DF Retro Let's Play: Rocket Knight Adventures - Classic Sega Genesis/ Mega Drive Action! 

John Linneman always comes across as such a genuinely kind hearted beautiful man. By far my favourite content creator; every thing he makes is fantastic and always makes me feel better about this hellscape world.

I survived Rocket Knight 2019. Why this didn't make the cut for the MD Mini when Bloodlines and Hard Corps did I have no idea.

40:56 You should do a video highlighting the "rental fix" differences in various NA releases compared their Japanese originals.

This is one of my favorite Genesis games. Everything is so polished and full of variety. And that mech fight with Axel Gear is one of my favorite set-pieces in gaming.

"I survived Rocket Knight 2019"

Rocket Knight was better with Blast Processing.

I survived Rocket Knight 2019... Now try Hard Mode. 😁

Great playthrough, John and Audi! I SURVIVED ROCKET KNIGHT 2019! This game is packed with variaty. I played through the european version's Hard and Very Hard mode (called Easy and Normal respectively in the US version) and even with the slower speed this game is THOUGH and pushes you to the limits. And it makes you get a controller with a good D-Pad because if that is not responding right to what you wanted in a quick event where you need to use rocket you'll get crushed. I'm not sure if I'll try to beat the Crazy Hard mode though. Maybe some day? We'll see.

"You guys having fun?" "Recording..." hahahaha nice

So yea, KONAMI proves once again that yes the MD can compete with the SNES to the end of the road and back again, it just needs professionals behind the wheel. What was you doing CAPCOM?

This video warms my heart / I have so many positive emotions ties to Rocket Knight Adventure

Finally, more DF retro! This is the best content on the channel and you can tell John pours his heart into it.

I broke my black and white TV back in the early 90s playing this. It got the level where it was upside done, so I decided to turn my TV upside down to make things easier and I ended up breaking the TV 😂

"J'ai survécu à Rocket Knight 2019"

I love these retro plays

Just want to say 'I Survived Rocket Knight 2019'. Also my favourite game on the mega drive.

Great run Jon. This game is a fine display of the Gen's great 1988 hardware and just one of the better 16-bit titles in general. Smooth animation, parallax, great music the works. I really wish the Gen/MD was supported by more of the great Japanese developers (Capcom, Irem, Natsume, Hudson Soft, Squaresoft etc), than we would have gotten more classics on the system, that represented the hardware well the way this one does against the Snes which was supposed to be two years newer but many times failed to show it...

I never thought of Rocket Knight like a challenging game, but anyway it's one of the best in the Megadrive, much better than the uninspired sequel

I'm REALLY annoyed this game isn't on the Genesis Classic

this game has its fans, die hard fans

I'd love to see a let's play of Gimmick (NES). It's quite hard if you haven't played it a lot but shows off the best of NES graphical technology and sound.

Who is here because of the Rocket Knight Adventures: Re-Sparked Collection announcement? Great memories totally unlocked again 🫶

Audi just says some really dumb things haha "Doesn't feel like a Megadrive game". This game is literally the embodiment of Megadrive games and feel, over the SNES and other systems.

I survived Rocket Knight 2019. I'd love for konami to have a Sonic Mania-esque follow up to Rocket Knight. But I will be begging and hoping for a return of Goemon. How about official localizations of the SNES sequels and ports of the N64 games. 😭

cant wait for your MediEvil analysis and ps4 vs PS4 Pro comparissons. I herd the ps4 version is unplayable with fps dipping well below 30.Hopefully the Pro will be optimized

I SURVIVED ROCKET KNIGHT 2019 ! And I also wanted to applaud this amazing gameplay, you got us feeling quite a rush of Adrenaline John! I owned a copy of Sparkster on the Super Nintendo,but boy oh boy! Rocket Knight it's quite astonishing! 😀 Btw, while looking at the Mine Cart section of the game, have you ever planned to produce a video featuring in DF Retro "The Adventure of little Ralph "? Its quite a superb 2d platform/action game release on 1999 for the japanese market, I got so lucky to acquire a copy not too long ago, and I was thrilled all the time while playing it all the way to the end! Luckily, I owned a japanese psone combo with the LCD monitor, my preferred way of playing platform games due to the non existent lag on the controllers, it can be very tricky to play an LCD monitor via HDMI / Component cables.

I survived Rocket Knight 2019 and I regret nothing.

Games used to be very difficult with no games saves nor even memory cards back then . We’re really spoilt nowadays believe me . Going back to the original Atari back in the day we thought Wow , we’d also look at the box art on the packaging with the game cartridges , and we used to use our imagination on how the game would look like , but it reality the game looked nothing like the box art on the cartridge boxes .

20:30 The 4th stage boss in Contra: Shattered Soldier is very similar

John, Nice! Bring more content like this to the channel! You are the best retro gaming content creator on RU-vid by a far margin. Kudos man!

I survived Rocket Knight 2019. Okay, I'm at work and I have nothing better to do, but still...

I survived Rocket Knight 2019 A master class in 16 bit gaming.

Loved all of Konami's 16-bit games and that they used to do exclusive versions of games for all systems.

Truly an amazing game that showed what the Mega Drive was capable of in proper hands!

Awesome video, guys! Rocket Knight Adventures is a true gem and you did it justice here. I enjoyed watching until the end!

😂😂😂 This game isnt difficult, especially by Konamis 16-bit standards!

I don't play Smash bros. but I think Rocket Knight should definitely be in it.

I am blown away at how this game still holds up so well. I used to play it as a 5-year-old and it's still just as good.

Great game i bought it first day. Full enjoyable today 26 years before.

I survived Rocket Knight 2019. I LOVE this game and beat the US version myself, but despite the difficulty difference I was quite surprised to see John finish this on one continue. Nice work!

I've never even seen this game before but when the guy said he was getting a Contra vibe i was like same.

Wonderful playthrough, showcasing and highlighting some of the best effects on the Megadrive. The ingenuity in these older 16bit games is just amazing.

Hard mode isnt the hardest............... Crazy hard separates the men from the Opossums..........

Hey John I'd recommend some lapel microphones and Zoom recorders for this kind of series. This way you can keep your AC on. Great video. I still have my Genesis version, but never beat it. Thanks for the play through I survived Rocket Knight 2019 :)

Fantastic game. I own the original PAL cart myself.

I survived Rocket Knight 2019

Thank you for revisiting this absolute masterpiece of the Mega Drive! Rocket Knight Adventures deserves much more love and attention.

Hey John, I survived your playthrough. I wish I knew about this game when I was still playing the Sega Genesis! ...I still have my tower of power! And recently got the Analogue Sega SG because of my love for Sega. I'll be looking for this game now, since it didn't come included on the Sega Mini. This game looked super polished to me! I will be trying it casually, because I don't think I'll have the strength to pass all these levels! lol Thank You for this wonderful video! :)

It’s my favourite Retro gaming show! Sunday breakfast tastes so better watching this.

This brings me back to when I was like 6-7 years old. Nostalgia to the max.

Kinda late to the party, but "I survived Rocket Knight 2019". I decided to finish the game for myself first and hear your thoughts after that like I always do.Thanks for the video!

What would be amazing would be seeing a let’s play for Thunder Force 4, with a nice tech break down thrown in. That game has some of the most impeccable use of parallax scrolling that was seen in the 16 bit era. Due to how the game was constantly moving forward, with 5 to 6 scrolling layers, it almost looked 3D. It also had a great sense of scale. It’s also one of the few games along with Streets of Rage 2, that utilized 10 channels of audio on the Genesis. The first 6 sound channels are synth based and native to the system. The remaining 4 were put in place for backwards comparability with the original Sega Master System via a low cost cart add on. The SNES had 8 audio channels, but when you hear the crisp music and tight sound effects in Streets of Rage 2, or the crystal clear jazz based synths or riffs in Thunder Force 4, there are few SNES games, despite its superior default audio chip, that can compare. Rocket Knight is excellent though, as is RiStar, both from a clean visual perspective. This video was a very nice surprise. That being said, Donkey Kong Country 3 and Final Fight 3 for the SNES would be nice to see as well.

is the game audio barely audible or is it me?

My other favorite possum next to Awesome Possum.

I love your content dear John! I survived Rocket Knight Adventure 2019.

Loved this game!

One of the best platformers on Mega Drive / Genesis. The sequel and remaster were trash compared to it

I did extensive research on Sega Genesis for a future book project and compiled every readers' poll of its best videogames known to exist, as well as conducting a couple new ones. When all the numbers were crunched, Rocket Knight Adventures ranked 11th in the poll. It's a beloved classic with many fans young and old, and it makes for a terrific showpiece for the Genesis.

I didn't know the Japanese version was easier, I might give it a shot. My favourite music track is the one while you fly over the water. It's a very good game, I own the PAL cart after getting into the series with Sparkster on SNES.

So many questions........ This japanese version has full english text? Is it the definitive one then? Was the sequel only on SNES? If Framemeister 2 is actually released, will you cover it?

"I survived rocket knight 2019" It's amazing the amount of variety that they where able to pack into such a short game. Every stage was something unique and different that made the game seem longer than it actually is and keeps you hooked for what will come next. 9/10. Edit: I feel as if this game would play much better on a CRT as, for example, the 30hz flashing of the water and fire effects would blend into a nice transparency effect rather than producing massive eyestrain like it dose on a LCD display.

Playing one of my favorite platformers tied with Wonderboy 5.

Heck yes! Rocket Knight

One of my favourite Megadrive games! Played it to death back in the day and still own my original copy. This game is so colourful and full of character that it almost feels like a Disney cartoon like Gummy Bears or something and could honestly have had its own cartoon series. The flying sections in this game are awesome! When you go into space...oh man. Konami showing their greatness back then. Great play through folks, classic game. I survived Rocket Knight 2019!

I survived Rocket Knight 2019 I'm really curious just how different the difficulty was since Japan seems to have gotten vastly easier games 90% of the time. Between the Resident Evil, Castlevania's Contra etc and just how cruel this game is, I want to know just how mean it is in the US vs Japan

I survived Rocket Knight 2019 I'm really curious just how different the difficulty was since Japan seems to have gotten vastly easier games 90% of the time. Between the Resident Evil, Castlevania's Contra etc and just how cruel this game is, I want to know just how mean it is in the US vs Japan

I survived Rocket Knight 2019 I'm really curious just how different the difficulty was since Japan seems to have gotten vastly easier games 90% of the time. Between the Resident Evil, Castlevania's Contra etc and just how cruel this game is, I want to know just how mean it is in the US vs Japan

I survived Rocket Knight 2019. That was a lot of fun to watch.

I survived Rocket Night 2019. I played through it myself for the first time. Now, I watched John Linneman play through it. I got to see some different strategies that I didn't use, but will the next play through.

I survived Rocket Knight 2019. Man, this game is one of my eternal favorites out of Konami's classic catalog and the Genesis/Mega Drive library. Cool to see you give it a spotlight here.

It is awesome to see that you guys enjoy Rocket Knight Adventure because I've loved this game since I was a kid in the 90s I wish that this game franchise could get a Modern 2D Sprite-Based Remake; similar in art design to the Hollow Knight franchise~

GENESIS DOES, WHAT NINTENDON'T!!!

I always found it funny the first RKA game looked and played better than any of it's sequels, sparkster both versions felt like a downgrade, especially the MD version, theirs no excuse after this first awesome game.

Talking about Sega, i keep wondering why you didn't make a video on Catherine's PC porting. One of the worst software i've ever seen and an act of dishonesty to consumers. Maybe you have a partner with Sega so you can only talk well about their products?

Now that there's a CRT renaissance then I really think you should be doing DF Retro on CRTs. I gave away my last PC CRT in 2016 (when nvidia stopped supporting VGA output) and I've regretted it ever since. CRTs are interesting because we still don't have anything to replace them. My current PC display already supports ULMB and I still have my old plasma TV; but they simply don't compare against that old CRT that I had.

Excellent video, this also reminded of what this title was actually called as I'd borrowed it from a friend in elementary school and had long since forgotten the title. Would love to see something on the Vector Man series, or a shoot 'em up of any orientation or era. Be it Konami, CAVE or any other, I'd love to see a closer look at such a title. Ramble... love your content, retro and current alike!

10:35 These waterfalls were probably a proper transparency. But that's what you get when you don't play these games on old CRTs. DF, i think it's time to start using RetroArch and some filters that will make the games look how they are supposed to.

That was brilliant. My Mega Drive came with the original PAL Rocket Knight Adventures AND Castlevania: The New Generation as pack in games and I still own them but I never managed to finish either. It was so cool finally seeing the levels on the box art I never got to (like that rocketing through the city level). What a nostalgia trip. Love your retro gaming stuff. Oh yeah and I survived Rocket Knight 2019 obviously :D

I much prefer the SEGA Genesis/Megadrive to the SNES and games like this, Gunstar Heroes, Alien Soldier, Thunder Force 4, Shinobi 3 and Sonic 2 are why... SEGA always had this bright, high energy feel. Must be all that Blast Processing!

why wouldn't the snes be able to pull that off? it's more powerful than megadrive. anything the megadrive does the snes can do it and look and sound better while doing it.

I Survived Rocket Knight 2019 P.S. there's a weird bootleg version of Sparkster on SNES called "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" that replaces him with Sonic. It's kind of like the Sonic 4 Speedy Gonzalez hack, but the sprite work has a lot more effort put into it.

I Survived Rocket Knight 2019, Nice run john! Amazing showpiece for the Genesis/Megadrive

This is a great platformer that does not get its due credit. Konami released a digital only sequel back in 2008 (still available on PS3 and XBOX ONE ), and while it probably didn't sell well at all, it was surprisingly good. Hopefully Konami decides to revive this franchise as well.

ı survied rocke knight 2019 contune to sparkster but hard mode bcouse level missing on medium or easy.sparkster genesis was better than sonic. it was fast as sonic 2 but music score also so close quality. sonic 2 after buner 2 anr rocket knight 2 sparkster fasters and best genesis mega drive games. until sonic 3 and knucles and mortal kombat 3 ultimaite. sonic 3 and knucles was better thans sonic 2 and mortal kombat 3 ultimate better arcade than after burner 2 so top 3 sonic 3 and knucles . rocket knight 2 sparkster. ultimate mortal kombat 3. some one say street of rage 2 is best genesis game they are lying lol. music score on these games far better than streets of rage 2. back in day completing ecco games and rocket knight games felt like dark souls today.

Old sega fucks up nintendo.

“DUUUNNNN DUN DUN DUN DUDUDUDUDUUUUUUDUDUDUUUUUUH Du Du Duuuuuuu dududuuuuuuu dududududuuuuuuuudududuuuuuu “ I absolutely loved this game as a kid it was soooooo different but so well polished and the music! That opening theme!!! God was it great!! A lot of the music is really great. You guys should do vectorman next for a retro look or maybe even Power Stone on Dreamcast

RKA is (along with Dynamite Headdy) the true 16-Bit masterpiece. It is so much better than any Mario, DKC or Sonic game. It's really a shame that it didn't receive the praise it deserved...

It was very exciting to finally get Konami out of Nintendo's monopolistic contractual jaws and releasing games on the Genesis/MD. This amazing original game made me realize that unlike Capcom, they were very serious about it too. I'll be replaying this one soon. I agree with others: this game is sorely missing from the Genesis Mini's library. Tiny Toons would've been great too. That one is another Genesis original and a wonderful platformer that combines the best elements of Sonic and Mario.

This was one of those games I rented at Blockbuster and was so impressed that I bought the game before my rental period was over.

I survived Rocket Knight 2019. That was intense. Not usually into let's plays but that was great. Also 1:06:23 when he's coming down from the sky, he looks like a dude with a goatee.

It breaks my heart that these games aren't available on current consoles.

I made it all the way up to the second to last level as a kid, never beat it though. Maybe I’ll have to track down the Japanese version to see the end. Love this game so much

I am really impressed how much different graphics they made fit into a cartridge. Great looking game, I will add it to my to-pay list :)

Castlevania collection, Contra collection,, Arcade classics collection...Konami should do console collections. Id love to play the original Rocket Knight games again!

I loved Rocket Knight Adventures as a kid and played it again some years back and it really holds up. I never really appreciated just how much is going on though. There's so much variety and some really cool and unique stuff. This video has given me a new appreciation for the game. I think I'll have to give it another playthrough.

What continues to impress is the 68000 cpu. It is running at 8 MHz on a 16 bit bus with 68,000 transistors, very little ram and a limited video processor. Nevertheless, game developers were still magically capable to create this retro gem.

This game has one of my favorite OSTs. I downloaded a few songs on my phone, even. Did you make a Shinobi 3 playthrough? I think it's similar in length to this one, maybe a bit longer, but just as varied and great overall.

this is fucking awesome game!!!

I survived Rocket Knight 2019 and all I got was this lousy shirt! This playthrough have been an absolute blast to watch through. I hope there'll be more similar things to this.

I survived Rocket Knight 2019.