If You Could Create a RK Game - What Would Be Your Ideas?

[Deleted]

Just wanted to make a fun, imaginative thread! 

If you were in charge of the next RK game in development, what would you do? What kind of game would it be (ex: platform, shooter, RPG)? What would the level design be like (Ex: forest, pyramid, tundra, etc)? And what gimmicks would you have (ex: trees block you from flying higher, ice level freezes jetpack, stuff like that - basically how would you make the game harder)? What kind of music would you have?

Basically, lets pretend we are all videogame creators of any profession and think up how YOU would lead the development of your game~
Keep in mind all the decisions are yours, no other people to say 'NO' to your idea. So go nuts! 

However, please no backlashing or flaming each others ideas. No need for a fight. Friendly disagreements and debates are one thing. Name calling, callouts and other rude actions, however, will be not be allowed. Please be nice~

One more thing - Canon doesn't matter here. Want to pretend RK2010 doesn't exist? Cool! Wanna remake the first game? Great! Want to make a brand new setting in the spinoff series? You can do it!

[metalbyakko]

Well since many people don't know Rocket Knight Adventures, I would really go for a remake. Although I am a HUGE RPG fan, I would try to make it a 3D Jump and Run game. The PSX era had some great one and also the N64 had great great 3D Jump and runs. Who could forget Mario64? Anyway what the world of RKA really needs are expansions, more important characters, giving the player the chance to discover the world on his own. The player has the chance to use a rocket pack and fly around, so why don't give him some reasons, like finding gimmicks and easter eggs on a high building, which he can just reach with his rocket pack? Something like that would be interesting.
I think the rocket pack would have unlimited fuel, but the player still has to upgrade it, so he can fly higher or has more speed or can controll it better or (and that's important) upgrade it from preventing it from overheating. Maybe an upgrade to prevent it from freezing.

I really think while I would make it a Jump and Run game, it would still contain some RPG elements:
-Sparkster could buy and equip weapons, armors and other things.
-Sparkster could learn new skills like fighting with two swords or magic or things like repairing and using certain machines.
-Overall I would give the player the chance to customise Sparks outfit, like hair colors and armor colors. Maybe even the possibility to put some emblems on Sparks stuff or Scars and tattoos for Sparks himself.

For the fighing system I think it would be good for the player if he is able to lock on enemys, so he can better aim and attack them.
Also Sparks would be able to block, counterattack and performing different moves in the fight.

So in the end...I think the genre would be more like an action game

I'm just not sure about the level design and choice of music...

[Deleted]

Oooooohhh~ I like your ideas! Funny enough we have a similar mindset there! XD At least in the RPG department. Though customizing Sparkster himself by giving scars and different colors for aesthetic reasons was just brilliant!

I think Sparkster is overdue for an upgrade sequence himself. I mean, in the Sonic Adventure series, all the characters had some kind of powerup! He needs to get with the program! Its always bugged me how AXEL looks like the more fun character to play as with his many weapons and tricks. It would be so awesome if you got upgrades to match him or even be more powerful. Hey, some of us gamers LIKE to be OP and cheap! XD

I personally thought Sparky could use more swords to unlock. I'm taking a page out of Square Enix's book, but there could be an 'ultimate' weapon that you need to unlock through certain events ingame. And the magic idea? I love it! Sherry herself showed off magic, and Sparkster could shoot energy from his sword - so why not shoot fire as an upgrade? Taking a page from pokemon, why not the elements have different effects? Like ice enemies weak to fire attacks?

You know what would be the best rocket upgrade ever? This; www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jaI8Jp0b9Q
Sorry! Joke had to be done! XD

[KokoaMinto]

Remake of the very first game like MetalByakko said or... an RPG-Styled game between the fashion of Nintendo's "The Legend of Zelda" or Namco's "Tales of" Series, or even Monolith Soft's "Xenoblade" Series which is kind of new but amazingly well done.

What I'd love to see?
* Open World System
- Feel free to explore the world of Elhorn
- Create your own Character
- Travel around from Kingdom to Kingdom or from Village to Village
- Find secret places or help fallen places to recover from heavy damage, creating a complete new village/kingdom
- Traveling can be done by foot, by riding a Triceratops (or a different dinosaur-like/mechanical creature) or by giant robot usage (teleportation)

* Create friendly connections to other Main Characters
- Main Characters can be met in different locations (stationed in villages/kingdoms or traveling around from place to place)
- Different levels for "Connections": Easy, Normal, Hard and Secret
- The higher the friendship is the more the chances will raise to get a very rare material for the ultimate equipment (different from Character to Character)
- The lower the friendship is the harder it gets to get certain materials (some might even attack you if they dislike/hate you).

* Sidequests that can be unlocked by clearing one of the Main Quests or by backtracking to a place you already visited
- Certain Sidequests will unlock more quests that unlock Easter Eggs, Special Costumes, Character Titles and/or a Piece of a Map that locates areas for rusty/ultimate sword/armor parts
- Some Sidequests are important to make the Collection List 100% complete (Monster List, Healing Item List, Armor List, Weapon List, Accessoir List, Character List, Location List, Magic Spell List etc.)
- A few Sidequests can only be completed with certain Main Characters (Secret Connection Characters will have special 'requirements' to give a better balance)

* Level-Up System and Technique-Evolution
- MAX Level Cap is around 150 ~ 200
- MAX Grinding Level for Weapons is 12
- MAX Grinding Level for Armor Parts is 12
- New techniques can be unlocked by combining already learned techniques or by using Magic Spells/Elemental Materials
- Special techniques can be unlocked the same way as other new techniques but require a certain Weapon Level and Elemental Material
- Ultimate techniques can be used on MAX Level (150~200) only (the closer the MAX CAP is reached the more often the Ultimate Technique can be activated)
- Armor Parts can be individulized with Elemental Materials (raise/lower certain Stats)
- Special abilities can be unlocked with higher Armor Part Level (raise/lower certain Stats and Magic/Elemental Resistance)
- Ultimate Armor Parts give high boosts in certain Stats (might lower Special Abilities, Magic/Elemental Resistance and/or even Stats)


I could come up with a plot with enough time to overthink the overall gameplay that I have in mind, but it takes years to develop a game so yeah... I spare your life with it!

[mitsukoshi753]

Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing an RK bullet-hell game in the style of the Touhou series. Also, a friend of mine says he'd like to see a modded version of the first game featuring Danny from Game Grumps dressed as Sparkster. XD

[KokoaMinto]

The problem is that, even though Rocket Knight has Steampunk elements within it, it can't be placed into a game genre it's not really build up for. Konami made a big mistake with giving up the Franchise just because the MegaDrive/Genesis Sequel and Super Nintendo Spin-Off weren't as well received like the very first game. Another problem is that nearly no company has the balls to risk something with projects, especially when they feel like they can't make profit out of it. Marketing is a very important thing within the production of a Videogame, it's more-or-less telling you what could give "your" game more attention than the game of another company - sorted by genre as much as I can recall. Companies need to check their "rivals" to see how their ideas were received by rating sites like IGN and many others, but also how the gamers were receiving those ideas.

Rocket Knight started as a Platformer/Side-Scrolling Shooter game; it will always be the "main course" of the entire Franchise but there can be ways to make a lot of Spin-Off titles with a different genre - RPG as example. The "main course" can have a lot of variation as well, it's just a matter of how much of new elements can be placed into it. It's not even impossible to implement some puzzle elements before you can proceed in a certain area. Best example is the first game where you needed to run away from those robots that can kill you with one hit if you're not fast enough to reach the teleport - or the floating platform that needed to be adjusted for the height/direction you wanted to fly to. It had a slight puzzle feeling for me, but maybe I'm wrong.

I would be a bitch of an producer and would give every stage a boss to fight against, having their own weaknesses that can deal more damage than aiming at it aimlessly with the Rocket Pack/Sword. To make it even more interesting: some areas of the "battle stage" are breakable; you can't rely on save ground for the entire fight. I love the usage of the "Damage System" for not only the stage/platforms itself, no, but also for visible damage on enemies, bosses and the controlable character himself/herself. Of course this game element would make more sense within Beat'em'Up games, but thinking about the fight against Nightmare in "Metroid Fusion" for the GameBoy Advance I think it would work for any sort of game. Could be a bit tricky but it's not impossible to do.

The Franchise has so much potential, there is a lot you could do with it - Konami just doesn't seem to care. Sparkster was just some sort of "copy" to "rival" Sonic back in the early 90's that failed when the Sequel and Spin-Off were released 1994. To me it was Konami's mistake to use the same concept as Sonic within the MegaDrive/Genesis Sequel: 7 sacred/holy/legendary swords and the "Gold Sparkster" Mode were the breaking point. Creating a rival for Sonic that nearly was able to be called a rival (besides of Mario) wasn't a dumb idea, Sparkster had the potential but Konami screwed it up by themselves. The Spin-Off was more a "sequel" than the actual sequel - very ironic. They planned to port Rocket Knight Adventures to the Super Nintendo so it was a SEGA and Nintendo title everyone could enjoy. The port was later cancelled. When Fleetway wanted to continue the Rocket Knight Comic Konami was against it - why? For me it feels like that Konami is regretting the creation of Rocket Knight and Sparkster. They tease us with Cameo's multiple times but do they really care about the blond opossum?

I think the idea of collecting 7 sacred/holy/legendary swords could have been a very interesting material within the game if it were used in a different manner rather than making Sparkster glow like Super Sonic. Even though I know about the rumor that a "not so good team" was "working on the Sequel" while a "very good team" was "working on the Spin-Off" I don't really know if I should believe it. Konami is a big company, they probably have different teams that work in different studios/groups to develop their games. I think that the people aren't even always the same - they might switch some of their people into their many different groups to balance out certain elements within the game development.

You know what I would love to see? Hideo Kojima working on a new Rocket Knight game. This man is a genius. He might be popular for his Metal Gear Franchise, but he also was a part within Snatcher, Castlevania: Lords of Shadows, Policenauts, Zone of the Enders, Boktai and the Tokimeki Memorial Drama Series. He has experiences with a lot of genre's and seeing him producing a new Rocket Knight title would be... fuckingly awesome. Seriously. He's a troll and he makes fun out of his fans from time to time, but this guy is a great man. I still need to laugh about his reaction when someone asked him how he would feel if Uwe Boll would create a Metal Gear movie... Oh I feel his rage and hate there. If you don't know who Uwe Boll is: look it up, then you will understand Hideo's rage reaction.