Rocket Robot on Wheels (N64)
For this review, we're going back to the N64 for Rocket Robot on Wheels, a game that bears a striking resemblance to another key game on the same console. To find out which one, and to see how this game is, read on!
The joystick controls Rocket's movement, while the C-buttons control the camera. C-left and C-right swing the camera in those directions, C-down switches between the camera close and the camera far from Rocket, and C-up zooms to a first-person view. A makes Rocket jump, B activates his tractor beam, and Z uses Rocket's abilities which will be explained in the next section. Lastly, the R button will either make you drop an item if you're holding one, or enter a vehicle if you are close enough to one.
While in the vehicles, the A button becomes the gas button, B is the brake, the joystick controls the steering, Z will let you do a small jump, and R lets you exit the vehicle.
It's a very fun control scheme, and it's very easy and accessible as it uses the joystick grip and completely leaves out the D-pad and L buttons, so there are no bumbling moments trying to get to those buttons in the middle of the game. So let's see how it stacks up during the game.
In this game, it's just about an exact copy of the formula. Rocket goes to the theme park, collecting tickets which help him unlock further areas of the theme park, eventually collecting enough to face and hopefully defeat Jojo to save the park.
Each level is based on a sepcific theme in each area of the park. You are given free roam of the level to use Rocket's abilities to find all of the tokens, tickets, and ride pieces that Jojo has hidden throughout the entire park. The level's each contain the same number of these items : there are 200 tokens, 16 tickets, and 7 pieces of the rides.
The only ability Rocket begins the game with is his tractor beam. He can use this to pick up items to throw them, enemies which can be smashed once you learn the ability, and he can attach it to certain things in the level allowing him to grapple and swing to otherwise inaccessible areas. The later abilities are earned by obtaining a certain number of tokens and visiting Tinker who installs the new ability. These include a double jump to reach higher places, a freeze beam, which will freeze a small block of water for Rocket to travel on, an extension to the grapple beam which will allow you to reach things from farther away, a triple jump, and the smash ability mentioned above.
Some of the tickets are earned merely just by finding them scattered in some hidden places. Others require a specific task to complete them, like reassembling the broken rides, or winning a mini-game, things like that. These usually involve a decent amount of platforming to reach, or during the mini-games.
The biggest element throughout the entire game is the physics engine behind it all. It was the first time something like it was used, taking everything into account for the puzzles : Rocket's momentum and inertia, the angle and trajectory of things being thrown and where they'll end up. Nothing like it had been used in a game before, and it wasn't just implemented into the game in minor areas, it became the key element to solving the puzzles.
Overall, Rocket Robot on Wheels is a very fun game. It heavily borrows from the Super Mario 64 formula and it's put into use very well. But how difficult is it?
The generic combat is fairly easy once you gain Rocket's smash ability. Before this ability, combat doesn't even exist. The only way for you to defeat your enemies is with your abilities, so until you do so your only option is avoiding them. Once you have your abilities, you can grab them with your tractor beam and use your smash ability, or his freeze ray to (obviously) freeze them.
The one boss fight against Jojo, isn't a typical boss fight. Since the game puts a heavy emphasis on it's physics engine, the boss fight is actually a long drawn out platforming stage. It incorporates elements from each of the previous worlds in the game, in a much higher difficulty. You will definitely need to be well-practiced with all of Rocket's abilities as they will certainly be put to the test in this area of the game.
Lastly, the big area of the game is the puzzles and platforming, which go hand-in-hand all the way through. The platforming is your main way of reaching the tickets, of which there are varying degrees of difficulty. Some tickets are simply hidden and must be found, some are a moderate challenge that require only a few jumps or maneuvers, while others involve a great deal of work to get to the ticket, and if you slip you'll end up back at the beginning of whatever it is you have to do.
In the end, this game can be easy in some areas, while much more difficult in others. You don't need to collect every ticket, so you are able to avoid some of the challenge if you want to, but you won't be able to avoid all of it. So, before giving my final verdict on this one, let's look at the good and the bad.
Physics Engine - A new element at the time, and it added a whole new angle to the game. It didn't become just about reaching the collectibles, it became about throwing certain things, and making sure you angle them right, or paying extra attention to the level of the ground you're on to make sure you won't roll off. It was new, and it worked well and sparked a whole new movement in platforming games.
Sucker Punch - The company that would go on to make Sly Cooper is the company behind Rocket. This game was their first one they ever made, and Sly came three years later. It's a wonder that their first game featured a villainous racoon, and their next game (which sparked a few sequels) would be led by a bit of an anti-hero racoon.
The Story
The game takes place the night before a futuristic theme park, Whoopie World, is opening up. Dr. Gavin, the creator of the park, is heading out to celebrate before the opening and leaves his robot (and the titular character) Rocket in charge of watching over the park, and it's mascots Whoopie the Walrus and Jojo the Racoon. As soon as the doctor leaves, Jojo breaks out of his cage, kidnaps Whoopie and sets in motion his plan to take over the park and open it under his name, Jojo World. He knocks Rocket out and escapes into the park, but Rocket follows when he wakes up. In the park, he finds Tinker, the parks mechanic, who is trying to gain control of the park back from Jojo. Rocket teams up with him and together, they attempt to put everything right in time for the park's opening the following day.The Controls
The controls put a full emphasis on the joystick grip of the N64 controller. (With the odd shape of the N64 controller, control schemes tend to focus on the D-Pad grip where your left hand is on the left-most "handle" of the controller by the D-pad, or the joystick grip where your hand is placed on the middle "handle" with easy access to the Z button in the back. In both instances, your right hand is on the right-most "handle" with access to the A, B, and C buttons).The joystick controls Rocket's movement, while the C-buttons control the camera. C-left and C-right swing the camera in those directions, C-down switches between the camera close and the camera far from Rocket, and C-up zooms to a first-person view. A makes Rocket jump, B activates his tractor beam, and Z uses Rocket's abilities which will be explained in the next section. Lastly, the R button will either make you drop an item if you're holding one, or enter a vehicle if you are close enough to one.
While in the vehicles, the A button becomes the gas button, B is the brake, the joystick controls the steering, Z will let you do a small jump, and R lets you exit the vehicle.
It's a very fun control scheme, and it's very easy and accessible as it uses the joystick grip and completely leaves out the D-pad and L buttons, so there are no bumbling moments trying to get to those buttons in the middle of the game. So let's see how it stacks up during the game.
The Gameplay
This game is a puzzle solving platformer. More specifically, it borrows a formula from a very key N64 game : Super Mario 64. For anyone who hasn't played it (and I can't imagine there are many) in Super Mario 64, Mario gets sent to Peach's castle and visits multiple different world, collecting stars which help unlock further worlds, eventually building up to face and hopefully defeat Bowser and save Peach and the castle.In this game, it's just about an exact copy of the formula. Rocket goes to the theme park, collecting tickets which help him unlock further areas of the theme park, eventually collecting enough to face and hopefully defeat Jojo to save the park.
Each level is based on a sepcific theme in each area of the park. You are given free roam of the level to use Rocket's abilities to find all of the tokens, tickets, and ride pieces that Jojo has hidden throughout the entire park. The level's each contain the same number of these items : there are 200 tokens, 16 tickets, and 7 pieces of the rides.
The only ability Rocket begins the game with is his tractor beam. He can use this to pick up items to throw them, enemies which can be smashed once you learn the ability, and he can attach it to certain things in the level allowing him to grapple and swing to otherwise inaccessible areas. The later abilities are earned by obtaining a certain number of tokens and visiting Tinker who installs the new ability. These include a double jump to reach higher places, a freeze beam, which will freeze a small block of water for Rocket to travel on, an extension to the grapple beam which will allow you to reach things from farther away, a triple jump, and the smash ability mentioned above.
Some of the tickets are earned merely just by finding them scattered in some hidden places. Others require a specific task to complete them, like reassembling the broken rides, or winning a mini-game, things like that. These usually involve a decent amount of platforming to reach, or during the mini-games.
The biggest element throughout the entire game is the physics engine behind it all. It was the first time something like it was used, taking everything into account for the puzzles : Rocket's momentum and inertia, the angle and trajectory of things being thrown and where they'll end up. Nothing like it had been used in a game before, and it wasn't just implemented into the game in minor areas, it became the key element to solving the puzzles.
Overall, Rocket Robot on Wheels is a very fun game. It heavily borrows from the Super Mario 64 formula and it's put into use very well. But how difficult is it?
The Challenge (or lack thereof?)
Throughout Rocket is a very well displaced difficulty curve between the generic combat, the one boss fight, and all the puzzles and platforming.The generic combat is fairly easy once you gain Rocket's smash ability. Before this ability, combat doesn't even exist. The only way for you to defeat your enemies is with your abilities, so until you do so your only option is avoiding them. Once you have your abilities, you can grab them with your tractor beam and use your smash ability, or his freeze ray to (obviously) freeze them.
The one boss fight against Jojo, isn't a typical boss fight. Since the game puts a heavy emphasis on it's physics engine, the boss fight is actually a long drawn out platforming stage. It incorporates elements from each of the previous worlds in the game, in a much higher difficulty. You will definitely need to be well-practiced with all of Rocket's abilities as they will certainly be put to the test in this area of the game.
Lastly, the big area of the game is the puzzles and platforming, which go hand-in-hand all the way through. The platforming is your main way of reaching the tickets, of which there are varying degrees of difficulty. Some tickets are simply hidden and must be found, some are a moderate challenge that require only a few jumps or maneuvers, while others involve a great deal of work to get to the ticket, and if you slip you'll end up back at the beginning of whatever it is you have to do.
In the end, this game can be easy in some areas, while much more difficult in others. You don't need to collect every ticket, so you are able to avoid some of the challenge if you want to, but you won't be able to avoid all of it. So, before giving my final verdict on this one, let's look at the good and the bad.
PROS
Super Mario Formula - It happened with a handful of games on the N64, some incorporated a few elements while others incorporated a lot. Another game at the time that took advantage of this formula was Banjo-Kazooie. While Rocket didn't gain as much attention as Banjo did, this game makes an excellent use of the Super Mario formula that makes it a blast from start to finish.Physics Engine - A new element at the time, and it added a whole new angle to the game. It didn't become just about reaching the collectibles, it became about throwing certain things, and making sure you angle them right, or paying extra attention to the level of the ground you're on to make sure you won't roll off. It was new, and it worked well and sparked a whole new movement in platforming games.
Sucker Punch - The company that would go on to make Sly Cooper is the company behind Rocket. This game was their first one they ever made, and Sly came three years later. It's a wonder that their first game featured a villainous racoon, and their next game (which sparked a few sequels) would be led by a bit of an anti-hero racoon.
