Rocket Riot
The downside to innovation, particularly in a sea of gamers who know what they like, is attracting an audience. 25 years ago, Tetris was a puzzle game that existed only on table tops, far from computer and tv screens. So when a gimmicky little title like Rocket Riot comes out of a small developer like Codeglue, it’ll need to hit the ground running in order to gain momentum. Fortunately, these guys have rockets instead of legs.
Rocket Riot is an Xbox Live arcade title that drops players into a 3D 8-bit world that has to be seen to be understood. Paying homage to games like classic Super Mario, Zelda and Castlevania, each level is made up of completely destructible scenery that breaks off and bounces around as cubic pixels, just like what we imagine would happen if a bomb went off in Bowser’s first castle. Gamers control the very model of a modern pixeled character. Instead of legs and feet you’ll blast around with a rocket on your butt. The premise is simple, fly around the map and fir off rockets to destroy anything and everything, particularly other players in online multiplayer.
Visually the game is a tall glass of maple syrup topped with chocloate shavings and a sprinkling of sugar; it’s colorful, bright and visually fun, particularly for old school gamers who can appreciate the 8-bit style.
Gameplay is simple. Left stick moves your avatar, one of dozens of unlockable (including banana-men), and the right stick fires a physics bound rocket in the direction it’s pointed. Power behind the projectile depends on how long the stick is held before release. Throw in a gaggle of power-ups, power-downs and other effectors and you’ve got an addicting little game, single player or online, that’ll knock you back a measley 10 bucks (American). Cheaper than a movie ticket and is sure to keep you satisfied for my than 2 hours.
At this point, the only real downer about the title is that it doesn’t seem to be catching on. I was really looking forward to some online action, but out of the 4 game types, I was only able to find a single deathmatch game. So it’s time to grab your bazookas and hop online people! If you liked Worms but wanted something less turn based, give Rocket Riot a shot.
