This review was published on 07/17/2013.

Rocket Knight Adventures is a side-scrolling platform game developed by Konami and released for the Sega Genesis in 1993. Several of the team members that developed this game later left Konami and went on to form Treasure, so the game's style is very reminiscent of Treasure's other works. Rocket Knight Adventures is a remarkable little game starring an opossum knight with a rocket strapped onto his back named Sparkster. This was back when every console and game company had a mascot character representing them. Konami apparently wanted to make Sparkster their spunky mascot for the '90s, but sadly, it didn't take. Rocket Knight Adventures unsuccessfully tried to replicate the success of Sonic the Hedgehog. What's sad is that most people probably shrugged the game off as another Sonic clone, when in reality, it's much more. It's actually one of the best games on the Genesis. The game now has a fairly healthy cult following, thanks to the wonders of the Internet. It's just too bad that the game wasn't a bigger hit back when it was more relevant.

According to the instruction booklet, the game takes place in a world known as Elhorn, in a Kingdom called Zebulos. The kingdom is under attack by an empire of pigs referred to as the Devotindos Empire, led by Emperor Devligus. Axel Gear, Sparkster's evil rival, offers his services to the empire by kidnapping Princess Sherry. Sparkster is then called in by the King to take care of business with his elite rocket skills. It's one opossum against an entire army of pigs. What I like about the story in this game is that it's all told through visual cutscenes with no text or dialogue, and they're all very brief. There aren't too many of them, either. They usually serve as level transitions, connecting the different areas of the game together. Rocket Knight Adventures is an action game first and foremost, meaning cutscenes aren't really necessary, but these scenes are executed in such a way as to actually complement the action. More games should handle the story in a similar manner.

Sparkster is the protagonist of Rocket Knight Adventures, so you'll be controlling him for this adventure. He can walk and jump around at a leisure pace, in addition to ducking. Like a real opossum, Sparkster can hang from tree branches with his tail. His regular attack is a sword that shoots out bladed projectiles, though the range of these things isn't great. Sparkter's capabilities are average at best, but they are substantially enhanced with the rocket pack strapped onto his back. This gives him a slew of rocket based moves that rock. In order to actually use any of the rocket moves, the attack button must be held down for a short period of time to charge it up. There's a bar at the top of the screen that tells you how charged the rocket pack is, which isn't necessary, but handy nonetheless. If one of eight directions is held when you let loose a fully charged rocket pack, Sparkster will quickly rocket in that direction while holding his sword outwards in a stabbing motion. He'll do major damage to anything that gets in his way while he's rocketing around. Letting go of the rocket charge while standing still has Sparkster perform a spinning sword attack. Sparkster's rocket maneuvers not only inflict major damage, but they're also good at getting him to places that he can't normally reach on foot. On top of that, rocketing around is a good way to avoid attacks, as it's much faster than jumping out of the way. The rocket pack is the game's central mechanic and pretty darn cool.

The stages are linear affairs and primarily focused on enemy encounters, as there tend to be gauntlets where you bust through a bunch of foes. Your primary foes during the stages are pig soldiers. What's great about these guys is the way in which you defeat them; beating up a pig soldier removes its armor, leaving it to run away in its skivvies. The stages are all fairly long, but they are broken up into smaller sections that alternate the scenery on a regular basis. A good example of this is the first stage, which starts out in a green field and eventually transitions into the castle area. Every section of every stage has something new to look forward to. There's a stage that starts with you swimming through an underwater obstacle course and then, all of a sudden, you find yourself on a frantic mine cart ride! The game has a large amount of variety in its environments, too, with places like airships, steampunk cities, volcanic ice caverns, and even a sci-fi bit in outer space. A lot of the stage gimmicks are absolutely brilliant. For instance, there's this part with lava that slowly rises and recedes, but something in the foreground blocks your view of Sparkster. In order to not die here, you have to look at the reflection on the lava to see where Sparkster is located, and then use that to help you navigate the perilous platforms. In addition to normal stages you do on foot, there are also shooter segments reminiscent of Gradius. For the shooter levels, Sparkster has unlimited rocket power and can fly anywhere on screen. These sections are just as heart pounding and well designed as the normal levels in the game. If you like unfettered action in your game, then you made the right choice with Rocket Knight Adventures.

Similar to Treasure's games, Rocket Knight Adventures features a large amount of bosses, sometimes having a stage with nothing but a bunch of boss fights back-to-back. Every boss in this game is accompanied by absolutely fantastic music, though the whole game has a stellar soundtrack. Typically, there will be a big boss at the end of every stage, but during the stage, there are quite a few mini-bosses that could easily pass for a main boss. Most bosses are robotic in nature, usually piloted by pig soldiers, much like Dr. Robotnik from the Sonic series. The brilliant gimmicks seen in the stages also occasionally make appearances during boss fights, like this one mini-boss that switches between the foreground and background, sometimes hiding behind a waterfall. You can also go behind the waterfall to chase after him. At some point, there's a boss that you fight while riding on a mine cart. It's a giant train with armed with guns and arms, and you have to frantically avoid its attacks while also damaging it. The boss fights in this game can get really challenging, the kind of challenge that gets your adrenaline going. They're also really creative. A defining moment in the game is this part where a giant robot chases you; touching it instantly kills you. You eventually find a giant robot of your own at the end of this segment, resulting in a giant robot battle for the ages. The bosses are a big part of what makes this game awesome.

Rocket Knight Adventures is indeed an adventurous adventure. It's got an amazing soundtrack, awesome levels with plenty of action, some of the best bosses in a 16-bit game, and even great graphics. This is the greatest game that no one ever talked about, though many retro game fans know of its legendary status today. It's my job to make sure that future generations will continue to know how great this game is, because it's really great. In a lot of ways, this game is a precursor to Treasure's future games like Gunstar Heroes and Dynamite Headdy. Rocket Knight Adventures is one of the best Sega Genesis games, so go play it if you haven't already.

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