History YMMV / RockRaiders

!!The UsefulNotes/PlayStation Game Provided Examples of (Tropes from the PC Game are not mentioned unless different):

* GameplayDerailment: As noted in GameBreaker and TierInducedScrappy, there is very little balance given to your arsenal, leading to most players making use of only a small handful of tools and absolutely nothing else. In addition, building a second base counts as this in stages that expect you to ferry items over water or from a distance.

* TierInducedScrappy: Most of the vehicles are considered useless by the average Rock Raider player, but special mention goes to the Hover Scout, which cannot travel over water or lava, cannot carry cargo, and cannot drill rock. All it does is make a Rock Raider travel faster over land, but the inability to drill or carry cargo makes it easily outshined by the Small Digger and Small Transport Truck, respectively.
** Because Recharge Seams are so rare and [[FridgeLogic giant lasers are somehow much weaker than handheld lasers]], you probably won't find any practical use for the Mining Laser or either of the Mobile Laser Cutters.
** Both water vehicles are rendered pointless by the Tunnel Scout. In theory, the ability to carry cargo, Rock Raiders and even small vehicles over water sounds like it'd be very useful. But it's much quicker to just send one Tunnel Scout over the water (or even lava!) and have the pilot simply build a new base on the other side. Now you can teleport everything you need over there in an instant!
** All mining vehicles are pretty much useless. Rock Raiders themselves can drill through dirt and loose rock pretty quickly, so vehicles don't do much to speed up the process. While Raiders can't drill through hard rock, it takes most vehicles so long to do this, that you may as well just have an explosives expert place some dynamite there instead. The Chrome Crusher is the one exception as, even without upgraded drills, it can punch through hard rock in two seconds.

* GameBreaker: The Chrome Crusher. For that matter, The Tunnel Scout to all water vehicles. When [[GameMod edited in]], the Tunnel Transport even more. In fact, many vehicles are useless.
** The handheld Laser Beams pretty much nullify the threat of Rock Monsters and Ice Monsters.

* DemonicSpiders: Slimy Slugs take inordinate amount of shots from the Laser Gun to drive off, and will only be warded away by the recommended weapon, the Sonic Blaster (of course, this [[GameBreakingBug doesn't really work]] and you have to resort to Pusher Beams). They also have an energy-draining attack that makes energy crystals useless.

* DisappointingLastLevel: The last level, Rocky Horror, was rather disappointing. There were few monsters, a pre-built base with a recharge seam, and a massive crystal cache at the top of the cave Even worse, Chief said that "[[BlatantLies There are Rock Monsters all over the place!]]".
** Karl White even [[http://www.rockraidersunited.org/index.php?/topic/2132-wow-people-i-am-both-stunned-and-impressed/page__st__140__p__44938__hl__%2Brocky+%2Bhorror__fromsearch__1#entry44938 admitted that they had intentionally made less monsters because it lagged]].

* UnintentionallyUnwinnable: Missions can be made impossible to complete, by laying out the entire floor with power paths and thus running out of ore, since ore cannot be recovered from power paths.
** The level ''Explosive Action'' can be rendered unwinnable by teleporting the Small Digger you were supposed to recover back up to the LMS Explorer. What you're ''supposed'' to do is have a Rock Raider drive it back to your base. And ''then'' it gets teleported back up to the LMS Explorer.

** Lake of Fire. In most levels where erosion is a hazard, you are given enough cavern space that, as long as you maintain a strong Power Path dam to block the lava lake, you should not have to worry too much. In Lake of Fire, most of the cavern is filled with lava, with only very thin land bridges leading from one rock formation to another. If you spend too much time building Power Paths, the land bridges in deeper parts of the cavern will have eroded away by the time you get there, and before you know it, the precious Energy Crystals contained within those rock formations are lost, making the level UnwinnableByMistake. On the other hand, if you don't build any Power Paths, the land bridges closer to your base will erode away much faster, and the land bridges far from your base are going to erode away anyway. And did I mention that the whole level leaves you AlmostOutOfOxygen, making a Support Station a necessary priority on top of everything else?

* UnwinnableByInsanity: Missions can be made impossible to complete, by laying out the entire floor with power paths and thus running out of ore, since ore cannot be recovered from power paths.

* DemonicSpiders: Slimy Slugs take inordinate amount of shots from the Laser Gun to kill, and will only be warded away by the recommended weapon, the Sonic Blaster (of course, this [[GameBreakingBug doesn't really work]] and you have to resort to Pusher Beams). They also have an energy-draining attack that makes energy crystals useless.

* CuttingTheKnot: ‘‘Fire and Water’’ clearly expects the player to spend the level crossing the river to get resources and then ferry them back to the original base, while constantly trying to hold back the lava gradually eroding your limited floor space. ‘‘Or’’ you can simply send one raider over the river, build a new base over there and scrap the original. Suddenly it becomes one of the easiest levels in the game.

* DemonicSpiders: [[FrickinLaserBeams Scorpions with freaking lasers]]. And back in the unkillable category, we have the return of Slimy Slugs.

* CuttingTheKnot: ’’Fire and Water’’ clearly expects the player to spend the level crossing the river to get resources and then ferry them back to the original base, while constantly trying to hold back the lava gradually eroding your limited floor space. ’’Or’’ you can simply send one raider over the river, build a new base over there and scrap the original. Suddenly it becomes one of the easiest levels in the game.

* UglyCute: As long as [[DemonicSpiders they]] are not [[MostAnnoyingSound invading your base]], the Slimy Slugs are actually kind of cute, especially in the cutscenes. The way one Slimy Slug smiles and [[AllAnimalsAreDogs wags its tail]] when Axle is waving an Energy Crystal, and the way another Slimy Slug sadly shakes its head after watching Axle and Docs drive into the abyss... it's just too cute!

* MemeticMutation: [[MostAnnoyingSound "A landslide has occured!"]]
* MostAnnoyingSound: "Your Air Supply is running out!" "Slimy Slug is invading your base!"

* InternetBackdraft: Some people consider this version of the game to be awful, going as far as saying that the slider puzzles in the NTSC version were more fun than the levels.

** Hearing Chief say the words "Mission complete!" [[CaptainObvious after completing a mission]].

* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The game has been very well received and still holds up today as a classic, despite being a tie-in lego game
* PeripheryDemographic: Well, the game was made for people "8-99", but it was still targeted at younger people. And gained many adult fans. ''Hardcore fans''.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: The music that plays during the introduction cutscene. Sadly, currently there isn't a SFX-free version of this song available.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: There's a very dramatic sequence in one of the pre-mission cutscenes where a Rock Monster emerges from a wall and marches menacingly towards the Rock Raiders' Chrome Crusher. The Rock Raiders flee before it, but Docs is unable to escape, and cowers in fear as the Rock Monster looms over him. [[spoiler:The Rock Monster ignores Docs entirely, takes a single Energy Crystal from the Chrome Crusher, and walks away while cradling the crystal in its arms like a baby.]]

* MostWonderfulSound: "An Energy Crystal has been found!", especially in a level like Lake of Fire where every Energy Crystal counts.

* UnwinnableByInsanity: It is possible as early as the second level to make the mission impossible to complete, by laying out the entire floor with power paths and thus running out of ore needed to build the Power Station, since ore cannot be recovered from power paths.

* NoProblemWithLicensedGames: The game has been very well received and still holds up today as a classic, despite being a tie-in lego game

* ThatOneLevel: Back to Basics is an evil pit of [[DemonicSpiders Slimy Slugs]]. Not only that, but your air supply runs out unnaturally fast ([[FridgeBrilliance which makes sense, since you are so far underground]]) which means having a support station is absolutely paramount. If the Slimy Slugs get to it (and at some point, their bound to) and drain all of its energy, you have perhaps 2 minutes max to get power back to it, or its game over. Speaking of power, actually finding energy crystals is very difficult, as the level is designed so that energy crystals are significantly more difficult to find, meaning you have to spread your resources thin to find them, which leaves your base relatively lacking in manpower to defend it. And you'll need that power to fend off rock monsters that frequently attack it as well. Unfortunately, Back to Basics must be won to unlock the final mission.

** Lake of Fire. In most levels where erosion is a hazard, you are given enough cavern space that, as long as you maintain a strong Power Path dam to block the lava lake, you should not have to worry too much. In Lake of Fire, most of the cavern is filled with lava, with only very thin land bridges leading from one rock formation to another. If you spend too much time building Power Paths, the land bridges in deeper parts of the cavern will have eroded away by the time you get there, and before you know it, the precious Energy Crystals contained within those rock formations are LostForever, making the level UnwinnableByMistake. On the other hand, if you don't build any Power Paths, the land bridges closer to your base will erode away much faster, and the land bridges far from your base are going to erode away anyway. And did I mention that the whole level leaves you AlmostOutOfOxygen, making a Support Station a necessary priority on top of everything else?

** All mining vehicles are pretty much pointless. Rock Raiders themselves can drill through dirt and loose rock pretty quickly, so vehicles don't do much to speed up the process. While Raiders can't drill through hard rock, it takes most vehicles so long to do this, that you may as well just have an explosives expert place some dynamite there instead. The Chrome Crusher is the one exception as, even without upgraded drills, it can punch through hard rock in two seconds.

!!The PlayStation Game Provided Examples of (Tropes from the PC Game are not mentioned unless different):

* MostAnnoyingSound: "A landslide has occurred!" "Your Air Supply is running out!" "Slimy Slug is invading your base!"

* NightmareFuel: The menu music in the PC game. It certainly fits the mood for being trapped in a faraway alien planet in a hostile underground environment, that's for sure