Although it had a severe case of arcade syndrome that I could not overcome, the “pilot episode” of this series, KiKi KaiKai, was a good time from what I had experienced. It was pretty unique for the most part, controlling pretty differently from many other shmups at the time, allowing for a lot more versatility and assistance, as well as having a pretty unique theme for the genre as well, revolving all around Japanese locations and mythology. It was also pretty successful at the time, but despite this, it did stay as a one-off for 6 whole years, until the year 1992, where Natsume, who were previously known for Power Blade and… um… Spanky’s Quest (you know, everyone’s FAVORITE cult classic), would take over development for not just the next title in the series, but for all other titles in the series following. So, moving the series from the arcades to the SNES, the series would be brought back as Pocky & Rocky.
Despite not having played the previous title before the time I decided to review it, I actually do have some experience with Pocky & Rocky, with me owning physical copies of both this game and Pocky & Rocky 2 for the SNES. I had played both of them previously for a good amount, and I remember enjoying my time with them, despite not having anyone to play with, so I was excited to revisit the game after a long time. Now, after finally replaying the game, I can say that I glad that I did, because this game is pretty great. Sure, it isn’t perfect, but is a fantastic improvement over what we got with KiKi KaiKai, and I would go as far to say that it is a hidden gem for the SNES, despite it being more commonly known then other titles on the system.
The story basically just involves evil coming back once again, even if it has a little more depth then your typical old school title, which I can get behind, the graphics are pretty great, looking much more detailed and appealing then that of the previous game, and having plenty of personality when it comes to the design of the characters, enemies, and bosses, the music is great, providing plenty of memorable and appropriate tunes for the various settings of the game, and I can still recall a good amount of the tracks that I heard after a while, which given my small brain, that is pretty impressive, the control is solid all around, feeling about the same as the previous game, but it does feel much better to play, being pretty smooth overall, and the gameplay is also very similar to that of the original game, but improved in just about every way, as well as managing to improve on the issues that the original game had.
The game is a scrolling shmup, where you take control of either Pocky (no relation to the candy) or Rocky (no relation to the boxer), take on a set of levels, each of them unique from one another, take out many different enemies inspired by Japanese mythology in whatever way helps you out the most, gather plenty of powerups, health items, and different weapons to use to your advantage, and fight plenty of tough bosses that will put your reflexes and skills to the test. In a lot of ways, it is very similar to the original game, but anyone who has played the original game and then this one can agree when I say that it is improved upon greatly, with there being more powerups to use, as well as less instances of bullshit enemy spawning.
New to this game, obviously, is the fact that now you can play it with a friend, where another player can take control of either Pocky or Rocky depending on who you choose, and this, my friends, is the true way to properly experience this game. While I myself wasn’t able to play this game with a friend, I have seen plenty of footage of co-op gameplay online, and it looks like so much fun, because not only do you have a distinct advantage with twice the firepower and skill, but also there are moments where, when you slide around, you can knock into each other and send them flying across the screen to deal damage to enemies. It’s the small little things like that that actually make it feel like a true co-op experience, y’know? Not to mention, there are clear differences between Pocky and Rocky in terms of their speed and range of attacks, so it is nice to see that one isn’t a clone of the other. And finally, you also get new maneuvers that weren’t present in the original game, such as the previously mentioned slide and a special attack that can deal LOTS of damage when used effectively, making things all the more fun and satisfying.
With all that great stuff in mind, however, it isn’t perfect by any means. There were still some instances of bullshit to be found within some of the level design and the hazards that you would face, such as in the case of Stage 5, where there are these spiked balls that are rolling towards you in multiple corridors, and I swear, it is up to complete random chance that determines when the balls will spawn, and how many will spawn at a time, making it almost impossible to know for sure when it was safe to move ahead before getting out of the way again. Trust me, I died plenty of times in this section because of that, and it did get pretty annoying. Aside from that though, there isn’t really that much else I can say that the game does wrong, except for maybe how it doesn’t do too much different then the original game, which in my opinion isn’t a bad thing at all. Not only does this game manage to do everything that game did but better, but managed to add much more variety while adding multiplayer, so it definitely eclipses that game by a mile.
Overall, despite having some bullshit moments here and there, Pocky & Rocky is a fantastic sequel, and, if you want my opinion, is the true start of this underrated series, definitely being a hidden gem among the SNES library. I would definitely recommend it for those who are familiar with other titles in the Pocky & Rocky series, as well as those who just want a quick game to play with a friend, because this game will definitely be the perfect fit for you and then some. Although, good luck finding a copy of the game that won’t cost you over $100 for it. Then again, you could just emulate it, like plenty of others have probably done. Don’t lie, we all are true pirates on the inside.
Game #356
Despite not having played the previous title before the time I decided to review it, I actually do have some experience with Pocky & Rocky, with me owning physical copies of both this game and Pocky & Rocky 2 for the SNES. I had played both of them previously for a good amount, and I remember enjoying my time with them, despite not having anyone to play with, so I was excited to revisit the game after a long time. Now, after finally replaying the game, I can say that I glad that I did, because this game is pretty great. Sure, it isn’t perfect, but is a fantastic improvement over what we got with KiKi KaiKai, and I would go as far to say that it is a hidden gem for the SNES, despite it being more commonly known then other titles on the system.
The story basically just involves evil coming back once again, even if it has a little more depth then your typical old school title, which I can get behind, the graphics are pretty great, looking much more detailed and appealing then that of the previous game, and having plenty of personality when it comes to the design of the characters, enemies, and bosses, the music is great, providing plenty of memorable and appropriate tunes for the various settings of the game, and I can still recall a good amount of the tracks that I heard after a while, which given my small brain, that is pretty impressive, the control is solid all around, feeling about the same as the previous game, but it does feel much better to play, being pretty smooth overall, and the gameplay is also very similar to that of the original game, but improved in just about every way, as well as managing to improve on the issues that the original game had.
The game is a scrolling shmup, where you take control of either Pocky (no relation to the candy) or Rocky (no relation to the boxer), take on a set of levels, each of them unique from one another, take out many different enemies inspired by Japanese mythology in whatever way helps you out the most, gather plenty of powerups, health items, and different weapons to use to your advantage, and fight plenty of tough bosses that will put your reflexes and skills to the test. In a lot of ways, it is very similar to the original game, but anyone who has played the original game and then this one can agree when I say that it is improved upon greatly, with there being more powerups to use, as well as less instances of bullshit enemy spawning.
New to this game, obviously, is the fact that now you can play it with a friend, where another player can take control of either Pocky or Rocky depending on who you choose, and this, my friends, is the true way to properly experience this game. While I myself wasn’t able to play this game with a friend, I have seen plenty of footage of co-op gameplay online, and it looks like so much fun, because not only do you have a distinct advantage with twice the firepower and skill, but also there are moments where, when you slide around, you can knock into each other and send them flying across the screen to deal damage to enemies. It’s the small little things like that that actually make it feel like a true co-op experience, y’know? Not to mention, there are clear differences between Pocky and Rocky in terms of their speed and range of attacks, so it is nice to see that one isn’t a clone of the other. And finally, you also get new maneuvers that weren’t present in the original game, such as the previously mentioned slide and a special attack that can deal LOTS of damage when used effectively, making things all the more fun and satisfying.
With all that great stuff in mind, however, it isn’t perfect by any means. There were still some instances of bullshit to be found within some of the level design and the hazards that you would face, such as in the case of Stage 5, where there are these spiked balls that are rolling towards you in multiple corridors, and I swear, it is up to complete random chance that determines when the balls will spawn, and how many will spawn at a time, making it almost impossible to know for sure when it was safe to move ahead before getting out of the way again. Trust me, I died plenty of times in this section because of that, and it did get pretty annoying. Aside from that though, there isn’t really that much else I can say that the game does wrong, except for maybe how it doesn’t do too much different then the original game, which in my opinion isn’t a bad thing at all. Not only does this game manage to do everything that game did but better, but managed to add much more variety while adding multiplayer, so it definitely eclipses that game by a mile.
Overall, despite having some bullshit moments here and there, Pocky & Rocky is a fantastic sequel, and, if you want my opinion, is the true start of this underrated series, definitely being a hidden gem among the SNES library. I would definitely recommend it for those who are familiar with other titles in the Pocky & Rocky series, as well as those who just want a quick game to play with a friend, because this game will definitely be the perfect fit for you and then some. Although, good luck finding a copy of the game that won’t cost you over $100 for it. Then again, you could just emulate it, like plenty of others have probably done. Don’t lie, we all are true pirates on the inside.
Game #356