Nostalgia You Never Knew You Had
I don't know what a "Sparkster" is, nor do I really care about the back story of a kingdom attacked by wolves and pigs consecutively. I don't know why my jet pack can let me fly in the air for several minutes one time, but only give me a burst of speed the next. I thought "Axel Gear" was a Gun 'n' Roses/Kojima Productions joint the first time I heard it. I definitely don't care for the last boss in the remake of Rocket Knight, with its stupid out-of-reach flight pattern and gimmicky health system.
I do care, though, about a 2.5D platformer with that retreads territory that feels genuinely new to me. Sure, double-jumps and melee combat have been done so many times before, but Rocket Knight does enough with them to validate its existence on the platformer-crowded digital marketplace. You can rocket in the standard eight directions, and there are of course puzzles and traps designed around your increased sense of direction. But once you realize you can bounce off walls, you'll begin to commit more stylish acts of animal cruelty.
Begin your burst next to one machete-wielding wolf, bounce of both the wall and ceiling to reach a dynamite-throwing wolf and kill them both and you'll begin to see what I mean.
Once you begin to figure out the intricacies of the ricochet burst, you'll end up using it for pretty much everything. And you should, because there's really not much more to Rocket Knight than this. Enemies never amount to much of threat unless faced in numbers, and the later platforming challenges have you use your burst almost exclusively. But that's not knock against how barren the rest of the game is without it; it's a compliment to how good the bursting and bouncing are.
The focused level design also compliments the fun of bouncing around. The word "superficial" might be a better fit, but that's a derogatory word, and one I wouldn't use here. The scattered collectibles throughout the levels will keep perfectionists occupied, sure, but I rarely came across a problem that didn't require the use my jet pack. Even the levels where your use of the jet pack is restricted and rationed felt fair rather than abusive, which is key in a game like this. The airborne shmup levels weaken the package a bit, but they're scarce enough that it won't matter all that much.
I've never played anything quite like it, and yet I still have fond memories of...nothing. Other 2D platformer I've played, I guess. The lives system and difficulty might be a bit too retro for some, but that more or less comes with the nostalgic territory. It's hard and short, just the way some of you masochists might like it.
But does a roughly two-to-three hour game justify a $15 price tag? Well, that largely depends on how much you value that Lincoln-Hamilton duo. If you need to convince yourself or someone else about it, though, there are plenty of meta-challenges that can make the game interesting on repeat playthroughs (beat the game in less than an hour, beat it in one sitting, etc.). It still may be a steep price, but if you're that picky with your money, then go ahead take a point off my score. I'm still fairly confident, however, that you'll have some fun with the game, regardless of the balance of your checkbook.
