The Rocketeer
System: NES
Release Date: May 1991
Developer: Ironwind Software
Publisher: Bandai
Genre: Action
Save the girl from the bad guy once again in the Rocketeer! This is a video game based on the hit movie from the same year. The game follows the plot of the movie, which was released a month later! I haven’t watched the Rocketeer since 1991, so I’m going to assume the game and the movie follow the same plot. As Cliff Secord, you come across a prototype rocket pack and realize you need to keep it away from the Nazis. You’ll have to stop the double agent movie star, Neville Sinclair, and save your girlfriend by getting through six chapters of bad guy punching and shooting action.
In typical fashion, the A Button takes care of your jumping, while the B Button attacks with whatever weapon is equipped. There are a number of weapons that you scroll among with the Select Button. Other than the fist, each weapon takes a certain number of bullets to fire. The pistol takes one bullet, while the rifle, spray gun, hand grenade, and bazooka take more. The bazooka takes the most bullets to fire, requiring 15. This weapon is really only useful against the helicopter boss at the end of the first chapter.
Enemies are pretty much always in the way and must be taken care of in quick order, because they will drain your limited health bar, otherwise. Especially the rocket pack wearing enemies and their traps. Some enemies occasionally drop bullets, hearts, or fuel cans. These rarely show up when you want them, but there are some respawning enemies that reliably drop something. Levels are straightforward and only have a goal of getting to the end. Only once is there confusion on where to go, but even then doesn’t take more than a couple moments to figure it out.
Levels are pretty long and pretty boring. There were plenty of times that I was annoyed by the hit detection when throwing punches. Enemies all have a pattern, but dodging and counter attacking in the tiny window can be difficult. The rocket pack, arguably the interesting feature of the game, is frequently unusable in levels for story reasons and otherwise limited by a lack of fuel. Each chapter has a few different stages, which act as check points. Dying is incredibly disappointing because you get sent back to the beginning of the stage, which leads to more, uninspired platforming.
Between chapters, you’re treated to some story portions that take place over static pictures. These are interesting and at least give you a reason for what you’re doing. At the end of some chapters is a boss battle. These are not overly difficult compared to the slogs it takes to get to them. The helicopter requires you to target the pilot with the bazooka. One boss requires you to fight hand to hand and dodge his attacks. Another is three guns on a dome that need to be hit with the bazooka. If you run out of bullets, you have to kill the grunts until you have enough to take another shot. The final battle against Sinclair takes place on the control deck of a zeppelin. He’s easy to defeat by just ducking bullets and shooting him until he falls to his doom.
Graphics: 1.5
The in level graphics are not very detailed and uninteresting. The between level story graphics are pretty interesting and good.
Sound: 1.5
I both like and dislike the music.
Gameplay: 1.5
I don’t have a solution, but trying to switch weapons on the fly is very uncomfortable and the stage design is bland.
Difficulty: 1.0
Long distances between checkpoints and a lack of powerups makes this a real pain in the butt.
Fun Factor: 1.0
Very rarely does the adventure become fun.
Overall Rating: 1.3
The Rocketeer earns a D+. While the movie is entertaining, the game is not. Surprised someone other than LJN took a stab at a movie license.