The Rocketeer. A decent platform game with interesting techniques
Written: Aug 21 '04 (Updated Sep 30 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Intricate levels; interesting techniques; good use of passwords.
Cons: Rough play control and odd hit detection result in several cheap hits.
The Bottom Line: I recommend this solid little cart to players with a taste for little-known NES games.
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| platonism's Full Review: The Rocketeer for Nintendo |
Prelude: the Bandai touch
When considering NES action games and the people who made them, the observer finds heavily contrasting companies. On one hand, revered names such as Nintendo, Konami, Sunsoft or Tecmo; on the other, much-maligned companies like Acclaim/LJN, Mindscape and THQ. Whereas the former group carefully built their reputation, the latter kept turning out games that generally sold well but were critically reviled.
Between those two extremes, there are prolific second-tier companies who seemed to specialize in close-but-not-quite action games. They did produce some clear winners, but most of their games seemed either to lack a little something or to remain unnoticed by game players. I'm especially thinking of Bandai, Jaleco and Taito. Bandai was probably the lesser of these three companies during the golden days of the NES. In fact, one of their games (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) is often mentioned alongside LJN and THQ products as one of the worst ever made. Still, they made some games that subsequently became cult favorites (Monster Party, Dick Tracy, Frankenstein).
Bandai's The Rocketeer (1991) is an excellent example of a game that is solid, but pales in comparison to the slickness of a cart like Konami's Super C, Rare's Battletoads or even Sunsoft's Batman, which it tends to resemble. Nonetheless, seekers of underrated NES games should find it worthwhile.
Premises
I have not seen the 1991 film this game is based on, but here is its story: in the Hollywood of the 1930s, an ace racer finds a streamlined, double cylinder rocketpack in the cockpit of an unused plane. As he prepares for a test flight, a mob of thugs break into the hangar, eager to get the rocketpack. Over the course of the game, the reluctant hero will have to flee from his enemies and rescue his kidnapped girlfriend. As in many other NES actions games, dialogue scenes advance the plot between the levels.
The game consists of six chapters, totalling seventeen sub-levels overall; a password is given after each completed chapter. The player has only one life, but continues are unlimited and allow you to get back to the sub-level you died in (with one exception; more on that later).
Graphics and sound
Chapter one is undoubtedly the worst looking - and the blandest as well - in the whole game, so gamers should wait before judging The Rocketeer's graphics and general feel: both get definitely better as the game goes on. The graphics are actually quite decent, with nice colors and varied backgrounds; chapters five and six look especially good. The hero is well animated, but the enemies are considerably less interesting as they are repetitive and have a few frames of animation only. The dialogue scenes are marginally effective, but the text can be hard to see at times.
The upbeat music has little of the polish of Konami or Sunsoft NES games, but it is strangely endearing. To be frank, it is somewhat limited and less memorable than the music of Bandai's otherwise reviled Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; the same theme is used in most of the levels. The sound effects are functional at best.
Gameplay
When I first played this game, I immediately noted the unforgiving hit detection: running enemies have to be punched at exactly the right moment or the hero will take a hit. He does have to take eight such hits to lose a life, and it is fairly easy to adjust after two or three tries. Still, cheap hits are frequent, even more so in the later levels. At least the character does not jerk back when he is hit.
The basic means of attack is simple punching. By collecting ammo, the player gains access to five different weapons. These guns and bombs are all useful, some in close-range combat, others in longer range battles. The player can cycle through the weapons by pressing Select; switching between five different weapons can be difficult in the heat of things because pausing the game prevents you from cycling through them.
At some points in the game, your progress depends on long and precise jumps (this is a NES trademark). Fortunately, 1) missing a jump rarely leads to a death, but rather to obligatory backtracking, and 2) the jumping controls are responsive. The only problem occurs when jumping over fire or machines: the rough hit detection makes it hard to avoid them completely.
The rocketpack adds a nice twist to the game: in some chapters (but not nearly enough of them in my opinion), the hero can collect rocket fuel items that give him twenty seconds of flight. Flights can be interrupted when enemies or objects are in the way, but also when the player decides to navigate through the levels on the ground. Some bosses can only be defeated in the air. Flights are not always easy to control, but this prevents the player from flying untouched through entire stages.
Two types of enemies keep recurring throughout the game: 1) pink-dressed, immobile gunners who shoot either while standing or crouching; 2) grey-dressed men who do nothing but run blindly. These latter enemies are deceiving: they have no means of attack but cannot be touched and always seem to be in the way (they also materialize at will). As is often the case in NES action games (do I really have to mention the birds of the Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania series?), the most inoffensive enemies become the most troublesome.
Challenge and replay value
The passwords are welcome: the game itself is not very difficult, but the levels are quite long; playing through The Rocketeer in one sitting would be quite a chore. The various levels are intricately designed. Some are maze-like and require a lot of exploring to find the best possible path. I was stuck in chapter six for several days because I couldn't find the way out. This is by far the hardest part of the game: if you die in chapter 6-3, you are sent back to the beginning of 6-2.
Most of the levels have secret areas that can easily be missed by unsuspecting players. But these areas are often guarded by enemies: it is up to the player to decide if the power-ups are worth the trip.
The Rocketeer is entirely built around patterns: the best way to get far in the game is to progress slowly. Thankfully, there's no time limit. Since the player has only one life but can always continue where (s)he left off, the game reminded me of Prince of Persia (not that the two games have many other common points): when the player experiences a level for the first time, (s)he can explore for as long as (s)he can, and subsequent tries will be easier because patterns are gradually uncovered.
Once you've beaten the game, the various settings and techniques (especially the rocketpack passages) might keep you coming back for a few more tries. No score is displayed, so the main challenge would be to beat the game with only one man.
Modest but solid
The Rocketeer is a Bandai game through and through: it looks and sounds fairly good, the play control is a little rough and inventive techniques enhance the whole. Players raised on ultra-slick action carts might have little patience for such a game, but those who have a taste for modest and underrated NES games should give it a look. Furthermore, it is easy to find at a very low price.
Readers of this review might be interested in my video game tetralogy:
I. My life as a video game player
II. Coleco visions: recollections, observations and anecdotes about the Colecovision
III. The ten video games I played the most (1983-1997)
IV. Philosophico-religious musings about video games
Recommended:
Yes
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platonism
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