Sparkster makes his triumphant arrival on next-gen platforms with Rocket Knight, the newest chapter in the classic side-scrolling rocket action series. Our favorite opossum hero returns home after 15 years to find the kingdom of Zephyrus in shambles.

Rocket Knight AdventuresGameplay 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 performs a stationary spinning attack).Levels are occasionally switched up with alternate styles of gameplay.

Some levels are horizontal scrolling shooters (akin to, often with in-level references to that game), while one level has the player controlling a large machine to duel with Axel Gear.The difficulty levels in the game are differently presented in each regional version of the game. Both the Japanese and European versions have two difficulty levels accessible normally via the options menu, while in the American version four are enabled by default.Plot The first King El Zebulos repelled some invaders in a powerful ship called the Pig Star and was made ruler of the land. Knowing the Pig Star had the power to destroy entire worlds, El Zebulos had it placed under a magic seal for safekeeping. The 'Key to the Seal' would be guarded and passed down by El Zebulos, and his Royal Family. Generations into the future, the kingdom has been subject to attack by neighboring countries which wanted control of The Pig Star.

To protect the kingdom of Zebulos, an elite group of warriors known as the Rocket Knights were formed. These Warriors wore armor with Rocket Packs, wielded mystical swords, and harnessed awesome combat skills.Around this time, an orphan named Sparkster was taken in by Mifune Sanjulo; a friend of the King, and current leader of the Rocket Knights. Sparkster was trained to become a Rocket Knight at an early age. Later on, a corrupt Rocket Knight by the name of Axel Gear fought and wounded Mifune as he tried to steal an ancient book, which contained the secrets of the rocket knights. Sparkster was appointed the new Rocket Knight leader and spent 10 years posing as an outlaw as he searched for Axel Gear, only to return to Zebulos and hear rumors about Axel Gear's return.By now the Kingdom is under attack by the Devotindos Empire led by Emperor Devligus Devotindos; who is said to have the power of hypnosis. Sparkster finds that Axel Gear has kidnapped Princess Sherry in attempt to blackmail the king into surrendering The 'Key to the Seal'. However it just so happens that the Princess is the only one who knows of its location.

Sparkster rushes through jungles, caves, and even into Devotindos territory to save the princess, until he finally confronts Devilgus himself, who quickly flees after he gets the 'Key to the Seal' from the Princess and takes off into space to The Pig Star. The Princess casts a spell on Sparkster to allow him to go after Devilgus and into The Pig Star. Sparkster fights the Emperor himself, only to discover he was a machine all along. Exploring the spaceship shows that Devilgus was not unique as the ship was a factory of Devilgus robots.After Devilgus' destruction, Sparkster runs into Axel Gear, who tries to jettison Sparkster into space, but gets sucked into space instead. Inside the ship's core, Sparkster discovers that the real Devligus was the Pig Star's core itself, hinting that the Emperor Devilgus was but a robotic proxy sent to Earth to establish an empire to invade Zebulos in an attempt to break free from its confinement.

The ship's core attempts to destroy Sparkster. However, its efforts fail as The Pig Star explodes, and it makes a last-ditch effort to kill Sparkster while he is defenseless in an escape pod, eventually burning apart in Elhorn's atmosphere. Sparkster escapes in one piece and reaches the castle with Princess Sherry.

Satisfied that the kingdom is safe, Sparkster flies off to continue his duties.Development. This section does not any.

Unsourced material may be challenged and.Find sources: – ( April 2018) Ports, sequels and spin-offs A version of Rocket Knight Adventures was planned, but was never released.Two follow-up titles on the Mega Drive, and a on the SNES were released. Despite both games being produced simultaneously and sharing the same name and box art, they were different games, sharing only their character design and music score, with the Mega Drive release acting as a direct sequel and the SNES game being a spin-off. The two titles are often confused for being the same game due to the 'Rocket Knight Adventures 2” subtitle only being employed in Japan.In October 2009, Konami announced they would release another sequel, titled (which is the sequel to the Sega Megadrive/Genesis game called, but not really a remake of the Sega Megadrive/Genesis game called Rocket Knight Adventures), made by the British developer,.

The game was released on, and on May 12, 2010. Nobuya Nakazato was not involved with this title in any way, though Nazakato was credited by the developers in the Special Thanks section of the game credits.Sparkster has appeared as a playable character in a few recent titles, such as for and Krazy Kart Racing for. He also has cameos in for the SNES, for the, for the SNES, for the, They was disguised by Pastel in TwinBee PARADISE in Donburishima for PC, and a figure resembling him also appears in an alternate ending to for the, and as nonogram pixel on Pixel Puzzle Collection for the iPhone and.A Sparkster comic was written by in the UK-made.

It was based on the Mega Drive/Genesis version of Sparkster. In an interview, Kitching said that Sparkster was the easiest game to adapt into a story, due to being similar to the.

He was working on a second Sparkster story, but the plan was dropped when were unable to obtain permission from Konami to use the character.Reception ReceptionReview scoresPublicationScore.5/2092%HonestGamers9/1096%91%94%92%97%Sega-169/10Sparkster stood out in the Animal mascot era, with gamers labeling him a second prodigy for Sega behind Sonic.Rocket Knight Adventures was well received by critics, who praised the music and graphics. HonestGamers gave the game a 9/10.

Sega-16 gave it the same mark, saying that 'it is not only one of the system’s best titles, it’s one of the greatest platformers ever made.' References.

Rocket Knight AdventuresDeveloper:Publisher:Platform:Released in JP: August 6, 1993Released in US: August 5, 1993Released in EU: 1993This game has.This game has a.This game has.Rocket Knight Adventures is the story of a noble opossum named Sparkster. Equipped with a sword and a jetpack, his mission is to push back the evil Devotindos Empire, destroy their massive starship, the Pig Star, and exact revenge against the corrupt Rocket Knight who betrayed the kingdom of Zephyrus and killed his adoptive father. This needs some investigation.Discuss ideas and findings on the.Specifically: Which version(s)? Is there any code left that points to these strings?Next to the title screen's text ('start', 'options'.), one can find the strings 'game', 'demo', 'on' and 'off' (address 0x52FE).Stage SelectIn the Japanese version, the level selection code is as follows: on the Konami logo screen, press Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down, Up, Down, Left, Left, Right, Right, Right, Right and Sparkster will scream. On the main menu, hold A and press Start.While Sparkster will scream if you enter the code in the European version, the level select flag is ignored and will do nothing. The US version does not check for cheat codes on the Konami screen (though the code's data is still in the ROM).Regional Differences Main MenuA minor change, but in the Japanese version, the sound effects for when you choose and confirm an option are a sparkle (used when you get an item) and a sword clash, respectively.

Ant queen alate. In the international versions, these are a loud sparkle and Sparkster's rocket taking off, respectively.JapanInternationalChoose option. Intro JapanInternationalThe Japanese version features a different intro cutscene than the international versions, which is closer in style to the cutscenes seen throughout the rest of the game.

It shows a group of opposums enjoying a peaceful day in the countryside, until a pair of pig soldiers appears and chases them away. The scene ends with the ghostly image of Emperor Devligus Devotindos floating in the darkened sky.The international cutscene is darker and a bit more visually impressive, and depicts Sparkster standing on top of a pillar of rock in front of the castle.

As he unsheathes his sword, the camera spins around behind him, and the same image of the Emperor appears in front of him and begins to laugh.Although the opossum civilians were removed from the international versions' intro, they can still be seen running around the castle in the second half of the first stage.Level Introduction Screen JapanInternationalThe Japanese version features a small opossum orchestra at the beginning of every stage. The international versions replaced this with a zooming starfield and images of Sparkster in various heroic poses.Continue and Game Over ScreensJapanInternationalContinueGame OverThe orchestra was removed from the international versions' Continue and Game Over screens as well.Difficulty LevelsIn the Japanese and European versions, you can only choose one of the two easiest difficulty settings. The last two must be unlocked by completing the game in the previous difficulty, or by using a cheat code. In the US version, every difficulty level is available by default. Additionally, the names for the difficulty levels were changed between versions:JPNormalHardVery HardCrazy HardEUEasyHardVery HardCrazy HardUSChildrenEasyNormalHardDifficulty settings in italics must be unlocked.The Japanese version allows you to fight against the very last boss in the easiest difficulty level, whereas the European and US versions end the game prematurely and tell you to try a harder setting.As you'd expect, when the game tells you to try the next difficulty, it uses the appropriate name for each version.