PixlBit

This early 3D platformer is a good first effort by Sucker Punch

We all know that the N64 and the PS1 were overrun with 3D platformers (thanks a lot, Mario 64!). I've covered several of these in the past, and today we get to look at another one. Rocket: Robot on Wheels was developed by Sucker Punch and published by Ubisoft; it was released for the N64 in 1999. This was the very first game developed by Sucker Punch, who would go on to do the Sly Cooper series and Infamous. Rocket allowed them to show their creative talents before going on to bigger and better things.

The story goes something like this: a new theme park is about to be opened when Jojo the raccoon breaks out of his cage, takes Whoopie the Walrus with him, and sets out to wreak havoc on the park. Rocket must literally pick up his mess, assembling machines he's taken apart and collecting tokens and tickets along the way. There are six differently themed worlds all connected to the main Whoopie World area. You cannot go to any world or even choose between two; you must play in the order they have set for you. In order to access the next world, you will have to acquire a special move.

The controls are quite simple: jump with A, pick up objects with B and you can then throw them by pressing B again. Funny enough, Rocket sounds a lot like Mario when he jumps sometimes. Rocket can also latch onto certain handles and swing from them. Inside Whoopie World is a robot named Tinker; he'll fix you up with a special new move if you can give him enough tokens. This is the incentive to get tokens, but it's also the only way to make progress in the game, as you'll need these new moves to access the other worlds.

Each world is actually not that big, but does contain many things to do. Your main goal is to find the seven missing parts of a machine which Jojo has disassembled, which are scattered throughout the world. If you find all the parts, then you can leave the world. However, you can also acquire tokens and tickets while in the world. You earn tickets by beating mini-games, such as throwing balls at cardboard cats (seriously) or racing through rings in a certain time limit. The tickets are lettered (ticket A, ticket B, so on) and there are about ten in each world. Honestly, I'm not sure what happens if you get them all, but any completionist would be happy to do so.

There is also a vehicle in each world which you will need. In the first world, Clowny Island, you can find a car to zoom around in, which you can use to race another car (earning a ticket if you beat him) and also race through rings on the island. In the next world, Paint Misbehavin', you can hover around in a tank which shoots paint balls. Each world has a unique vehicle, and these vehicles are probably the funnest parts of the game. 

While Rocket is a creative game with all kinds of fun mini-games and puzzles, it can also be awfully confusing. Finding the seven machine parts can be a chore. The Paint Misbehavin' World is very confusing as you're tasked with painting certain objects certain colors. Exploring will help you to figure out some things to paint, but others are quite impossible to figure out. Certain rooms are just big puzzles, such as the room with giant floating colored orbs. This room was a mystery to me. Should I color all the orbs the same color? Nothing happened after my several attempts.

                          One of the many crazy mini-games in Rocket

The good news here is that the game offers you hints on the pause menu. The bad news is that these hints are very vague. The only hint for Paint Misbehavin' says "Get out into nature," which doesn't help me solve the orbs room at all. Worse still, you cannot move on to a different world; you're stuck in this world until you figure out what to do next. This makes the game more of a chore than anything.

Back to the positive: the music in Rocket is a great jazz-style soundtrack. As you explore the worlds, you'll be treated to smooth jazz tunes, which are quite enjoyable. There's just something about jazz, y'know? It's good stuff. Check below for a couple of great themes from the game.

Final Verdict--3 Stars: It's Okay

This is a sad verdict, especially since I'd heard such good things about this game. It's certainly a creative game, but its confusing puzzles and completely vague hints make it more of a chore than a challenge. Compare this to Rayman 2: The Great Escape, another game published by Ubisoft for the N64 in 1999; Rayman 2 is not confusing at all, explaining any parts of the game which involve tricky puzzles. If Rocket was not so linear, it would not be such a big problem. Still, the game can be enjoyable, and you may find it quite intriguing. If anything, it is a good first effort by Sucker Punch.

Join me every Saturday as we take a look back at all kinds of retro games, good and bad.