Written by Spidey Twitter/X
Just over 30 years ago, Konami was on what you'd probably call a winning
streak. They were a force to be reckoned with in both the home & arcade,
bringing out various licenced titles based on the Simpsons, Tiny Toon
Adventures, and their main money-spinner, the insanely popular Teenage
Mutant Hero/Ninja Turtles (delete as appropriate). Unbelievably, nearly all
these games were of a high quality, as opposed to the quick cash-grabs some
cartoon-centric games developers were known to excrete just for a quick shot
of guaranteed dollar-dollar bills, yo. A far cry from the Konami of today, clearly,
but that's a tale for another day.
But up to this point in time, they never really had a recognisable kid-friendly mascot of their own. At the pinnacle of the 16-bit era, Konami would release a brand new little game starring an opossum. What's an opossum, you may ask? Is it related to the possum, a variety that loses the O? And can one pilot a rocket-fuelled jetpack? Well, I'm here to answer one of those questions, and it's the jetpack one. All you budding naturists who love to learn about animals, I'm sorry, you're in the wrong place for this one. Try Wikipedia if you really want to discover more about small furry things. We're here for '90s gaming animal mascots, usually with some sort of attitude.
Anyway, back on track. In 1993, Konami answered the big question. Yes, it is possible for an opossum to operate & maintain armour capable of high-velocity aerodynamics. In fact, it was Nobuya Nakazato & his team who decided this would be the case. Nakazato previously designed several Contra titles (Probotector for us in Europe), and it's clear to see the inspiration in some of Rocket Knight's often huge bosses.
Unlike Contra, Rocket Knight doesn't have the infamous one-hit instadeath. A traditional heart-based life bar adorns the top of the screen, just underneath your rocket meter. It certainly makes the game more accessible than the occasionally frustrating bullet-hell Contra moments, though that's not to say it's an easy ride to the end. The game's challenge is optimised throughout the adventure, and never feels unfair or like there's a spike in difficulty.
So, what's the story? Upon booting the game, we see the pillage of a village by invading soldiers, overseen by the visage of a floating pig demon. As you do. This gammon is Devilgus Devotindos, according to Wikipedia; I don't recall the name coming up in the game itself. He's the leader of a ham-centric empire hell-bent on the recovery of the Pig Star (yes, really), a warship that has been prevented from falling back into the evil empire's hands by many generations of Rocket Knights. So far, so very Star Wars. But don't worry, we're not done yet. Later, a rogue Rocket Knight in black armour kidnaps the local princess (life insurance costs must be a nightmare for royal ladies), joining the dark side in their endeavours. Can Sparkster stop the Pig Star being recovered, save the princess, and destroy the hog militia once and for all?
As previously mentioned, the game is quite balanced in terms of difficulty. In the options menu you're given a few choices, mostly affecting how many lives you start with. However it's worth knowing that the game will only reveal its full, true ending to those playing on Hard. I'd highly recommend completing it on Normal to get your bearings & learn the mechanics, then go for a Hard run. Alternatively, if you're playing on an emulator or original hardware with a flash cart, just go straight to Hard; save states are your friend.
Upon taking control of cute armoured opossum Sparkster, your controls consist of just two buttons; a sword melee attack that launches a short-range wave of energy as a projectile, and the obligatory jump button. It is a platformer, after all. Here's the interesting part – holding down the attack button charges Sparkster's rocket pack. Don't hold a direction, and instead Sparkster will spin on the spot like Sonic revving up, sword aloft, creating a ball of rotating death for any pigs who are close enough to touch. Aim in a direction though, release the button and WHOOSH!, off you blast, ricocheting off walls as the bar quickly empties. It's fantastic for blasting through weaker enemies, and later levels integrate the mechanic into the level design. Escaping a rapidly burning castle by bouncing off the walls makes for a frantic, fun set-piece.
Every now and again, you'll grab a booster pack for your jets, giving infinite boost and turning the game into a side-scrolling shooter. These welcome changes of pace occur often during the adventure, and isn't just relegated to R-Type type gameplay. The game constantly feels like it wants to throw something new at you. A mini-boss fight that weaves in & out of a waterfall. A minecart level (who had that on their retro bingo card?) where you're chased by a sentient mechanical train. I don't want to go into too much detail for the later levels, because I honestly want you to play & enjoy the surprises the game provides.
Larger mechanical vehicles helmed by the pigs appear quite frequently as mini- bosses. As for the actual proper bosses, it's clear Contra's aesthetic for screen- filling beasts certainly carries over. These metallic creatures have distinct attack patterns that you have to exploit to attack, often using your jetpack to blast into their weak spots at the right moment. Each boss fight is entirely bespoke, making you think on your feet at every encounter. The shifting gameplay mechanics sometimes occur during these encounters too; a second phase usually forcing a different strategy.
There's plenty of character on display in the art design. Enemy animations overall really show a lot of personality. Most levels are full of hog-based enemies; the regular armoured soldiers lose their shielding after one hit, leading them to retreat in a panic. In the fiery castle pigs run amok with their arses on fire. The way the snake boss waggles its tail like a taunt. Even Sparkster has a lot of cute touches himself, like the way he folds his arms when hanging upside-down by his tail, or flailing wildly as he plummets after a particularly high rocket boost.
The music is relatively memorable, and gels with the on-screen action more than adequately. The sound effects bring the game to life though; metallic pings when your sword hits enemy armour, the pained wail of Sparkster as he loses a life, meaty explosions, that rocket boost. It's exaggerated, cartoony, consistent with its visuals.
It's an interesting aside to mention that this game shares some DNA with Treasure's Gunstar Heroes, another game with large shifting bosses & varying gameplay mechanics. Upon learning that Treasure was formed by former Konami staff while Rocket Knight was in development, I feel becomes clear to see some inspiration must have been shared between the two.
Unfortunately I never had a chance to play the sequels in my youth, so cannot really comment on them or their legacy in relation to the original. Those sequels were both called Sparkster (the SNES & Mega Drive versions were entirely different games, despite the same title), which I like to imagine led to some confusion. “We have Sparkster at home”, etc. There was a more recent sequel made in 2010 for PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360, known as Rocket Knight, by UK-based developer Climax Studios. I played a small portion of this on release, but came away unimpressed. It felt somewhat lifeless, perhaps a result of the vibrant character of the 16-bit sprites being lost in the switch to 3D models.
Rocket Knight Adventures itself is soon to be re-released alongside its two 16- bit sequels in Rocket Knight Adventures Re-Sparked from Limited Run Games, with both a physical & digital release for modern systems. This is a perfect opportunity to experience the game, and I highly suggest you do. Maybe I'll finally get a chance to play the sequels after all.
I had an absolute blast (pun intended) when I bought Rocket Knight Adventures as a 9-year-old kid. When I look back, I'm so glad I chose this over the other games that caught my eye that day (Universal Soldier & Lawnmower Man, if you must know. Certainly dodged two bullets there). Going to Electronics Boutique to browse new games was a rarity, usually happening only around birthdays or other occasions. Apart from gaming magazine reviews, it was the box-art, tiny screenshots & blurb that had to sell the product back then. I have many regrets in my life, but choosing Rocket Knight Adventures isn't one of them. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to hang upside-down for a while and contemplate my life choices. Up, up, and awaaaaay!
Screenshots from World of Longplays Mega Drive Longplay [017] Rocket Knight Adventures
Written by Spidey Twitter/X