Dan Geeks Out: Video Game Review #375: Rocket Knight Adventures

Rocket Knight Adventures

Sega Genesis

Nostalgia Factor:

Mop Up Duty continues as I make my way through one game after another that I missed out on as a kid. 1993’s Rocket Knight Adventures was next on my list. Why I never played this, I have no idea. I had a Genesis as a kid, and it seems like this game would have been something right up my alley. Even if I didn’t own it, you’d think I would have rented it or stumbled upon it somehow. Heck, I rented a game nearly every weekend from Blockbuster for years and years when I was a kid. But nope – never played this game.

Whatever that reason may have been, I can say I have played through it now. It’s 2022 – about 29 years since this game’s initial release. Would it hold up after all that time? Did I miss out on something special when I was a kid? Let’s find out!

Story:

I’m not really sure what’s going on with this game’s story. Back in 1993, a good portion of each game’s story was explained in the instruction manual. But I don’t have the instruction manual for this game. Not much is explained as you are playing, other than that there seems to be some kind of war or giant battle taking place. You rescue a princess. Doesn’t seem like there’s anything too coherent going on. Didn’t affect my enjoyment of this game though. I couldn’t have cared less about its story. It’s all about the gameplay for me!

Gameplay:

For some reason I came into this expecting it to be a shooter, and I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that this was not the case. It’s a 2D side-scroller. You control the titular character. You have two buttons to use: jump and attack. Using the attack button causes your character to swing his sword. Holding down the attack button allows you to charge up a dash attack that you are going to find QUITE useful as you play this game. In fact, if I had to say there was one major gimmick or gameplay element that makes Rocket Knight stand out, it would be this move. You use it a lot, like to cross over long jumps, ricochet off walls, or propel yourself through the air. Mastery of this move is absolutely key if you want to be able to beat this game.

And this game is hard! Normal difficulty starts you with one life and one continue. So basically – two lives. LOL. You die a lot in this game. And I mean a lot. If you attempt to just charge headfirst and barrel your way through this game, you’re going to find yourself back at the title screen before you can count to ten. You have to be cautious and take your time – but be sure not to proceed too slowly as that can be a detriment to your success as well. Luckily there are lots of extra lives to be found, which you can collect each time you make your way through a level so it’s really not like you’re losing a life each time you die.

That brings me to what I didn’t like about this game. When you die, you have to replay long segments of the stage over again. When you find yourself dying as much as I did, you start to get tired of playing through these same, looooong segments over and over again. I wish the game was better at restarting you closer to where you died. But then again, if they did that you wouldn’t be able to collect those extra lives again, which probably messes with this game’s “system.”

The game is also at times too hard and unforgiving. Some of these bosses you have to be absolutely perfect to beat. That comes through repetition – memorizing patterns and planning your strategies accordingly. But that’s hard to do with such a limited supply of lives – and also when you have to replay such long segments of each stage over and over again. I used save states to make my way through this game, and I am not ashamed to admit it.

I would like to think I would have mastered this game as a kid. If I had this for the Genesis, I would have sunk so much time and energy into it. And that’s because the game is just so much fun. I love the level design and the gimmick of charging up your attack and letting go. The bosses are creative. I love collecting things and figuring out the best way through each stage. The creative audio and visual design, which I’ll get to soon, make this game’s charm undeniable. As soon as I picked this game up, I knew I was going to love it. And I did.

Graphics:

For something that came out in 1993, this game looks sensational. I love the character design. Animations are terrific. Everything is so colorful and full of life. You can tell a lot of thought and effort was put into this game’s look – and it pays off. It’s impossible to not be charmed by this game’s visuals. If Castlevania: Bloodlines and Sonic the Hedgehog had a baby, it would look like this game.

Sound:

This game sounds really terrific too. The music has that classic Genesis feel to it that is hard to put into words. Every song is electric and full of energy. Sounds almost like this could be a Sonic soundtrack. Really, really good stuff. Sound effects are top of the line too. I can’t say anything bad.

Overall:

It’s a shame I missed out on this when I was a kid. I know I would have absolutely loved it. If I had grown up with this game, it could have gone down as one of my favorite Genesis titles of all time. And you know what? It still might. I may be missing out on the nostalgia factor of being able to say I grew up playing such a great game – but the fact of the matter is that this is still a really great game.

It’s an absolute beaut when it comes to its presentation. The graphics and the music are top-notch. The gameplay is perfect. Your character handles well. The stage design is fun and creative, as are the enemies you face. I can’t say enough about how much fun I had with this. There are some drawbacks, sure, such as the difficulty and the fact that replaying areas you’ve already beaten over and over again can be quite tedious. And why couldn’t they give you more lives and continues?

But even the negatives can’t tear this game down for me. I absolutely loved this game. I now have a new possible top-ten favorite Sega Genesis title. It’s that good. I wish I’d grown up with this game. I would have devoted weeks and weeks of my time to it when I was a kid. Rocket Knight Adventures has earned its way into my rotation of games that I revisit every few years - and I can't wait to introduce my son to it when he is old enough. That may not sound like any kind of huge accomplishment - but I have high standards. In my mind, it is!

THE GRADE:

A-

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