Rocket Knight Adventures

In Rocket Knight Adventures, you control an opossum with a sword and a jetpack. If you hold the attack button, you can charge the latter and fire like a rocket in a direction of your liking. Lots of pigs and mechs to destroy, in several levels with some neat gimmicks. Each region treated this game a bit differently.

Unused sprites


When Sparkster is hanging on a curved branch, he'll slip on it, and make this face. Yet, you can only hang with your body facing upwards at one point in the game, when the water is forcing your body upwards, to the surface. There are no curved branches in that section, so Sparkster will never "slide".



Same as above, 2nd frame for that animation.

Main menu
A minor change, but in the US and EU versions, the sound effects for when you choose and confirm an option are a loud sparkle, and Sparkster's rocket taking off, respectively. In the JP version, they are a sparkle (used when you get an apple) and a sword clash, respectively.

US/EU
Choose option:

Confirm option:

JP
Choose option:

Confirm option:

Intro
The Japanese version uses a different intro cutscene. You can see some citizens frolicking around in a park, and then the sky darkens and a pair of pig soldiers come out to chase them. They run away, and then a figure of the big boss is shown in the sky.

In the other versions, Sparkster is on a rock, facing the screen with an upset look. The camera spins slowly, as he unsheathes his sword, and when the camera goes to his back, the same figure of the big boss is shown in the sky.

YouTube video depicting both intros (embedding disabled).

Level introduction screen
Each stage has Sparkster in a different pose in the US and EU versions. In the JP version, there's a small orchestra playing with a maestro in the center; this is the same for every stage.

Continue and Game Over screens
The orchestra was also added to the JP version's Continue and Game Over screens.

Difficulty levels
In the JP and EU versions, you can only choose one of the two easiest difficulty settings. The last 2 must be unlocked by completing the game in the previous difficulty, or by using a cheat code. In the US version, every difficulty level is already available by default. Additionally, each version calls the difficulty levels different names.

Difficulties in italics need to be unlocked.

In the EU and US versions, the first difficulty doesn't let you fight against the very final boss. You can do that in JP's first difficulty.

As you'd expect, when the game tells you to try the next difficulty, it uses the appropriate name for each version.

Level selection
XYiSQAZIP00 In the Japanese version, the level selection code is as follows: on the Konami screen, press Up Down Up Down Up Down Up Down Up Down Left Left Right Right Right Right, and Sparkster will scream and you will jump out of your chair a little. On the main menu, hold A and press start.

While Sparkster will scream if you enter the code in the European version, the level select flag is ignored and will do nothing. The US version does not check for cheat codes on the Konami screen (though the code's data is still in ROM).

Minor differences

 * In the first copyright screen, the Japanese and European versions say that the game is a trademark of "Konami Co., Ltd.", whereas the US version say "Konami, Inc." instead.

Other stuff

 * Next to the title screen's text ("start", "options", ...), one can find the strings "game", "demo", "on" and "off" (address ).