Rockin’ Kats
System: NES
Release Date: September 1991
Developer: Atlus
Publisher: Atlus
Genre: Action
Jump, punch, and swing your way to save the girl in Rockin’ Kats! We’re about at the point where I stopped buying new NES games. With the Genesis in full swing and the Super Nintendo making its start, I was in the 16-bit era and stayed there outside of a few titles like Mega Man. So this last 200 games will be things I didn’t play much of as a kid. You’re Willy and your girlfriend, Jill, has been kidnapped by local crime boss, Mugsy. He wants her for himself, but that’s not cool. This puts you on a quest through five levels to get her back. Can you take out all of Mugsy’s henchmen and complete your rescue?
You begin by choosing which level you want to start on. It doesn’t make a difference, so I went 1 through 5. Willy is equipped with a punch gun, which is not only your weapon, but main means of conveyance. The demo screen gives you a run through of all the things the gun can do, which is nice to see, so you have an idea of how to pass through the levels. Willy can jump with the A Button, but that doesn’t always get as high or far as you need.
The main use of the punch gun, outside of punching enemies, is to boost your jump or grab on to platforms. Pressing down while in the air and punching at the ground will boost you a bit higher than your normal jump. You can also punch diagonally downward to boost yourself over obstacles or off walls. Catching on a platform you can swing from can be difficult to accomplish, especially if you’re in the air and trying to be precise. Your release determines your trajectory, and it can be difficult to time your release perfectly every time, so be prepared to make multiple attempts.
You’re invulnerable while you’re swinging, and it damages enemies it touches, so make sure to use this technique to attack hard to reach enemies. You take no damage while flipping through the air, as well, making this an important way to get through the stages. The glove can also catch certain items that are thrown your way. You can launch these back at your foes to do damage. There are a few collectible items in stages, like free lives, hearts to restore energy, and money bags. Money is used in the shop between levels to buy items. These give extra effects to your attacks. The twin wave was especially useful to me. But be careful, because a game over loses all items you’ve purchased. If you want another way to gain money or lives, you can play in one of the three bonus games as much as you’d like. Roulette is a game of chance if your timing is poor. I didn’t quite get the hang of basketball. But I think I had the pipe toss down if I spent more time on it.
Levels are split into multiple parts. Halfway through, you’ll run into a miniboss that replenishes your health bar when you beat them. Some stages have an on rails gimmick on the run up to the boss. Level bosses are pure pattern recognition. Once you know how they move and attack, there’s no reason to take any damage. The last level is a boss rush, so you’ll be applying your knowledge of those patterns. If you can take Mugsy out, stick around after the credits for a quick second quest.
Graphics: 2.5
Is this particularly good or impressive? No, but I like the animations.
Sound: 2.5
The music and sounds aren’t going to blow you away, but they’re solid enough.
Gameplay: 3.0
The platforming is challenging, but in a fun way. The controls aren’t perfect, but they work.
Difficulty: 3.5
Levels aren’t too long or too cheap. Extra lives can be found or purchased and I didn’t run out of continues.
Fun Factor: 3.0
I had a good time playing through this one and I might do it again sometime.
Overall Rating: 2.9
Rockin’ Kats earns a B. Is this game changing the world? No, but it is good fun and worth your time.