A spark from the past
I absolutely love this timeline. We have the opportunity to see so many titles make a comeback in some form or fashion. This includes some true treats that might have been passed over in the era where every company had their own anthropomorphic mascot. Rocket Knight, also known as Sparkster is not on many greatest mascot lists, but it definitely has its cult following. Now the team at Limited Run Games have given us a nice collection of these games with the usual modern trimmings. While not the most memorable games of the 16-bit era, it has enough to make it stand out and worth a revisit, even if it does skip one major platform.
So, let’s kick things off with what is included here. First up we have two games from the Genesis line of consoles. The original Rocket Knight Adventures as well as the sequel, Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2. We also get the Super Nintendo release of Sparkster. The original game is a pure gem, while Sparkster feels more like some corporate meddling got in the way of what made the original great. Still having all three games here is great to see how the series evolved.
MSRP: $29.99
Platforms: PlayStation (reviewed), Switch, PC
Price I’d Pay: $19.99
The extras are decent, but again I feel like they could have been a little more fleshed out. There are new cartoon videos showcasing the characters, which is really cool. There are documents, a museum, and of course an art gallery as well as a boss rush mode. Outside of that the standard upgrade applies. There are CRT filters and save options, nothing too fancy, but required for updates of older games.
The original game is a masterpiece. It really showcases the talent at Konami at the time. It is spread out across multiple levels with each one feeling more unique than the last one. The team really took the time to make each section feel different and is one of the reasons the game is so revered by so many people. I loved that playing through it again, made me realize how underrated this first game truly was. It was passed by as just another mascot clone, while it truly had a lot more going for it.
The sequel did not fare as well. Sparkster on both Genesis and SNES feel more like ‘hey, let’s be Sonic’ than anything else. A lot of the uniqueness of the original was stripped from this game and neither version really stands out. Instead, this feels more like what people likely thought when they looked at the box of the first game. Here is yet another weird animal collecting coins. It just feels uninspired.
I understand the point of these collections is to make these games available on modern platforms, so I am not always as hard on the lack of features, but I would have loved to see a few more additions. At $29.99 this isn’t a cheap package. I would have loved to have seen some interviews, old commercials, or something like that. Also not being able to remap controls is always a crime on these types of games. All that said, this is still a solid collection. The first game is a must-play, the others, not so much, but still neat. I love these collections, but I would prefer to see them on every platform and perhaps a little cheaper considering the additions are not fully fledged out.
Review copy of game provided by publisher.
