Rocket: Robot on Wheels

Rocket: Robot On Wheels is definitely shaping up to look like the next must-have N64 title, which isn’t bad considering hardly anybody has even heard of it! The plot for this 3-D adventure game from Ubi Soft is very Michael Crichton-esque, centred as it is around a state-of-the-art Theme Park (Jurassic Park anyone?) run entirely by robots (shades of Westworld?) where everything goes horribly wrong (er... Jurassic Park and Westworld anyone?). Basically, the night before the park is due to open one of the two mascots, a squirrel (we think) called Jo Jo – who’s jealous because he’s not the star attraction – kidnaps the other mascot Whoopee and escapes into the park, disrupting various systems along the way. With disaster looming, it’s up to Rocket, a little one-wheeled robot, to go into the park and sort things out.

Like most 3-D adventure games, Rocket: Robot On Wheels consists of distinct levels based around a central hub. Each level represents a different part of the park and they all contain various rides and attractions which Jo Jo has disrupted. In order to track down Jo Jo, Rocket must make his way through the whole park fixing all the different rides and collecting the all-important entry tickets which allow him to move deeper into the game.

The puzzles in Rocket: Robot On Wheels that we’ve seen so far are all varied and usually fairly innovative. They include physical tasks like stacking objects using Rocket’s tractor beam and the incredibly realistic in-game physics, painting objects different colours to solve problems, throwing, jumping, swinging and driving a wide range of different vehicles including a mechanical fish and a flying carpet!

At time of writing, the only real problem we could find with this game was a few dodgy camera angles on some of the later levels. However, as this code is unfinished and a lot of work is still going on it’s safe to assume that these little niggling problems will be sorted out by the time it comes to review. And the truth is, even with the few irritants that the game does have, it’s still incredibly enjoyable. The sheer variety in the tasks that you have to do means that you never get bored and the levels are designed in such a way that you don’t have to complete every task on one level to access the next. This means that you can try later levels to get yourself brand-new new powers and then go back to problems you may have got stuck on in earlier levels.

We try not to make value judgements about unfinished games in previews because the games aren’t complete, but it’s fairly safe to say that from what we’ve seen so far Sucker Punch is going to have to work pretty hard to make Rocket: Robot On Wheels a bad game!

As any vaguely perceptive film fan will know, theme parks can be dangerous places. Just look at movies like Westworld or Jurassic Park (or anything else by Michael Crichton for that matter). It doesn't matter how many safety precautions you take, eventually you know that something somewhere is going to go horribly wrong. Which is the premise behind the first game from new development house Sucker Punch, Rocket: Robot On Wheels.

It's the day before the grand opening of a brand new fully-automated leisure park called Whoopee World, which is named after the park's central attraction, a good-natured walrus (called Whoopee, obviously). Having worked hard getting the park ready for the public, the manager of the place has nipped off for a well-earned rest leaving his deputy in charge – a little robot called Rocket. Almost before the manager has left, disaster strikes! Jo Jo – a mammal of indeterminate lineage and the park's other, less popular mascot – kidnaps Whoopee and spirits him away into the darkest recesses of the complex, disrupting all the automated systems along the way.

This leaves Rocket with just a few hours to rescue Whoopee and fix all the park machines before the big opening, and that's where you take over. With nothing but your wits and a rather nifty little tractor beam which lets you pick up, drop and throw most objects, you've got to fix all the problems in the park and track down Jo Jo. Rocket 'N' Roll

There are several different types of item to collect in Rocket, the most important being tickets and tinker tokens. The tickets provide access to various parts of the park (like the balloons in Diddy Kong Racing) while the tinker tokens grant Rocket equipment upgrades courtesy of the park's maintenance robot, Tinker.

At first glance Rocket appears, aesthetically at least, to be very similar to the Rare hit Banjo-Kazooie. This isn't actually a bad thing because Banjo looked gorgeous, but as titles such as 40 Winks have proved just because a game looks great that doesn't necessarily mean that it plays great too. Fortunately, Rocket does. It's safe to say that it plays at least as well as Banjo and in fact we'd even go so far as to say that in many ways it's actually better than the Rare title. This is solely down to the gameplay – Rocket has it by the truckload.

Let's Get Physical!

The reason the gameplay in Rocket is so good can be attributed to the physics engine and the puzzles. Sucker Punch spent a very, very long time developing the physics of the game and it shows. In the past, many games have claimed to have 'realistic physics' only to fall down when it actually comes to delivering on the pre-launch hype. Rocket, though, is a game which give you everything that it promises. Every physical object in the game behaves as you would expect it to in real life. Throw a rock and it rolls just like a real one. Pile boxes on top of one another and they sway and wobble, and often fall unless you pile them correctly. However, it's not a precise science. Because the physics are so realistic you can do things that other games won't let you. In other games, for instance, if you need to make a perfect jump you usually have to have all the objects in the right place and time everything perfectly or you fail. In Rocket it's possible to pile a bunch of boxes up, hold them in place by leaning against them and them quickly jump from them while they slowly topple to the ground under the influence of gravity. Okay, so we're probably not making this sound all that exciting, but trust us – it's great!

The second thing which is cool about Rocket is the variety of the puzzles. These range from games of skill to mental challenges and include painting objects different colours to solve problems and playing Tic-Tac-Toe with a chicken! With so many other games, the so-called puzzles are often limited to simply pressing switches and opening doors, so it's a refreshing change to actually find a game which taxes you mentally instead of just wearing out your fingers on the joypad.

Wheelie Good

Now you may have noticed from the screenshots that Rocket – the robot of the title – only actually has one wheel, not the 'wheels', plural of the title and we actually mentioned this in one of our previews. However, the wheels come into play because as he makes his way through Whoopee World, Rocket gets to drive a wide variety of different vehicles including a hog dog dune buggy, a fish-like Finbot, a heavy-lifting ATV, a flying carpet and a mine cart. Each world has at least one vehicle and most have more.

Rocket: Robot On Wheels is a fantastic game which should give gamers many hours of fun. The learning curve has been well judged so that while you'll be able to breeze through the first world fairly easily, by the time you get to the final level you're going to find that your joypad skills are being taxed to the limit. Don't dismiss Rocket as just another 3-D adventure, because it's more than that. Rocket is a game which harks back to the good old days when games sold on their gameplay rather than their graphics or licensing and as such it's a must-buy title for any self-respecting N64 owner. Buy it, you'll love it.

We'll admit, it's had us intrigued. But, after the risible Tonic Trouble and the good-looking but average Rayman 2, the thought of another Ubi Soft platformer didn't exactly fill us with Christmas cheer. Fortunately, developers Sucker Punch have come up with a cracking little game.

What's most surprising, though, is that Sucker Punch are first-time developers, so, if Rocket is anything to go by, they've got a bright future ahead of them. A game in the mould of Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie, Rocket is inventive, imaginative and stuffed full of rewarding and enjoyable activities. The levels are fairly small and compact, yet contain a wealth of fun: the first level alone lets you race a computer car in a hot dog mobile, activate a huge mechanical dinosaur, play noughts and crosses with a robotic chicken, create your own rollercoaster and ride it. Brilliant stuff.

And there s more, whilst ti tickets are collected to open up new levels, picking up 'Tinker Tokens' allows resident mechanic Tinker to equip our mechanical hero with a plethora of new moves and abilities. The best of these revolve around Rocket's tractor beam: he can pick things up with it, throw them, smash them, and even use it to swing from platforms. Moves and abilities must be linked together for Rocket to overcome certain obstacles, making the game an enjoyably flexible affair.

Rocket himself, though, can be a little tricky to control at times. Although Sucker Punch have developed a pretty impressive physics system - things actually fall, move and bounce in a pleasingly logical manner - jumping can be frustrating, especially in the game's platformy sections; it's really hard to see where you want to land, and when he does actually land, Rocket skids slightly. And the camera, although manually controllable via the C-buttons, often can't keep up with the action - it's the same problem that Banjo-Kazooie, and even Donkey Kong 64, encounter.

And yet, these quibbles aside, there's loads to enjoy in Rocket Everything has been geared towards providing a fun experience, and the things you have to do in the game reflect this philosophy. The second level, 'Paint Misbehavin' (arf!), is a fine example. To reach the vehicle on this level, you have to catch some sheep and then throw them onto a vine-covered podium. They'll stick there like velcro, and can then be used as stepping stones. And the vehicle itself is armed with a paint gun - colouring things (statues, even yourself!) is essential to progress. Each level also contains its own special - and unique - vehicle. As well as the aforementioned hot dog mobile and paint-splattering hover- cannon, there's a 'Finbot' (a Dolphin-styled submersible), Donkey Kong-style minecart rides and, best of all, a flying bike.

Perhaps the finest moment of the game, though, can be found in the 'Pyramid Scheme' level. Brilliantly, you can switch between 'light' and 'dark' versions of the level, each of which is recognisably similar to the other, but also radically different, and each with its own objectives and things to do. Tremendous stuff.

This game is a joy to play. Rocket is slightly reminiscent of Silicon Valley, in that it's wildly imaginative, slightly surreal and gloriously geared towards having a good time. Even the music's splendidly cheesy. Most importantly, it's a rarity in that it's actually learnt from the lessons Super Mario 64 taught, and it's as far removed from Tonic Trouble and Rayman 2, and all the other copycats, as it could possibly be. Although not as technically accomplished, at times Rocket can even be as enjoyable as Banjo-Kazooie, due mainly to its often wonderfully original activities. Sucker Punch should be proud; it seems, finally, that it's not only Nintendo and Rare who can produce excellent 3D platformers. And that's about as good a recommendation as any.