History VideoGame / RocketKnightAdventures

* MirrorBoss: Axel Gear, the only recurring enemy in the series.

* AIBreaker: In the first game, one of Axel's attacks during his first phase is to fire two sword beams and then charge his jetpack. If you ram into him while he's charging, he will flinch and fire two beams again. Your own rocket will recharge just him time to blast him again and again until his second phase starts.

* AntiFrustrationFeatures: Some of the toughest areas in ''RKA1'' have an extra life in plain sight or in a somewhat tricky location, so you have infinite attempts at things like the first major boss or the giant mech battle as long as you manage to grab them.

* AdvancingWallOfDoom: Three in Rocket Knight Adventures - one of which is part of a boss battle.

* GoodAnimalsEvilAnimals: The Possums (with the exception of Axel Gear) are the heroes, and the animal villains depend on the game. In ''RKA'', the villains are Pigs, in ''RKA 2'', the villains are Lizards, and in ''Sparkster'', the villains are Wolves.

* LawyerFriendlyCameo: [[DragonBall Gold]] [[SonicTheHedgehog Sparkster]] and [[StarWars the Pig Star]], at the very least.

* ShrinkRay: One of the bosses in the Genesis sequel can use this on Sparkster, rendering him harmless for several seconds.

** The correct rendering of the name of Sparkster's master is up in the air as either "Mifune Sanjuro" or "Mifune Sanjulo". The former seems to be more appropriate for the character acting as shout-out to Film/Sanjuro and the film's lead Creator/ToshiroMifune.

* ParentalAbandonment: AllThereInTheManual; Sherry and Cherry's mother died from unknown causes years before RKA. Sparkster meanwhile is a [[ConvenientlyAnOrphan war orphan]] who was raised by the Rocket Knight, Mifune Sanjulo... [[spoiler: until Mifune was murdered by Axel Gear ten years before the first game.]]

* PosthumousCharacter: Mifune Sanjulo, Sparkster and Axel Gear's former teacher [[spoiler: who was killed by Axel Gear before the first game began.]]

Zebulos, a MagicalLand full of [[FunnyAnimal Funny Animals]] in the world of Elhorn, has a problem. Long ago, during the reign of El Zebulos, the first monarch, an invading power used a giant warship called the Pig Star to wreak havoc. They were defeated at great cost, and the dreaded Pig Star was [[SealedEvilInACan placed under a magical seal]] to keep future enemies of Zebulos from using it. Since then, the descendants of El Zebulos have kept the Key to the Seal safe, and an elite order of fighters, the Rocket Knights, was founded to protect the royal family from harm. Sparkster, the current leader of the Rocket Knights, came to power after a traitorous Knight, Axel Gear, killed his superior. He banished Axel Gear, but this proved to be a bad move. Our story begins when Sparkster, hearing of a new invasion, speeds to the capital to find that Axel Gear has returned as the stooge of the aggressive Devotindos Empire and kidnapped the Princess while the Empire's troops burn the castle, hoping to get the Key to the Seal as ransom. What Axel Gear doesn't know is that only the Princess herself knows where the Key is...

* FunnyAnimal: Sparkster and most of the other people of Zebulos are anthropomorphic opossums, and the invading armies over the three games include such fauna as pigs, lizards, snakes, wolves, and lions.

** The name of the world the series takes place in is supposed to be named for the titular country in Samuel Butler's ''Erewhon'', but because of the way the Japanese version of this got initially rendered into English the name became "Elhorn". This appears to be treated with equal validity to "Erewhon" by fans and references, even today.

** Similarly, in the English manuals and source materials for the first game, the princess was named "Shelly" not "Sherry".
** Emperor Devlicus is possibly an {{Engrish}} variation of "Diabolicus".

* WhatMeasureIsANonCute: Zebulos' enemies tend to be ugly, or at least to belong to species with morally ambiguous or downright negative stereotypes.

** In the sequel, ''Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2'', King Gedol is the leader of the lizard-like Gedol Empire. He is a large green lizard who has long horns, sharp teeth and claws, uses spells and summons during the battle against him, and his minions wear [[PurpleIsPowerful purple armor]], like Axel Gear. He has also hired Axel Gear to capture Princess Sherry's cousin, Princess Cherry, and seek out the seven [[BonusStageCollectibles Holy Swords]].

* GoldColoredSuperiority: In ''Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2'', if the player [[BonusStageCollectables collects all seven Holy Swords]], Sparkster will become Gold Sparkster, and the [[GoldenEnding true ending]] will be shown after the BigBad, King Gedol is defeated. Gold Sparkster charges his jet pack faster and his attacks do more damage, but unlike Super Sonic, he can still take damage.

* GottaCatchThemAll: ''RKA 2'' has seven golden swords the player can collect. [[HundredPercentCompletion Finding all of them]] unlocks Gold Sparkster and the [[MultipleEndings complete ending]].

* SuperMode: Gold Sparkster in ''RKA 2''. His attacks do more damage and his rocket charges faster.

* ButtMonkey: Captain Fleagle from the first game.

* KilledOffForReal: The BigBad at the end of each game. In contrast, Axel Gear, who serves as TheDragon to them, always survives every battle he loses against Sparkster.

* TheKingdom: Zebulos. Renamed to Zephyrus in ''Rocket Knight''.

* TheCameo: Sparkster appeared as a cameo in several Konami games, such as ''VisualNovel/{{Snatcher}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'', ''VideoGame/MitsumeteKnight'', ''[[GanbareGoemon Ganbare Goemon 2]]'', and ''New International VideoGame/TrackAndField''. Most oddly of all, a human version of Sparkster appears in Konami's ''Jikkyou Powerful Pro Wrestling '96 : MAX VOLTAGE'', where he bears a passing resemblance to HulkHogan.

* FlashOfPain.

* FollowTheLeader: The series was obviously Konami's answer to the ''SonicTheHedgehog'' series, complete with high speed action elements and a cute little MascotWithAttitude. The series setting and content is more than distinct enough to keep Sparkster from being a mere ripoff of Sonic, fortunately. Unfortunately, this was the series own undoing, as people often lumped it in with other dime a dozen Sonic ripoffs, which kept the series from becoming anything beyond a sleeper hit in sales.
* [[FollowTheMoney Follow The Gems]]

''Rocket Knight Adventures'' is a side-scrolling action platform game series by {{Konami}} with diverse and distinctive gameplay mechanics such as short-range jetting in eight directions (including ricocheting off walls and around corners), charged attacks, swordplay, the occasional bit of [[ShootEmUp shmup-style]] sustained flight, and [[HumongousMecha much]] [[FightingGame much]] [[MinecartMadness more]]. The original game, on the [[UsefulNotes/SegaGenesis Sega Mega Drive/Genesis]], spawned two more games: ''Sparkster: Rocket Knight Adventures 2'', a sequel also on the Mega Drive, and ''Sparkster'', a game on the SNES which takes place in an alternate continuity. The series may owe its existence to the [[SonicTheHedgehog Sonic]] series, which put FunnyAnimal mascots in vogue and likely influenced the series's art style.