Rocket Knight Adventures

n/a

Rocket Knight Adventures

Publisher: Konami

Developer: Konami

Sound driver: Konami/Hyperstone Heist

Genre: Action^[1]^[2]

Number of players: 1

Release	Date	RRP	Code
JP	1993-08-06^[1]	¥7,800 (8,034)7,800e^[3]	T-95063
US	1993-08^[4]^[5]		T-95046
EU	1993-09^[6]^[7]		T-95046-50
DE	1993	DM 110.00110.00^[11]	T-95046-50
PT	1993		MD95046
UK	1993-09^[6]^[7]^[8]	£39.9939.99^[9]^[10]	T-95046-50
SE (Rental)	199x
AU	1993	$109.95109.95^[12]	FROC06SMC
KR	199x		GM93028JT
AS	199x

Rocket Knight Adventures (ロケットナイトアドベンチャーズ) is a 1993 platform game developed and published by Konami for the Sega Mega Drive.

Story

Sparkster

The first king of Zebulos, El Zebulos, led his clan to defeating an evil empire that had constructed a starship known as the Pig Star. Knowing the Pig Star, which had the power to destroy planets, would be sought by evildoers, the King magically sealed the starship and protected the "Key to the Seal" by having it guarded and passed by his royal family over generations. He formed an elite group of warriors known as the Rocket Knights to protect the kingdom.

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. Sparkster would become the new leader of the Rocket Knights after banishing Axel Gear, a corrupt "Black Knight," from Zebulos for destroying Mifune.

Now the kingdom of Zephyrus has come under attack by the Devotindos Empire, led by Emperor Devilgus Devotindos, who has come in search for the Key to the Seal. Sparkster heads to the Zephyrus castle to find Axel Gear kidnapping Princess Sherry, who is the only one who knows the location to the key.

Gameplay

Axel Gear abducts Princess Sherry

The Pig Star

The game is a side-scrolling platform game starring an opossum named Sparkster, who carries a sword and rocket pack, in his quest to rescue Princess Sherry from the sinister Axel Gear. Stages are mostly linear platforming stages, composed of several sections, usually ending with a boss fight. Several sections of the game are played similar to a horizontally scrolling shoot-'em-up.

Sparkster moves with and . He ducks with and jumps with . Sparkster hangs off tree branches with his tail and can move horizontally along them, jump off them, or attack while hanging. When underwater, Sparkster floats upwards and moves in any direction with the D-Pad.

Sparkster's primary weapon is his sword, which he uses with or . Swinging his sword emits a projectile that travels about half the distance of the screen, but the sword does more damage when it strikes an enemy directly. The player can charge Sparkster's rocket pack by holding or , which increases an energy meter. The meter can be charged while moving but resets if Sparkster takes damage. Releasing the button when the meter is filled and flashing causes Sparkster to perform a stationary spin attack, whirling his sword in all directions. This maneuver is useful when Sparkster is surrounded. Releasing the button while holding the D-Pad in a direction launches Sparkster in that direction in a rocket attack with his sword in front of him. He can propel himself in eight directions from the ground or midair. When he hits an enemy, he damages it and bounces off of it. He bounces off surfaces like walls and can rebound off multiple surfaces to climb up a tight passage. He passes through enemy projectiles while using his rocket pack.

Sparkster has a limited number of health hearts that he loses when he is hit by enemies, projectiles, or hazards. He loses a life if he loses all of his health hearts, if he falls into a bottomless pit or outside the stage, touches the spikes in the cart segment of the second stage, or touches the lava at the beginning of the third stage. Sparkster can replenish vitality by collecting apples and bananas. The game ends if the player runs out of extra lives, but the player is given a limited number of continues for restarting at the beginning of the stage. Extra lives are given at 20,000 points and then every 60,000 points after that.

The game features multiple difficulty settings, with harder difficulties increasing the power of the enemy attacks and reducing the number of lives and continues that the player begins with. The North American version of the game has four difficulties initially selectable (Children, Easy, Normal, and Hard). The Japanese and European versions have only two difficulties normally (Normal and Hard in the Japanese version and Easy and Hard in the European version), but two additional difficulties are available with a cheat code (Very Hard and Crazy Hard).

Items

	Apple
	Restores a health heart, except on higher difficulties where it has no effect.
	Banana
	Restores multiple health hearts, depending on the difficulty level.
	Gemstone
	Awards 10 bonus points.
	Power Pack
	Lets Sparkster fly continuously for the rest of the section and increases his projectile range.
	1-Up
	Gives the player an extra life.

Stages

	Kingdom of Zebulos
	The first stage begins with a walk through a burning village. Wide open spaces and high walls give the player a chance to practise their rocket pack skills. After defeating the first mini-boss, Sparkster takes flight using the Power Pack item. This part of the stage plays like a shoot-'em-up, with waves of small enemies followed by a dragon mini-boss. Once in the castle, Sparkster must rebound off the walls with his rocket pack in order to ascend to the stage boss.
	Mountain Range

	Going Underground

	Flying Battleship

	Kingdom of Devotindos

	Deep Space

	The Pig Star

History

Legacy

Rocket Knight Adventures was the first in a line of successful games, continuing with Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 for the Mega Drive and an unrelated game named Sparkster for the Super NES, both released in 1994. More recently, the series was revived with Rocket Knight for the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and Windows PCs in 2010.

Production credits

Planning: Ohaji Banchoh
Direct and Design: Nobuya Nakazato
Character Design: Tat
Design: Shiori Satoh
Main Program: Kenichiro Horio
Super Program: Koji Komata
Ultra Program: Kenji Miyaoka
Music Composed: Masanori Ohuchi, Aki Hata, Masanori Adachi, Hiroshi Kobayashi, Michiru Yamane
Sound Program: Shigemasa Matsuo, Osamu Kasai, Hideto Inoue
Sound Special Thanks to: Kouji Kazaoka, Tappy Iwase, Miki Yanagisawa
Package Design: K.Yoshihashi
Supervise: Yutaka Haruki
Produce: Tomikazu Kirita
Special Thanks: Dangantaisyoh and All Konami Staff
Presented by: Konami

Source:

In-game credits^[13]

Magazine articles

Main article: Rocket Knight Adventures/Magazine articles.

Promotional material

Main article: Rocket Knight Adventures/Promotional material.

Physical scans

Sega Retro Average

Publication

Version

Score

1700 igr dlya Sega (RU)

50

^[14]

Aktueller Software Markt (DE)

83

^[15]

Beep! MegaDrive (JP)

NTSC-J

68

^[16]

Console Mania (IT)

PAL

95

^[17]

Consoles + (FR)

85

^[18]

Computer & Video Games (UK)

88

^[19]

Dengeki Mega Drive (JP)

NTSC-J

85

^[20]

Edge (UK)

70

^[21]

Electronic Games (1992-1995) (US)

NTSC-U

83

^[22]

Electronic Gaming Monthly (US)

NTSC-U

80

^[23]

Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide (UK)

91

^[24]

Famitsu (JP)

NTSC-J

70

^[25]

GameFan (US)

NTSC-U

91

^[26]

Game Players (US)

NTSC-U

90

^[27]

Game Power (IT)

NTSC

89

^[28]

GamePro (US)

NTSC-U

83

^[4]

Gamers (DE)

87

^[29]

GamesMaster (UK)

PAL

92

^[30]

Game Informer (US)

NTSC-U

78

^[31]

Hippon Super (JP)

NTSC-J

60

^[32]

Hobby Consolas (ES)

90

^[33]

Hyper (AU)

84

^[34]

Joypad (FR)

PAL

96

^[35]

Mega (UK)

PAL

81

^[36]

Mega Action (UK)

PAL

94

^[37]

Mega Action (UK)

94

^[38]

Megablast (DE)

78

^[39]

Mega Force (FR)

97

^[40]

Mega Fun (DE)

PAL

87

^[41]

Mega Power (UK)

PAL

90

^[42]

MegaTech (UK)

PAL

92

^[43]

Magazina Igrushek (RU)

90

^[44]

Mean Machines Sega (UK)

PAL

91

^[45]

Player One (FR)

97

^[46]

Play Time (DE)

PAL

90

^[47]

Power Up! (UK)

85

^[48]

Power Unlimited (NL)

87

^[49]

Score (CZ)

73

^[50]

Sega Magazin (DE)

87

^[51]

Sega Power (UK)

PAL

82

^[9]

Sega Pro (UK)

PAL

89

^[52]

Sega Zone (UK)

PAL

92

^[53]

Sega Force Mega (UK)

PAL

79

^[54]

Sega Force (SE)

88

^[55]

Sega Saturn Magazine (JP)

NTSC-J

79

^[56]

Super Juegos (ES)

89

^[57]

Todo Sega (ES)

92

^[58]

Tricks 16 bit (RU)

72

^[59]

Video Games (DE)

PAL

83

^[60]

VideoGames (US)

NTSC-U

70

^[61]

	84
Based on 50 reviews

Rocket Knight Adventures

Mega Drive, JP
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, US
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, EU
Cover
Cart Manual PCB

Mega Drive, FR (Blister pack)
Cover

Mega Drive, PT
Cover

Mega Drive, SE rental (HENT orange)
Cover

Mega Drive, CZ (Datart)
Cover
Cart Manual

Mega Drive, AU
Cover
Manual

Mega Drive, KR
Cover
Cart

Mega Drive, Asia

Cart

Mega Drive, SG/MY/BN
Cover

Technical information

Main article: Rocket Knight Adventures/Technical information.

References

Rocket Knight Adventures
	Main page \| Comparisons \| Maps \| Hidden content \| Magazine articles \| Video coverage \| Reception \| Promotional material \| Region coding \| Technical information \| Bootlegs Prototypes: Sample

Rocket Knight Adventures games for Sega systems
Rocket Knight Adventures (1993) \| Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2 (1994)

[https:.2F.2Fweb.archive.org.2Fweb.2F20200702232146.2Fhttps:.2F.2Fsega.jp.2Fhistory.2Fhard.2Fmegadrive.2Fsoftware_l.html-1] 1.0 ^1.1 https://sega.jp/history/hard/megadrive/software_l.html (Wayback Machine: 2020-07-02 23:21)

[:File:RKA_MD_KR_Box.jpg_p-2] File:RKA MD KR Box.jpg

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1993-07.pdf_p7-3] Beep! MegaDrive, "July 1993" (JP; 1993-06-08), page 7

[:File:GamePro_US_050.pdf_p30-4] 4.0 ^4.1 GamePro, "September 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 30

[:File:MegaPlay_US_0403.pdf_p40-5] Mega Play, "June 1993" (US; 1993-0x-xx), page 40

[:File:CVG_UK_139.pdf_p14-6] 6.0 ^6.1 Computer & Video Games, "June 1993" (UK; 1993-05-15), page 14

[:File:MegaPower_UK_02.pdf_p59-7] 7.0 ^7.1 Mega Power, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-19), page 59

[:File:SegaPro_UK_24.pdf_p34-8] Sega Pro, "October 1993" (UK; 1993-09-09), page 34

[:File:SegaPower_UK_46.pdf_p66-9] 9.0 ^9.1 Sega Power, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-05), page 66

[:File:Mega_UK_12.pdf_p35-10] Mega, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-19), page 35

[:File:SegaMagazin_DE_01.pdf_p91-11] Sega Magazin, "September/Oktober 1993" (DE; 1993-09-01), page 91

[:File:Megazone_AU_33.pdf_p29-12] Megazone, "November 1993" (AU; 1993-11-03), page 29

[:File:Rocket_Knight_Adventures_MD_credits.pdf_p-13] File:Rocket Knight Adventures MD credits.pdf

[14] 1700 igr dlya Sega, "" (RU; 2001-xx-xx), page 195

[:File:ASM_DE_1993-09.pdf_p40-15] Aktueller Software Markt, "September 1993" (DE; 1993-08-09), page 40

[:File:BeepMD_JP_1993-08.pdf_p21-16] Beep! MegaDrive, "August 1993" (JP; 1993-07-08), page 21

[:File:ConsoleMania_IT_023.pdf_p82-17] Console Mania, "Ottobre 1993" (IT; 1993-xx-xx), page 82

[:File:ConsolesPlus_FR_023.pdf_p122-18] Consoles +, "Septembre 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 122

[:File:CVG_UK_142.pdf_p42-19] Computer & Video Games, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-15), page 42

[:File:DengekiMD_JP_04.pdf_p37-20] Dengeki Mega Drive, "August 1993" (JP; 1993-07-08), page 37

[:File:Edge_UK_001.pdf_p88-21] Edge, "October 1993" (UK; 1993-08-19), page 88

[:File:ElectronicGames2_US_12.pdf_p64-22] Electronic Games (1992-1995), "September 1993" (US; 1993-08-24), page 64

[:File:EGM_US_052.pdf_p48-23] Electronic Gaming Monthly, "November 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 48

[:File:MeanMachinesEssentialSegaGuide_Book_UK.pdf_p85-24] Mean Machines: The Essential Sega Guide, "" (UK; 1993-11-18), page 85

[:File:Famitsu_JP_0243.pdf_p40-25] Famitsu, "1993-08-13" (JP; 1993-07-30), page 40

[:File:GameFan_US_0109.pdf_p10-26] GameFan, "Volume 1, Issue 9: August 1993" (US; 1993-xx-xx), page 10

[:File:GamePlayers_US_0612.pdf_p201-27] Game Players, "Vol. 6 No. 12 December 1993" (US; 1993-1x-xx), page 201

[:File:GamePower_IT_21.pdf_p77-28] Game Power, "Ottobre 1993" (IT; 1993-xx-xx), page 77

[:File:Gamers_DE_1993-05.pdf_p36-29] Gamers, "August/September 1993" (DE; 1993-07-23), page 36

[:File:GamesMaster_UK_009.pdf_p60-30] GamesMaster, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-19), page 60

[:File:GameInformer_US_012.pdf_p43-31] Game Informer, "September/October 1993" (US; 1993-0x-xx), page 43

[32] Hippon Super, "September 1993" (JP; 1993-08-03), page 48

[:File:HobbyConsolas_ES_024.pdf_p60-33] Hobby Consolas, "Septiembre 1993" (ES; 1993-xx-xx), page 60

[:File:Hyper_AU_001.pdf_p44-34] Hyper, "December 1993" (AU; 1993-xx-xx), page 44

[:File:Joypad_FR_023.pdf_p60-35] Joypad, "Septembre 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 60

[:File:Mega_UK_12.pdf_p34-36] Mega, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-19), page 34

[:File:MegaAction_UK_04.pdf_p10-37] Mega Action, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-12), page 10

[:File:MegaAction_UK_07.pdf_p80-38] Mega Action, "December 1993" (UK; 1993-11-04), page 80

[:File:Megablast_DE_1993-04.pdf_p41-39] Megablast, "4/93" (DE; 1993-09-29), page 41

[:File:MegaForce_FR_20.pdf_p88-40] Mega Force, "Septembre 1993" (FR; 1993-0x-xx), page 88

[:File:MegaFun_DE_1993-09.pdf_p70-41] Mega Fun, "09/93" (DE; 1993-08-18), page 70

[:File:MegaPower_UK_02.pdf_p56-42] Mega Power, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-19), page 56

[:File:MegaTech_UK_20.pdf_p44-43] MegaTech, "August 1993" (UK; 1993-07-20), page 44

[:File:Migr_6_RU.pdf_p58-44] Magazina Igrushek, "1/1996" (RU; 1996-xx-xx), page 58

[:File:MeanMachinesSega11UK.pdf_p82-45] Mean Machines Sega, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-07-30), page 82

[:File:PlayerOne_FR_034.pdf_p92-46] Player One, "Septembre 1993" (FR; 1993-08-xx), page 92

[:File:PlayTime_DE_1993-09.pdf_p114-47] Play Time, "9/93" (DE; 1993-08-04), page 114

[48] Power Up!, "Saturday, October 02, 1993" (UK; 1993-10-02), page 1

[:File:PowerUnlimited_NL_004_199311.pdf_p54-49] Power Unlimited, "Nummer 4, November 1993" (NL; 1993-10-27), page 54

[:File:Score_CZ_02.pdf_p46-50] Score, "Únor 1994" (CZ; 1994-02-01), page 46

[:File:SegaMagazin_DE_01.pdf_p90-51] Sega Magazin, "September/Oktober 1993" (DE; 1993-09-01), page 90

[:File:SegaPro_UK_23.pdf_p50-52] Sega Pro, "September 1993" (UK; 1993-08-12), page 50

[:File:SegaZone_UK_12.pdf_p46-53] Sega Zone, "October 1993" (UK; 1993-09-xx), page 46

[:File:SegaForceMega_UK_03.pdf_p44-54] Sega Force Mega, "October 1993" (UK; 1993-08-19), page 44

[:File:SegaForce_SE_1993_08.pdf_p12-55] Sega Force, "8/93" (SE; 1993-12-09), page 12

[:File:SSM_JP_19950901_1995-09.pdf_p85-56] Sega Saturn Magazine, "September 1995" (JP; 1995-08-08), page 85

[:File:SuperJuegos_ES_017.pdf_p44-57] Super Juegos, "Septiembre 1993" (ES; 1993-0x-xx), page 44

[:File:TodoSega_ES_06.pdf_p34-58] Todo Sega, "Septiembre 1993" (ES; 1993-0x-xx), page 34

[59] Tricks 16 bit, "Tricks Sega Gold 800 igr" (RU; 1998-03-20), page 148

[:File:VideoGames_DE_1993-09.pdf_p98-60] Video Games, "9/93" (DE; 1993-08-25), page 98

[:File:VideoGames_US_56.pdf_p50-61] VideoGames, "September 1993" (US; 1993-0x-xx), page 50

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Rocket Knight Adventures

From Sega Retro

Contents

Story

Gameplay

Items

Stages

History

Legacy

Production credits

Magazine articles

Promotional material

Physical scans

Technical information

References