If ever there was a game designed for party play, Rocketsrocketsrockets is it.
Yes, there’s a solo mode on offer here and it’s the first thing you’ll see on the menu, but multiplayer livens things up no end.
The game feels like one of those old arcade titles from the 80s, which is no bad thing in itself. Rockets plays partly like the video game Thrust, where keeping a space ship pointing and moving in the right direction was part of the challenge, partly like Combat, where shooting your enemy was the one and only goal with a little of the arcade classic Joust, where you’re pitted against other players trying to do you in over a backdrop of levels.
As such, it has a lack of substance compared to modern games. There are no ‘levels’ beyond a change of background scenery and gameplay is as straightforward as flying around in your rocket and shooting the enemy before they shoot you. But just as those old arcade games didn’t need the modern trappings, nor does this indie title. The levels are a nice mix of winding caves and wide open spaces to try to come up with a strategy beyond ‘hammer the fire button’ and there are a few extra weapons to add to your arsenal.  You trails and some of the weapons also produce firework effects that light up the plain backgrounds with pretty patterns. Some of this will be missed in the rush to annihilate the enemy, but the game can look very pretty after a long fight.
If it all gets too much, there’s a Zen mode which is basically you flying around to calming music without firing a single missile. It’s…oddly calming.
There’s nothing quite like RocketsRocketsRockets out there. At first it seems a very slim game, you experience most of what it has to offer in the first few games, but it also keeps drawing you back again for more.
RocketsRocketsRockets
Pros
- Simple but satisfying
- Unique Zen mode
- Colourful action
Cons
- lack of modes
- basic backgrounds
