Welcome to another edition of Playing With Power. The review article that looks at all things Nintendo Entertainment System. This week, hold on to your rockey packs as we fly all the way back to the year 1991, with a rather unsung superhero movie. Does the video game adaptation share the unsung feeling, or does this rocket turn out to be a dud? Let’s find out with The Rocketeer.
YEAR OF RELEASE: 1991
PUBLISHER: Bandai
GENRE: Action Platformer
The Rocketeer got its start in 1982 as a comic book by Dave Stevens. The character was an homage to the classic serial heroes of the 1930’s-1950’s. The story and character became a hit with readers, and would be enough for Disney to come knocking with a movie deal.
In 1991, Disney released The Rocketeer to theatres. It was directed by Joe Johnston, who had previously helped make money for Disney with the smash hit of 1989 Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. And the cast involved with the movie would wet any film fan’s whistle. Paul Sorvino, Jennifer Connoly, Terry O’Quinn, Alan Arkin, Timothy Dalton. That’s pretty decent in my book.
But despite a massive push and a solid cast, the movie underperformed in the box office, making only 62 million worldwide. While it did make its budget back, it still was deemed a flop. It’s hard to tell if that was the case of the mixed reactions from the critics, or the fact that it was playing around the same time Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves was in theatres. Either way, it killed any hopes for a franchise series. Which is a shame, because I thought the movie was pretty good. Not the most amazing movie ever, but a fun superhero flick to enjoy on a lazy afternoon. Plus it has one of the greatest scenes in movie history where the Mafia and FBI work together to take on the Nazis. Now that is epic no matter how you look at it.
Despite the flop in the theatres, it didn’t stop The Rocketeer from getting a few video game releases. Most notable releases were the Super Nintendo version, which had far more variation in its levels, and the NES version, which was a straight up platformer. The NES version has since earned average reviews at best from people, but is it worthy of a better look? Let’s find out with this week’s review.
COVER STORY
Not overly fond of this cover. I think my issue is mainly the ugly brown and blue clashing on the box. I don’t mind the Rocketeer design on the box, but it’s also nothing too amazing to look at. I think this may have been a case where it would have been better to use the movie poster, like the SNES version would. Not one of my fave covers, that’s for certain.
STORY
It’s Los Angeles in the year 1938, and stunt pilot Cliff Secord’s life is changed forever when he discovers an experimental rocket pack in one of his planes. With the help of his mechanic friend Peevy, Cliff uses the rocket pack to become The Rocketeer, a superhero. But it turns out the rocket pack is a sought after item, as now Cliff has to deal with the Mafia, who are after the pack to give it to an Errol Flynn-esque actor named Neville Sinclair, who is secretly a Nazi spy. It’s up to Cliff to save his girlfriend Jenny from Sinclair, and save the day.
GAMEPLAY
The Rocketeer is a one player action platformer. You control Cliff Secord (AKA the Rocketeer) as he must go from level to level, and deal with gangsters, and other enemies to stop the evil Neville Sinclair, save his girlfriend, and stop the evil Nazi scheme. You move Cliff with the D-pad, attack with the B button, and jump with the A button. Pressing A twice will activate the rocket pack.
Now while the game is called the Rocketeer, similar to the film, Cliff won’t be able to use it throughout most of the game. You only really get to use it in either certain levels, or certain parts of the level. When you do get to use the rocket, it is kind of annoying as the controls feel kind of slippery, and getting the hang of things can be annoying. You also only get a small amount of time to use it with the amount of fuel you can store.
For the most part, you’ll be on the ground with Cliff, as you’ll face off with wave after wave of the same gangsters. Cliff has a surprisingly high amount of weapons at his arsenal, when in the film itself, he never fires a gun. But Bandai figured that would be lame, so they give him plenty. There’s a regular gun, that does a small shot, a Tommy Gun that will deliver a faster and more powerful shot, a spreader that shoots three shots in three angles (good for the enemies Cliff can’t shoot at normally), grenades, and a bazooka. The Rocketeer is packing heat.
But you can’t just go willy nilly with your weapons. Each weapon costs a different amount of alotted ammo. You can earn more ammo from defeating enemies, who often drop ammo packs that will add 10 or 20 more shots to your collection. You can only hold 99 at a time. So, don’t go silly with the bazooka, since it will cost 15 ammo a shot. You can also find hearts that will help your health.
You have six missions in the game. Each representing a different part of the movie. You start in the hangar, then battle the mobsters that invade Peevy’s house. You’ll head on the town rooftops, forests, and finally make it to the Zeppelin where you battle Neville Sinclair.
For the most part, the enemies you face are all pretty stock. Just faceless mobsters, missile launchers, tiny tanks, and other nuisances that can make the journey in this game tough. There are a couple bosses to fight as well. From a fighter plane, to Lothar, Neville’s monsterous heavy, and finally Neville himself. These can each be pretty tough if you don’t know what to do. But not impossible.
But the big kicker of the game is the fact that Cliff has one life. If he loses all his health, it’s game over. But thankfully Bandai wasn’t sadistic. You have unlimited continues and short and easy to remember passwords for each level. The downside is you have to go back to the beginning of the level if you die, or the checkpoint, which is quite far in some of these rather long levels.
And you will die easily. Either from enemies that Cliff can’t hit unless he has the right amount of ammo for the spreader, or because of cheap damagers. Best example of this is in the forest level. There are falling branches that can do damage to Cliff, most of the time you can barely see the branches because of how they blend in to the tree, and so no matter how often you try, you are never fully prepared to take the hit. It’s very annoying.
The only other issue I have is that the hit detection is a little lacking. Sometimes it feels like even if you hit at point blank range, there is often the occasion where you will still not register a hit. It can be a pain. Other than that, and some wonky flying power, the game still has decent enough control so that you can still play through this game without too much mental hassle.
GRAPHICS
Graphically the game is okay. The levels look great, and they try their best at using the limited palette, so levels aren’t just dull greens and browns (well, except for the forest). The game also uses a high amount of cut scenes to represent scenes from the film. And it does that quite well, even if the caricatures are a bit off at times.
My only real issue can come from the sprites, which I think are way too tiny, especially for a game from 1991, where a lot of NES games were getting nicer looking, and straying a little further from the micro sprites. It doesn’t kill the quality of the graphics too much, but I don’t really like it.
MUSIC
The game excels in music, as Bandai puts out a decent soundtrack. There’s a load of high action and energy throughout the game. I personally prefer the song that plays in level one when you get outside the hangar, as well as the boss fight music. It never feels out of place, and really adds the much needed action kick this game required.
OVERALL THOUGHTS
The Rocketeer isn’t horrible, but I do think the problem is that it does suffer from far less polish. It’s graphically nice, and has great music, but the control could be a tad bit more tweaked, and the difficulty less annoying. The best way to really describe The Rocketeer is that it feels a lot like Batman on the NES. especially in how the platforming and the weapon systems work. But where Batman excels in level design, and pitch perfect controls, Rocketeer doesn’t.
But does that mean I hate this one? No, not really. It’s certainly not one I’d play again and again, and there was plenty of high frustration, but I had enough fun with it to play it from start to finish with no regrets. And in the end, if a game can do that for me, then it works in my eyes. I’d say if you haven’t seen the movie, give it a watch. And if you haven’t played the NES game, give it a shot. This rocket may not be a perfect launch, but it’s still fun.
RATING: Thumbs Up