An indefatigable army clad in armor of steel, a humble hero with a heart of gold, and a relentless war of good and evil.
Welcome to the fantasy realm of Elhorn. A land of mythical might, mechanical monstrosities, and malevolent magic. here, you are known as Sparkster, leader of an elite group of knights, known as the Rocket Knights. Adorned in beautiful azure armor, and wielding a vehement blade, you posses the task of guarding an ancient key from enemy forces.
This kingdom, your land of Zebulos, is a quite and peaceful residence, saturated in lore. In this quaint and prosperous place, a call to war was sounded. A kingdom known as Devotindos had begun a siege of your homeland. The Devotindos residents are cruel and heartless, they built their invulnerable kingdom from stone and steel, running a voracious streak of blackened earth wherever they reside. Towers spewing flame, columns of unending ash, and a deep technomantic secret make up this horrifying monstrosity of a kingdom.
You are the last line of defense. Your entire knighthood has been wiped out in the clash, say for you, and one other. An ex-Rocket Knight, known as Axle Gear, he wears brilliant amythest armor, and has a heart dark enough to match that of the Devotindos army. He has plans to capture the fair princess, sole bearer of the mythical key's location. This traitor will stop at nothing to make certain you fail in your quest.
Everything is up to you now. Your kingdom is aflame, the raiders have launched fantastic war machines in your direction, and miles of infested terrain seperate you from that cursed kingdom. To save the day, you must slay an army, obliterate creations beyond your wildest nightmares, enter the impregnable city, bring its ruler to his knees, and learn of the horrifying secret at the core of this wasteland.
Lucky for you, this game makes sure you have a blast in doing it. The controls are tight, you will always feel like you have total control over your character, even when hurdling through space with a flame spewing backpack. You won't find unavoidable deaths in this title either, a great flaw in even some of the best 2-D plat formers. While keeping things simple, the developers were still able to implement an excellent system for using your jet pack.
This is one of the best looking titles of its era. The colors are vivid, the art is cartoonish and fun to look at, but never too much so for its own good, and the level design is filled with all sorts of little details that just push it over the top. As an example, as you find yourself questing towards the castle at the games start, you'll not only be able to see the castle in the background, but the enormous spider creature who's attacking it (And the boss of that level), as well as Axel Gear's war ship flying in from the east. It all makes you really feel like the world is, "alive" and "happening as you play".
This game has an awesome soundtrack as well. The Boss music sets each scene perfectly, from the "funnier than frightening" fight with the broken down War Tank, to the apocalyptic final battles. It does more than its fair share of creating tension, humor, fear, and all of those emotions in between.
And as far as a challenge goes, if you can beat this game on Hard Mode, where every hit you take is a one hit kill, than I'll tip my hat to you. The best part about this mode, is that even when you suffer that fatal 1 hit kill, you never feel cheated, if anything, you'll feel empowered to pick up that controller and try it again.