Rocket Knight Adventures

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For other games in the series, see Sparkster.
Rocket Knight Adventures
Image:rocket-knight-adventure.jpg
Box art
Developer(s) Konami
Publisher(s) Konami
Designer(s) Nobuya Nakazato
Platform(s) Sega Mega Drive
Release date August 5, 1993
Genre(s) Platform game, Scrolling shooter
Mode(s) Single player
Media 8 megabit Cartridge
Screenshot.
Screenshot.

Rocket Knight Adventures is a 16-bit generation side scrolling platformer produced and released in 1993 by Konami for the Sega Mega Drive console, designed by Nobuya Nakazato, designer of several titles in the Contra series such as The Alien Wars, Hard Corps and Shattered Soldier. Its protagonist is Sparkster, an opossum knight who fights an army of robots and pigs, many of whom are piloting various mechanical vehicles. Sparkster is armed with a sword that can project energy over a short distance and a rocket pack that allows him to fly.

The game and its main character were created at the height of Sonic the Hedgehog's popularity and his rivalry with Mario, which as a result many video game companies had an anthropomorphic animal as a mascot. Because of this mascot saturation in the video game market, the game was seen as another rip-off of Sonic and never fared well in popularity, though it gained a cult following strong enough to warrant a sequel.

The game later had two sequels, both named Sparkster, for the Mega Drive and SNES. While both sequels shared the same name (and even the same box art) and were produced at roughly the same time, they were totally individual games, as with other Konami 16-bit releases with the same name (though the Mega Drive/Genesis version is referred in Japan with the subtitle Rocket Knight Adventures 2, which also was used overseas in the game introduction). Aside from characters, they did not relate to each other. This has led to much confusion about the games, especially in the spriting community, which tends to mislabel which sprite comes from which game. However, it is sometimes assumed that the Mega Drive/Genesis version is the sequel to Rocket Knight Adventures, due to the stated continuity from the events of the original game on the same console, whereas the Super NES version is more of a spin-off of the same game, as the events of the original game never existed in its storyline. Like their predecessor, neither of both games were mainstream successes.

There was also a short series of comics in the UK-made Sonic the Comic. They were based on the Mega Drive/Genesis version of Sparkster.

[edit] Story

Rocket Knight Adventures is based in a world called Erehwon (also pronounced as Elhorn), a world of warriors, magic and machinery. Within this world is a kingdom known as Zebulos. Zebulos has a turbulent history, the area being part of a great war. During the reign of El Zebulos, the kingdom's first monarch, a group of invaders arrived in the country bent on the destruction of El Zebulos and his clan. They sailed a powerful, evil ship known as the "Pig Star". If it were not for the determination and courage of El Zebulos and his kingdom, their strong opponents would have easily crushed the peaceful land and its inhabitants. The invaders were defeated and the Pig Star was placed under a magical seal to prevent it from falling back into enemy hands. The seal can only be removed using the "Key to the Seal" which has been heavily guarded by Zebulos and his royal family to this day.

To acquire the key would give the bearer the power to unlock the Pig Star and its potential to destroy whole worlds. To prevent this possibility from occurring, an elite fighting force was formed known as the Rocket Knights, heavily armoured warriors who use rocket packs and energy-projecting swords to protect and serve the kingdom and its people. The current leader of the Rocket Knights is Sparkster, who came to power after the Rocket Knight master Mifune Sanjulo was killed by a corrupted Black Knight called Axel Gear. Sparkster exchanged in a fierce battle with Axel and banished the murderer from the land.

The kingdom has come under threat again, this time from the nearby Devotindos Empire. They have used huge robots and a massive army in their attack, which has left the Zebulan army at near-defeat. Sparkster, fearing the worst, heads to the Castle Zebulan to find that the Princess has been kidnapped by Axel Gear! He plans to use the princess as blackmail against the King to obtain the Key to the Seal. However, Axel doesn't know that the Princess is the only remaining royal family member who knows the location of the key.

[edit] Gameplay

Gameplay is often a side scrolling platform, with linear runs through levels. The player is able to jump, attack with Sparkster's sword, either directly or by "shooting" energy forward when swung, or charge up their rocket pack and go flying in one of the 8 standard directions, depending of the direction the player presses (if no direction is pressed, Sparkster spins vertically with his sword around the place he is currently).

Levels are occasionally switched up with alternate styles of gameplay. Some levels are horizontal scrolling shooters (akin to Gradius), while one level has the player control a large machine to duel with Axel Gear.

Another interesting aspect of the game is its difficulty. Playing on the easiest mode drops the final level from the game, and prevents the player from getting the 'true' ending. Completing the game at 'Hard' unlocks a higher difficulty level; 'Very Hard'. And completing the game at 'Very Hard' unlocks the highest difficulty level, 'Crazy Hard', which makes the game almost impossible to finish (one life, no continues, always one-hit kills).

[edit] Other Appearances

Despite his lack of popularity, Sparkster managed to make a few appearances: