
	Platform Genesis Genre Platformer Publisher Konami Developer Konami ETA 1993
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Rocket Knight Adventures

During the 16-bit era of gaming, we were treated to a deluge of really great platformers. While series like Super Mario and Sonic, and to a lesser degree Bonk, garnered the lion's share of gamers attention, there were plenty of other games in the genre that really excelled, and deserve a recognition for their quality. One such title is Konami's Rocket Knight Adventures for the Sega Genesis.

Starring an opossum knight named Sparkster, players must fend off an attack by the Devotindos Empire who have kidnapped the princess of Zebulos in hopes of blackmailing its king into giving them the Key of the Seal. Of course, Sparkster will have none of that, and embarks on an adventure to rescue the princess, and make sure this evil empire doesn't get its hand on the key it desires so badly.

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Gameplay itself was largely what one would expect from a platformer with lots of running around, jumping over stuff, and, since you are playing a knight after all, swinging and thrusting one's sword at the peculiarly dog / pig-like enemies that abounded in the game. Interspersed with this were the occasional level more akin to a side-scrolling shmup, as well as a mech fight

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later in the game. It was a fairly traditional set up in terms of what Rocket Knight had players doing, but it was very well polished.

Moreover, the game looked very good, with quite a bit of detail in all of the characters, as well as enemies, and environments. It was very much a showcase game to show what the Genesis was capable of graphically.

Since it came out, we've seen a few other platformers starring Sparkster with him eventually appearing on the SNES, and more recently as a downloadable game on the PlayStation Store, so thankfully Konami has been trying to keep the franchise at least somewhat active. Looking back at how weel put together Rocket Knight Adventures was on the Genesis, though, it's surprising that we haven't seen more of the series over the years.

Mr. Nash
November 19, 2010