Rocket Knight Adventures

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Rocket Knight Adventures is a 16-bit generation side scrolling platformer produced and released in 1993 by Konami for the Sega Genesis/Megadrive console, designed by Nobuya Nakazato. Its protagonist is Sparkster, an opossum who fights an army of robots and pigs, many of whom are piloting various mechanical vehicles. Sparkster is armed with a sword that can project energy over a short distance and a rocket pack that allows him to fly. Changing the difficulty level of Rocket Knight Adventures affects the number of 1-ups and continues the player starts the game with, as well as the damage the player takes.

The game later had two sequels, both named Sparkster, for the Genesis/Megadrive and SNES. While both sequels shared the same name (and even the same box art in some countries) and were produced at roughly the same time, they were totally individual games (as with other Konami 16-bit releases with the same name). Aside from characters, they did not relate to each other. This has led to much confusion about the games, especially in the spriting community, which tends to mislabel which sprite comes from which game.

There was also a short series of comics in Sonic the Comic, the United Kingdom Sonic the Hedgehog comic series. They were based on the Genesis version of Sparkster.

Story

Rocket Knight Adventures is based in a world called Erehwon, a world of warriors, magic and machinery. Within this world is a kingdom known as Zebulos. Zebulos has a turbulent history, the area being part of a great war. During the reign of El Zebulos, the kingdom's first monarch, a group of invaders arrived in the country bent on the destruction of El Zebulos and his clan. They sailed a powerful, evil ship known as the "Pig Star". If it were not for the determination and courage of El Zebulos and his kingdom, their strong opponents would have easily crushed the peaceful land and its inhabitants. The invaders were defeated and the Pig Star was placed under a magical seal to prevent it from falling back into enemy hands. The seal can only be removed using the "Key to the Seal" which has been heavily guarded by Zebulos and his royal family to this day.

To acquire the key would give the bearer the power to unlock the Pig Star and its potential to destroy whole worlds. To prevent this possibility from occurring, an elite fighting force was formed known as the Rocket Knights, heavily armoured warriors who use rocket packs and energy-projecting swords to protect and serve the kingdom and its people. The current leader of the Rocket Knights is Sparkster, who came to power after the Rocket Knight master Mifune Sanjulo was killed by a corrupted Black Knight called Axel Gear. Sparkster exchanged in a fierce battle with Axel and banished the murderer from the land.

The kingdom has come under threat again, this time from the nearby Devotindos Empire. They have used huge robots and a massive army in their attack, which has left the Zebulan army at near-defeat. Sparkster, fearing the worst, heads to the Castle Zebulan to find that the Princess has been kidnapped by Axel Gear! He plans to use the princess as blackmail against the King to obtain the Key to the Seal. However, Axel doesn't know that the Princess is the only remaining royal family member who knows the location of the key.

The Game

Gameplay is often side scrolling linear runs through levels. The player is able to jump, attack with Sparkster's sword (it could shoot energy, too) or charge up their rocket pack and go flying in one of the 8 standard directions. Levels are occasionally switched up with alternate styles of gameplay. Some levels are horizontal scrolling shooters (akin to Gradius), while others might have the player control a large machine to duel with Axel Gear. Another interesting aspect of the games is that playing on the easier modes drops some levels from the game, and prevents the player from getting the 'true' ending. Each game also had a hidden "super hard mode" which gives the game near unplayable difficulty (one life, no continues, one hit kills).

Other Appearances

Sparkster made a small cameo in the Ganbare Goemon series, hidden in an amusement park in Ganbare Goemon 2 for the Super Famicom.
He also appears in the U.S. version of Snatcher, hanging out in Outer Heaven with other Konami characters like Lance and Bill from Contra, Simon Belmont and Dracula from Castlevania, and Mr. Ueda from Lethal Enforcers.
His most infamous appearance is in , where he appears as a silhouette at the very end of the game and immediately rockets off.

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