Rocket: Robot on Wheels

Given that the Sly Cooper series was an integral part of my video game upbringing, the N64 Sucker Punch developed title Rocket: Robot on Wheels definitely piqued my interest. On top of that piece of information, hidden gems from gaming’s past generations whose humble legacy is concealed to its original console tend to hit a particular synapse in my brain and cause a salivary sensation. Naturally, with all of the circumstances surrounding Rocket: Robot on Wheels, seeking this game out and playing it was a requisite in satiating my esoteric cravings. However, simply because Sucker Punch upholds a glowing reputation as a studio with an impressive streak of high quality with their IPs, I wasn’t sure what to anticipate from Robot on Wheels in terms of its individual merits. Admittedly, none of Sucker Punch’s products are acclaimed due to pioneering anything revolutionary for the progress of the medium. Sly Cooper was a second-generation 3D platformer series, and the distinction of directly descending from a broad crop of older games inherently means that its attributes are borrowed and bruised from excess usage. What gave Sly Cooper that original edge was its ingenious creativity with those tired tropes, which is the testament to Sucker Punch’s strength as a developer for any of their properties. Rocket: Robot on Wheels might be another 3D collectathon platformer during the genre’s peak, but the expectation of Sucker Punches creative innovation is what solidified my interest in Robot on Wheels.

Exhibit A of Rocket on Wheels’s uniqueness is the game’s premise. The game’s world is an amusement park run by the old and eccentric engineer/entrepreneur Dr. Gavin. Rocket is his primary maintenance robot with a Mega Man-like relationship to Dr. Gavin’s Dr. Light. Of course, this can only mean there is a Dr. Wily in the midst, and that’s Jojo. It’s amusing how raccoons were still incorporated into Sucker Punch’s games before Sly Cooper was even a thought that crossed their minds. Did someone on the staff have one as a pet or something? Anyways, this ring-tailed mammal is no charming rogue, but a vindictive little stinker out on a mission of vengeance. He’s tired of playing second banana to the park mascot Whoopie, a fat blubbering walrus who is incapable of any abstract thought. Using his superior intellect, Jojo takes Whoopie hostage along with all of the park’s tickets and tokens for good measure. He has also tinkered with the park to make it as uninviting as possible before he ultimately assumes position as park leader. Rocket now has to reclaim the park before it falls entirely into a dictatorship at the hands of a scurvy trash panda.

Lo and behold: Robot on Wheels is a Banjo-Kazooie clone. I had a hunch that the game would be at least some degree derivative, and it doesn’t come as a surprise that its inspiration stems from every 3D platformer on the N64’s favorite cheat sheet. The borderline dreamscape hub draped with stars is an ascending climb with the levels as detours, and those levels are designed like non-linear playgrounds where the player must be proactive in seeking out the collectibles through completing objectives through exploration. Swap the jiggies from Banjo-Kazooie with lettered ticket stubs and no one is bound to notice the stark similarities, right? I realize this sounds like an indictment of Robot on Wheels for being overly pastiche, but this isn’t the case at all. I quite like Banjo-Kazooie’s overall design and some of my favorite games are those that shamelessly ape it. It’s all a matter of what Rocket on Wheels does with the Banjo-Kazooie formula to discern itself from not only Rare’s bird and bear duo, but all of the other imitators. Fortunately, this aspect is where Robot on Wheels shines as Sucker Punch are a team of creative geniuses. Firstly, the game’s amusement park theme is a wonderful constant throughout each level. “Clowney Island,” a carnival themed area on a beach island like the real-life attraction it’s title alludes to, is the first area of the game with a traditional depiction of an amusement park setting. After that, the developers go buckwild with the possibilities. “Paint Misbehavin’” is ancient Rome in a paintball park, “Mine Blowing” is a goldmine prospector cavern, “Arabian Flights” is an Arabian journey on a magic carpet, “Pyramid Scheme” is an Aztec jungle/volcano etc. (I’m just now noticing all of the bad puns…) My favorite area from a conceptual standpoint is “Food Fright,” a Willy Wonka factory meets an Alice Cooper stage set hybrid with chocolate rivers, candy spiders weaving sugar webs, and a lake of boiling…marshmallow? While all of these themings are radically different like the typical range of diversification in a 3D platformer, what’s impressive is that that theme park atmosphere of thrilling fun is always prevalent no matter the scene.

What separates Robot on Wheels from the ilk of Banjo-Kazooie clones even further is the vast range of objectives present for each area. There are thirteen tickets to collect in each area of the game, so thank God the game provides such an eclectic mix of tasks. The substance of the various objectives is too numerous to mention, so I will do everyone a favor by listing some highlights. Ring challenges were very commonplace
across the 3D platformer genre, and they make their usual appearance in Robot on Wheels. Still, each of the ring challenges here provide enough variation from their standard implementation because Robot on Wheels features a different vehicle, testing the player’s proficiency with their mechanics. Out of the silly hot dog cart, the mechanical dolphin, etc., the one that stands out is the gliding motorcycle with bat wings which is definitely the vehicle with the steepest learning curve. Many platforming puzzles involve the tossing of objects with Rocket’s tractor beam like the magnet section in “Arabian Flights” and blowing open cracked crevices in the earth with bombs in “Mine Blowing.” The physics engine isn’t up to par with something like Half-Life, but the fact that something like this was implemented in a 3D platformer on the N64 is an admirable point of ambition. Parasitic mushrooms cling to Rocket so he can execute a series of high jumps, and soaring around the “Arabian Flights” area with the magic carpet looking for tickets feels so liberating. The absolute best feature Robot on Wheels offers is the rollercoaster maker in “Clowney World” where the player can make their own roller coaster AND ride in it once they are done. There is also a puzzle portion of this section where the player must also mold their creation to hit five numbered checkpoints along the way. Forget the ring challenges; I don’t care if this is Rollercoaster Tycoon light, I’m disappointed that this is only present in only one of the areas.

Robot on Wheels is also much more difficult than Banjo-Kazooie and most other 3D platformers of the era. After the second area of “Paint Misbehavin,” the areas become progressively more linear, and the problem that resides with that is the game’s penalty for dying mirrors that of Banjo-Kazooie as well and Rocket will be respawned at the beginning marker of the area. Incorporating this was fine in Banjo-Kazooie because every notable sight was only a few meters away from the spawn point. In Robot on Wheels, having to trek all the way back around creation where the last death occurred feels like a severe punishment. Staving off death in Robot on Wheels can be an especially tense excursion because the game has a strict margin of error throughout with sections that feel like tests of endurance. The consistent sections that test the player’s meddle are the one unlocked after collecting all of the machine's parts scattered around the area. The player earns a ticket for simply finding them all, but another section is revealed involving a lengthy swath of platforming. One brush of air from the vents for the one in “Arabian Flights” will send Rocket back upward and the electric polyhedron overhead will shock Rocket as an added punitive measure for a small error. Carrying a bomb from its origin to an exposed crack in the walls with Rocket’s tractor beam apparatus also caused me a ton of auxiliary damage when it really shouldn’t have.

Admittedly, platforming in Robot on Wheels was always going to have complications considering the design of the playable character. Rocket checks off all the criteria for charisma and cuteness like a worthy platformer mascot should. Still, one can see the glaring issue with his character design in that he was not built with legs or arms, the essential anatomical pieces for things like balancing on tight platforms. I assumed from his design that the game would primarily offer narrow platforms to balance on with Rocket’s spinning wheel or a ton of sections where he rides on tracks, and these kinds of sections are certainly prevalent. But on top of this, Rocket is forced to perform incredible feats of ascension that would make Mario say “fuck this.” Rocket is as slippery as a bar of prison soap, and I can’t say I’m surprised considering we’re all playing as a AI unicycle. One might suggest skipping any section involving tight platforming because the non-linearity of the collectathon usually permits the player to skip any undesirable tasks. While this completion criteria is implemented in Robot on Wheels, I get the impression that the developers actually desire the player to go the distance with the tickets. Not only does the last level have a lofty number of tickets to unlock it, but the cavalcade of linear platforming challenges that the crafty vermin Jojo has set up as the game’s finale is contingent on the assumption that the player has experienced all of the hardest platformer challenges the game offers. If Rocket dies during this prolonged finale, he’ll have to start at square one. Also, that paint section early on in the gauntlet is so fucking persnickety that I wonder if the developers tested it.

My faith that Sucker Punch would take the then-tired 3D platformer genre and craft something unique and flavorful out of it has been undoubtedly vindicated. Still, I think all of the blatant issues that mar Robot on Wheels is that Sucker Punch were so focused on making their 3D platformer debut title distinguishable among the formulaic sea that was flooding the gaming landscape at the time that they never considered if their ideas would be practical. Rocket: Robot on Wheels is an awkward and unbalanced 3D platformer experience that augments the genre with so much flavor, yet strips too much of its foundation that is too crucial to replace. It’s like a mishmash of delectable sauces and spices with a base dish that isn’t too solid. All in all, it’s not too shabby for a first-time developer, and the positive attributes seen in Rocket: Robot on Wheels would persist for their superior future titles.

A decent collectathon platformer and one that at least tries a few new things to help it stand out in the sea of Banjo and Mario clones. Various vehicles offer different methods for traversing each world and collecting tickets (read: jiggies/stars); sub-areas within worlds present bite-sized challenges; and Rocket's tractor beam allows you to interact with the world's objects in unique ways thanks to a fantastic physics engine. Unfortunately, the level design isn't great, often haphazard and somewhat lifeless. It makes some worlds a bit of a pain to navigate, as does the camera at times, which isn't perfect. Although vague hints for how to find tickets are provided, similar to how they are in Super Mario 64, many puzzles are still overly complex and slow the pace of the adventure to a frustrating crawl.

1999 was a pretty big year for 3D platformers. In such a crowded space, some games just fly under the radar for most people and seems Sucker Punch Productions debut never really got much attention when it came out. Rocket: Robot on Wheels is about a cute robot traversing a large theme park collecting tickets to thwart a racoon named Jojo who took over the park and captured the mascot, a walrus named Whoopie. Some consider it a forgotten gem for the N64 and a precursor to some of Sucker Punch's games in the 2000s.

As you might imagine, the story isn't really a main focus and the gameplay is inspired by Super Mario 64 [スーパーマリオ64]. The first impressions look quite promising, the intro cutscene is well animated and the the game's art style is nice and colorful. The music is very unique, it has a distinct vibe to it. The performance is really impressive for the hardware, the draw distance and frame rate are superb. The camera and controls are notably competent too. For a developer studio's first game, its pretty remarkable they did so many things right, especially for a third party N64 title.

Sadly, the game falls short with its level design. The first level is solid, its small and has some fun highlights here and there. Once the next levels are unlocked, the player is subjected to more of its puzzles and progression aspects. To get certain tickets (which are the primary collectable like power stars or jigsaw pieces) you need to have a different ticket. In other games at the time like Banjo-Kazooie, this isn't very uncommon but in a game like that, its simple and not hard to find. In Robot on Wheels, alot of the game is held hostage because it wants you to collect all the machine pieces to power some sort of machinery. Some levels need you to find a vehicle to get many of the tickets.

These ingredients come together in a bad way. Not knowing where to go, finding puzzles too tricky to solve, not having the vehicle available because you haven't found it, having some but not all of the machine parts and not being able to find the remaining ones. There are parts of this game that are actually clever and well implemented, but alot of the game is a mixed bag. Another item you will have trouble finding is the little tokens that you need to learn new abilities and grants you a ticket when you find all of them in a level. Once you think you've combed though a level head to toe, you'll notice you have 20, 10, maybe just 5 tokens missing and they are so well hidden it doesn't feel worth it. There is enough out in the open to unlock all the abilities but the placement of the items is just poor. Would have been nice if there was a way to know where the last few are, Spyro: Year of the Dragon did that the following year.

Sucker Punch must have learned its lessons since Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus was a much better game. Its a shame so much of it is so perplexing. You'd think a kid friendly game about saving a walrus in a big amusement park would be more simple. This could have been regarded as one of the best games for the N64, if level design and item locations were as good as its visuals and audio.