Oh, wow. This had, like, no right to be this good. I mean, Rocket Knight never really picked up enough steam to remain a big franchise, and from a glance, it just seems like one of the many early failed attempts at cashing in on Sonic's popularity. But Konami pulled no punches here, this is not only a great platformer, but an impressive demonstration that Konami really knew how to take advantage of the Genesis, and would go on to do it several more times later.

Rocket Knight Adventures has a spectacle on a similar level to Contra III, showering you with plenty of bosses with individually animated limbs, actiony setpieces, and constantly changing visuals. Due to the short 1-hour length, these moments are relentless, and relentlessly exciting. The difficulty may slow down your progress at times, but it's worth it to push through and see what's gonna happen in the next stage, and the next stage, and the next.

The big gameplay draw of Rocket Knight beyond just the usual jumping and attacking, is how you use your jetpack. The jetpack acts as a sort of 8-directional speed boost that you charge up in order to use. After which, you blast off at high speeds, ricocheting from one wall to another like you're in a pinball machine, at the expense of losing control for a brief amount of time. This gives Rocket Knight some minor strategical lean, as you'll often have to position yourself accordingly to make good use of the mechanic. Figuring out ways to abuse it to get around the stage faster is exhilerating, and makes up a lot of the game's fun.

While there isn't much else to say, there doesn't need to be anything else to say. If you like cool boss fights, Genesis games that went crazy with their special effects, and are in the mood for a good ol' platformer, this'll fill the hole in your heart. Just a solid-ass effort, is what this was. It's a shame the other games did not match up to this one, perhaps Rocket Knight would've still been with us if they did.