This Knight is Out of Sight!
Konami's Rocket Knight Adventures is truly one of the lost treasures of the 16 bit era. Appearing on the Sega Genesis in 1993, the game tells the story of Sparkster the Rocket Knight and his quest to overcome a legion of dastardly pigs. Sparkster has a rocket pack with which he can quickly fly to the far corners of the screen, and a sword with which to dispatch his porcine foes. Featuring an utterly unique art style that emphesises the hand painted look of the characters and backgrounds (and defies the Genesis' limited color pallette), Rocket Knight Adventures jumps off the screen with deep paralax scrolling, tons of creative effects, and many, many boss battles. Special mention must also be made of RKA's superlative score. The Genesis sound chip could be grating, but the end-to-end score for RKA is a joy to hear. Mostly an action platformer, Rocket Knight also contains side-scrolling shooting levels, the obligatory mine cart level, and a climactic battle in the weightlessness of space. Combat is nearly constant, and many levels feature environmental puzzles that must be solved quickly. Bosses and puzzles are full of patterns to discover, and Sparkster controls wonderfully. RKA has a very "old school" vibe to it. The whole game is markedly similar to the games Treasure would become famous for, and I would not be supprised to find that members of Treasure's team worked on RKA before breaking off from Konami. (That may also explain why the sequel, on which no one from Treasure would ostensibly have worked, was, you know, crap.) Easily the equal of other late golden age Genesis titles like Gunstar Heroes and Earthworm Jim, Rocket Knight is in desperate need of a contemporary rerelease. Virtual Console, anyone? In any case, if you have the chance to play through this classic adventure, you won't be disappointed.
