they were. It is one of the more interesting things you’ll find when going through these older reviews. Not everyone likes the same things, which isn’t really a bad thing.
8.5/10. This is an excellent game! Even though I’m not really a fan of the genre, I do find this game to be very entertaining. Rocket Knight Adventures has great gameplay, beautiful graphics, and it is simply fun to play.
Pros
- Great Gameplay
- Beautiful Graphics
- Fun Controls
Cons
- Nothing of note
Conclusion
I have played this game a few times, but never really got far in it. Games like this aren’t what I normally gravitate to when I’m looking for something to play. I really enjoyed Rocket Knight Adventures more than many of the other side scrollers on the Genesis.
This game has been in my collection for a long time. I bought it back in the early 2000s when I was still learning about what was on the Genesis. When I started, I didn’t know anything about the system’s history or the relationship between the different companies.
Playing this made me think of other things that I might want to look into at some point. I know that I’m not breaking new ground here, but that isn’t the point. I want to learn more about the companies that made some of the games that I grew up with, and learn something new.
If you liked this post, please check out some of my others on Genesis games. Such as, Dick Tracy or Home Alone.