Level 45 - The "Full Send" Robot on Wheels

Welcome to Remember 64, where
this week we're a unicycling robot.
Welcome to the show everyone.

My name is David Pitrangelo and
I'm hopping and bopping my way across a strange circus like
land and building up as much speed as possible before I fall
all the way down to the ground from this giant tower of
weirdness or whatever this is.

But there's no fall damage.
Woo Hoo.

OK, here we go again Jiggy.
How's it going buddy?

Welcome to the show, Sir.
Hey, I'm here.

You're here too, jiggy.
Look back, back once again.

And if any of that made sense
that I just said in any way whatsoever, you may have
guessed, may or may not have guessed that we are playing
Rocket Robot on Wheels.

It is the first game from Sucker
Punch, and if that name sounds familiar to you, it is the
creators of Sly Cooper,

Infamous, and most recently
Ghosts of Tsushima.

Today we are so graciously
hosting Bill from the gaming and collecting podcast The 3D O
Experience and Geek Addicts.

Bill, welcome back to Remember
64.

Dave, it's been a while.
I think last time I was here we were talking about Resident Evil
2.

It was Resident Evil 2.
Oh, that's the early days.

Early days?
Oh.

Man.
Fun fact, I was I was the 1st guest of the show You.
Were you?

That's awesome.
You were.

You're on Level 2 and it is
still one of the most popular episodes on the feed because it
is just all about the knowledge of collecting, all about the
sort of like weird world of collecting, you know, retro
games and stuff like that.

And I think when I started the
show, so I said, you know what?

This is a great way to just
start things.

You know, like this is something
that people might be listening to the show or the shows like it
like yours, Bill, that are wondering like why is this stuff
so God damn expensive?

Why is it so hard to find all
that kind of stuff?

And I think that is just like an
Evergreen situation for people in our shoes.
So.

And I and I have said this one
quote from that episode, it has stuck with me for almost 2 years
at this point.

I've told this to numerous
people that when it comes down to it, everybody just wants
their stuff back.

And that is what you told me in
that episode, and it rings true every single day of our life.
What's funny is like, I re listened to that episode like a
while back and I was like, you know, it's very still on, pretty
accurate to what's going on in the collecting scene.
But I'm like, you know, in a lot of places.
It's much worse now than it was then.
That's the crazy thing, right?

That is that was only a year and
a half ago and it still keeps spiraling in a lot of ways.
Right.

So it's really crazy it's it's
just and it doesn't and and you know we talked about a whole
bunch of consoles.

We talked about PlayStation
talked about Dreamcast bunch of stuff right.
This this is one of those games that might fall into that
category that may have just kept spiraling in a way since then.
So Rocket Robot on wheels, before we get into sort of
talking about the game itself and you know some of the the
development and history of it kind of thing, we, you know, me
and Jiggy were sort of disgusting like oh, what should
we play next or whatever.

This kind of came up on the list
of games that I saw that, oh, we haven't covered this yet and
I've always kind of wanted to.

Jiggy was doing another video of
that he was working on in his

YouTube page about it.
And then once that came up, I was like, wait, I think I'm
pretty sure Bill mentioned that this is like a game that's
really close to his heart.

I'm gonna see if if it is, I'm
gonna see if I'm right, 'cause I haven't talked to him for a
little bit, but I I just have this.
I don't know why it's stuck in the back of my mind.
Just like that quote.

It's still stuck in the back of
my mind.

So I asked you, and you said
yes, absolutely.

This is that game.
Why is it that game for you,

Bill?
Like what?

What about this game?
So as I mentioned, like way back in the day, like I didn't grow
up with an N64.

I was a PlayStation kid, and
PlayStation had a ton of their own exclusives for the time.
And as we mentioned earlier, a lot of them were developed by
Sucker Punch Productions.

And one in particular that was
probably one of my favorite games as as a kid was the Sly
Cooper series.

Yeah, which to me are some of
the finest platformers ever made.
So when I finally got into N64, collecting around like 2010, I
want to say when I got my N64, I

I remember I joked back then
that I had Man 64 for about like 5 months without any games.
Because games were just so expensive and hard to find.
Yeah.

And I kind of grabbed the ones I
could find.

Like I got Star Fox 64, Donkey
Kong 64.

And then I was like, you know
what?

I love Sucker Punch.
And I know about that.

They made a game for N64 that
was their first game.

And supposedly, even though
nobody really talks about it, it's supposedly critically
lauded as like one of the finest platformers on the N64.
So I went out of my way.

I found it.
It was semi expensive at the time.
It was like 30 bucks, which.

Now it's now it's, now it's
cheap.

Yeah, what what's funny is as a
so I that was 2000, elevenish.

I was still in high school
senior year, not senior year.

I don't even remember what year
it was, but I was still in high school, didn't have a job.
So money was not the easiest thing to come up across.
So I had to save up for probably half a year and then once I had
the money decide, I got that one and my N64 collection started
looking like a collection.

At that point I had three games,
so at least it wasn't.

Just a it.
Wasn't a console sitting on a shelf that I couldn't even turn
on because the N64 doesn't have a start up at all, right?
Right.

Like that.
The weirdest part about that was like, I own the thing and it
turned on.

I was like it works I think.
I think I.

Can't tell because there's no
way to to know without a game.

Right.
There's no way for it to.

Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

The light turns on, but that's
about it, yeah.

Thankfully, it worked.
I still have it to this day, which is hilarious because N 60
fours are not the easiest things to find anymore.
I know, I know.

I just went to a store yesterday
and and and and picked up a couple, you know, smaller
purchases for for a couple small games.
But not only are there only a couple compared to the
Playstations and even a couple

Dreamcast were there and stuff
too.

But they're not cheap, man.
At least at least in Canada it was.
These were priced, they were in really good shape.
They were cleaned up.

This place was like a, you know,
it's a nice place, but or at least there there's stuff to
make sure it's tested and whatever, right?
It was, I want to say it was 140 bucks for the console and one
controller.

That's not cheap.
That's not cheap.

Even if that was in the States
and it was like 120.

Because sometimes stuff,
sometimes stuff is quote UN quote cheaper in the US compared
to where I am.

But that's still a lot of money,
man.

Like just just for no games like
that's.

That's wild to me.
Yeah, N64 is particularly bad.

So is GameCube.
It's it's the Nintendo tax, I always say, because Nintendo
stuff is just always more expensive for whatever reason.
Yeah, it's like even.

And that's true, even today,
it's not even just retro stuff, because you can look at like the
Switch and games that were launch titles are still $4050.
Like, they don't go down in value.
And I don't know if that's

Nintendo just somehow retaining
that, like, no, no, no, no, their full price or whatever it
is, but it's just, it's something about it.
I think you're on to that,

Nintendo Tex.
Yeah, I'll always say I I One of my favorite collecting stores
I'm pretty sure I shared was when I bought my GameCube, paid
$5 for the GameCube, 50 for

Melee.
Yeah, that's Yeah.

As crazy as the five dollar
thing is the the fact that the game is that much more also kind
of makes sense.

Yeah.
So lose their value, yeah.

Right.
So you so you you booted this up.
This was one of the so did you you just sort of knew about it
because of Sucker Punch you like

I I like the studio.
I like Sly Cooper or whatever.

Where do you remember if you
were, like you know, pleasantly surprised, or if this is what
you expected?

Or did you know anything about
it before you, you know, turned it on?
So all I knew was it was a platformer because I went on.
So I was I, Sly Cooper.

I played the hell out of those
games and I had just started playing infamous.
Yeah.

And I was like really, really
high on sucker punches games because, yeah, they haven't made
a bad game yet at this point.

Yeah.
So I was browsing their

Wikipedia page and just reading
it and I saw before slide they made a game called Rocket Robot
on wheels for the N64.

And I was like, oh, they weren't
always a Sony studio.

Right.
Ironically, they were owned by

Microsoft at one point, which is
very interesting in their history.
Yeah, but I saw that.

I saw, Yep, I saw platform.
I saw it.

It was a platform and it looked
fascinating, like you play as a robot.
So I ordered it and booted it up.
And I'm not gonna lie, from the start I was pretty hooked on it.
Nice.

Yeah.
It's it's this is me.

If anyone's watching the video
versus this is me struggling with what the controls were at
the beginning.

I'm I was so bad at this at
first.

I was like what am I doing?
How does this control and it?

We'll get it busy, but very
unique feeling platform.

It is, yes, exactly.
Yeah, we'll we'll we'll get into it for sure.
But I think that you mentioned

Microsoft as well.
And from when I was sort of doing research and all that kind
of stuff here, Rocket Robot on

Wheels, its founders came from
Microsoft and they decided to start the studio, decided to
start Sucker Punch and just kind of create a game for the N64.
And I was like, oh, really?

That's that's interesting that
they just, yeah, this is what we want to do.
We want to do, you know, we want to do a platformer for this.
This console they only had, I think it was at this point, it
was roughly 97 around that time.

So the console was already out.
You had things like obviously like Mario 64 was out at that
time and stuff and like to me that sounds like a really like
ambitious start to be like I want to make a platformer that
is like Mario 64 or or have like similar DNA to that.
It's it's an interesting way to to go about it because I I I
think that's like at that time that's tough to do.
That's like a really difficult sort of task to try and take on.
And they did something different with it, at least right.
The physics based game is essentially what this is.
Yes, like that's really, really what it is.
During that era, there was like two ways of making a platform.
You either had the open world collectathon style that Mario 64
popularized, or you had more of like the Crash Bandicoot style
with linear stages.

That went, yeah, kind of like
the hallway design.

I think it's been coined these
days.

Yeah.
Hall white platformers sort of thing.
Yeah that's that's part of it.

Before we get too far into it,
Jiggy, did you have experience with this in the past you you
did you did a very in depth video about this recently too.
So like you've had very recent experience and in a lot of you
know in a in an in depth way but did you have anything you know
any experience with this earlier?
Nothing.

I I had absolutely 0 experience
with this growing up.

It's not one I ever particularly
saw.

And if I did saw, I probably
passed it up because I probably thought it didn't look my speed.
I think the thing that really like detracted me from it.
So I got Iggy's wrecking balls when I was a kid.
If you know that game and that game was like, you know, side
side to side, kind of like a battle system where you're like
jumping up and down, you're just a ball rolling around.
Essentially.

This the cover for this game,
similar to Iggy's wrecking balls in my mind.
So I'm sure I was like, I have

Iggy's wrecking balls, I don't
want rocket.

So I was like, if I knew it was
a platformer, I probably would have been like yes, yes, but
I've, I just assumed it was gonna be the same, something
like that, but yeah.

You weren't entranced by this
red cartridge.

The the red cartridge is cool
but.

I don't know if you to be, I
don't even know if, if there was a way to know that it was a red
cartridge, 'cause you'd like you'd like go to the store and
try and rent it and the box is just there, right?
Like, that's like, yeah, for me,

I recognize the cover.
Like I honestly did.

And and I don't know that I knew
a whole lot about it until you,

I remember you saying stuff
about it.

Bill 'cause I really, honestly
don't.

Don't.
Remember.

So there's actually a very
interesting thing about this game is you notice Ubisoft
published it, Yes.

Yeah.
And there was actually a promotional tape that Ubisoft
sent out that had like a bunch of their games that they were
showing off, 'cause the tape famously had Rayman 2 tonic
trouble, and then it had rocket tacked on as a third game.
And that was one of the few ways people really knew about this
game when it came out.

Yeah.
So so when I, when I was researching and everything they
had a heart.

Sucker Punch basically almost
completed this game and still had nobody to publish it.
So they're just working on their own dime you know in their own
studio and and just sort of like

I I find that crazy because that
could be so daunting because you're just starting off.
You need you need money obviously you can work as long
as you want.

But if you're going to be
working for like a year, year and a half on something and have
no money coming in or very little coming in, like what are
you supposed to do?

How do you how do you even feel
like you're going to succeed if you don't even have a publisher
at that point.

And Ubisoft was the company.
So they got turned down by

PlayStation, by Sony, because
Sony didn't think that there rocket was enough of a of a
mascot, and they didn't want the fact that this game is also
coming out for the 64.

They didn't like the fact that
that was the case.

And that that was probably the
bigger thing than the mascot thing.
I'm.

Sure it is.
Yeah 'cause I read the mascot thing.
I go, yeah, but Sony still has trouble with that.
Like, in my opinion, anyway.

Well, you don't like, is it
Astro now?

Is there a mascot?
I don't.

Fuck you Exactly, exactly like
there.

There's characters there and
there's family friendly characters there.
Like there there's characters, but I don't know that like
outside of Kratos today.

Anyway, I was like, my heart
says Kratos is there.

Ratchet maybe?
Maybe Ratchet.

Yeah, right, 'cause that that
game was awesome.

The most recent game especially,
was great.

But.
SAC SAC, SAC Boy, maybe SAC.

Boy could have been it, but.
SAC Boy's been dead though for a while now.
That's.

The big game, like three years
ago.

Yeah, that's the thing.
Oh yeah.

SAC Boys is that SAC Boys
adventure.

SAC boys, yeah.
It's it's really good.

Never.
Played it.

Oh, it's good.
It's Mario 3D World.

It's a 3D World clone, but it's
really good.

Oh, nice.
OK, well, interesting.

The The thing is about about all
of those, and even even Crash at the time is like it was all, you
know, four or five years or something.
You know, it's all like short, short stints.
You can't really compete with

Mario.
I understand that.

But that excuse for like, Nope,
You know, mascot.

Look, that's come on, really.
Like, yeah, but.

But here, let me OK, let me flip
this on its head, because there's a certain amount of
charm you can instantly get from seeing a game cover or a game
case or just even the art for the game, right?
Donkey Kong has that, Mario 64 had that, Spyro had that, Crash
Bandicoot had that.

I don't think Rocket had that, I
don't think.

Game's biggest thing.
Yeah, it doesn't have the aesthetic to support kind of a
mainstream success.

It's just like, it's kind of
lame.

I don't know, speechless.
Like it's not a bad game.

My enemies, like, don't get me
wrong, I'm just saying like, like, there's literally clowns
on a ball rolling around and they make like.
Like old school squeak.

Noise Jingle or something.
Yeah, yeah, Jingle noises.

Yeah, it's like.
This game is It is very much the perfect example of a retroactive
hit.

Yes, yeah.
It I, I don't know I I, I think you're on to something jiggy for
sure.

But I think the character model
of Rocket himself is still could could be pretty interesting like
I I could see that being the you know quote UN quote selling
points or whatever or like the mascot.
But the rest of it, I think like the world's, aren't necessarily
overly interesting or make it flashy or as I don't know.
I think another huge thing with

Rocket that really hurt it was
it came out on the 64 and the 64 was already saturated with 3D
platforms as it was.

Yeah, that's true.
And there was a.

Lot on this system that kind of
got overshadowed.

Yeah, yeah, there there's.
I mean that's that's a lot of what kept the the console afloat
with like the bigger titles, like the rare titles especially,
But like it's also hard to compete with those.
Like how do you make this game and just automatically be like,
oh, this is going to be a success because it's a 3D
platformer.

It's understandable.
Because, you know, Nintendo famously or infamously patented
the camera controls to the C buttons so no other studio could
use those.

It's.
Like.

Really.
I didn't actually know that.

That was the thing, Nintendo.
Actually, that's crappy.

Patented how the camera controls
worked in Mario 64 and they had the patent on that for most of
the consoles run so that's why a lot of like non Nintendo are
rare made plat 3D platforms have really awful camera controls
yeah.

It's so crappy we.
Should talk about this camera jiggy.
I know you have thoughts because on your video you definitely
talked about it.

Yeah.
And I I just wanted to briefly say too, like, so this game came
out November 17th in North

America in 1999. 99, yeah.
OK.

And I was looking, yeah, but I
was curious because you were talking about, you were talking
about it being over saturated and I'm like maybe sort of,
yeah, they're they existed.

I think it it was more like we
didn't get too over saturated until maybe like 2000.
Like then you're like you're really hitting with a lot of
different games.

But it was definitely
overshadowed with DK64 releasing just a couple days later.
And if you're going to pick a platformer on the 64, like
Donkey Kong is definitely going to take the cake there.
I mean, everyone's going to go to Donkey Kong because he's,
they're, it's recognizable, right?
Like you're.

Going to just it's just going.
To happen and people know that it's coming.
That release date was unfortunate, I think.
Probably probably a controversial opinion, but I'd
rather play rocket, I'm not going to lie.
Yeah, controversial.

I hate this camera.
So yeah, the camera's not great.

I will say it's better than a
lot of the yeah on Nintendo cameras, like it's better than
tonic trouble, I'll say that.

Oh, I gotta play that other
than.

Play that it's better than
Earthworm Jim 3.

DI think that's there's more of
them that's coming soon by the way the the.
Thing What's up?

Everybody that's coming soon.
The thing about rockets camera two that really, you know, I
mean like I think it's tolerable like you said, I I don't think
it's, I don't think it's bad.

I think it works but the noise
it makes when it moves.

You don't like?
Pew, Pew, Pew.

If it was like once and it moved
like I I was trying to vividly like remember what the camera
does in other games like the sound effect and was like they
do have sound effects but for some reason rockets really.
It's like I think I said in my video, it sounds like a fart
that's been like pitched up and it's added reverb.
It's just like it's like every like, I know
what it is, I know what it is.

Besides the noise, it's like
increments of camera movement.

They're not very large, so if
you tap the button it's like it moves subtly, so you have to tap
it like three or four times.

You're like and it makes
multiple noises within it.

Yeah, you're pressing it quite a
few times to make it, to make it, and it gets caught on the
wall quite a bit, like on tighter spots like some.
I mean, that was.

Most games of this era, though.
Yeah, it it was.

But it feels like for this, like
you're going down a hallway, for example, and, you know, I kind
of want to see what's in front of me a little bit instead of.
It being sort of mostly in the front, it almost has a cross
between the Resident Evil camera and the Mario 64 camera where
it's like it wants to follow you and be that 3D platform a
camera.

But at the same time, because I
experienced exactly what you're saying, when you turn a corner,
there are certain certain like set pieces within the game where
you'll turn into a small cave or something and the camera like
flips to the opposite side.

And to be fair, the controls
work like they translate really well.
It's not like it's not like where you're going in a
direction.

All of a sudden you feel like
you need to change the joystick orientation so that you're
moving.

Like it feels natural, like how
it works.

But it's just like then you
can't see what's coming.

There's they do you dirty in the
level.

In particular, we're watching
right now where there's a pit of lava in the middle of this cave
and you like turn and then all of a sudden there's a pit of
lava and you just got to know that you have to jump over it.
Only knew it was there because I ran into it the previous time.
Like, that's.

Yeah, exactly.
That's the only reason why I knew it was there.
I I think, I think before we get too far into like all this stuff
too, we have just sort of mentioned that the fact that
this game is, is yes, a 3D platformer, but it also is very
physics based, like I mentioned that earlier.
But like, yes, there's like this is based around physics, which
yes, sure happens in a lot of games.
They try to have some sort of physics in it, but a lot of
platformers in the 90s and even a lot of the the 3D platformers
and stuff, Donkey Kong, Mario, whatever you want to, whatever
title you want to pick.

Sure, there's like physics based
in it, but it's not as precise,

I would say, and it's not as
necessary to complete a lot of the tasks and especially the
actual platforming itself.

So for example, you want to go
up a ramp as Donkey Kong or as

Mario and Mario 64, you can kind
of just run up it and it's OK, right?
But in Rocket, and as Rocket, you have to sometimes make sure
that you have a little bit of a running start or you need to hop
your way up that hill or that ramp because you need momentum,
'cause you're on, you're on a unicycle essentially you are a
robot on one wheel.

And I think that is a very
inventive idea for the time, for sure, and definitely ambitious.
Like talk about ambitious of wanting to make this your first
game and stuff like that's great and everything.
I just every once in a while I was like, I wish it was just a
little bit less.

I don't think it's clunky, but I
feel like sometimes the those platforming elements where
you're on something that's really, you know, thin or you're
going up ramps that are sort of turning and things like that,
it's almost too difficult sometimes in my opinion.
I don't know if it.

Is.
I don't know if it knows how difficult it wants to be.
So a a key thing with the platforming, one of the reasons
I really enjoy it is Rocket has a very good sense of weight,
which is something that a lot of 3D platformers did not have at
that point.

That's a good point.
That's part of it.

Like, yeah.
When you jump, he feels like a rock, like he feels like a
robot, like a hunk of metal is jumping through the air.
Like he's got like this kind of like he'll jump up and then you
can like feel him like sinking down and you kind of have to
time it out properly.

And what's cool is I played this
after playing like, say, the Sly

Cooper series.
You can see a lot of what Sucker

Punch was going to eventually do
in this game because it has the the kind of like almost
parkourish style platforming.

Yeah, it's like right at home in
that series.

And it it's it's one of those
that's like kind of hard to master.
But once you figure it out, it's like super satisfying to, like,
go through all these platforming challenges.
Yeah, I don't jiggy.

Did you have that experience?
Like, I know that like it's, it can be tricky and stuff, but did
you find that it it clicked with you after a while, 'cause you
you played it a little while ago and so too for your video.
But like, how did how did that feel for you?
Yes and no.

I just clunked.
My mic, Yeah, yes and no.

I hate giving that answer, but
it's like, I know, I I I feel like the majority of the time,
yes, it worked.

I got to a point though, like
we'll get to this at some point, but the the very last boss and
very last level I was kind of, I was getting really frustrated.
I I wouldn't say it's necessarily with the jumping,
but there's just some some dumb.

Dumb.
Maneuverability.

I don't know.
I I find that when you when you're going, so it's almost
like you have to give yourself a little bit of a head start like
you said earlier and then you have to jump.
OK.

But what I found I was doing,
and I think this is, I think I would have liked this game
better if I played this platformer before playing others
for like so much of my life, right?
I'm so used to not these controls.
And it's not to say I can acknowledge they're not bad, but
the fact that I couldn't just like go off a platform and then
jump or like do my double jump and make it like you would go
off a platform and it would just trigger your double jump.
But your double jump wouldn't be as high as it would if you
actually, like, took the time to do it right.
So that was like a blunder for me constantly.
I was constantly falling or coming short for my jumps and a
lot of like falling down to the bottom and then having to scale
all the way back up and those parts.
That was just frustrating.

Those parts sucked.
Yeah.

Like I I think, I think
especially early when you don't have as many abilities or you're
not as comfortable with the controls and and the camera for
sure.

Like without the double jump, I
felt like I couldn't get any platforming done.
Not gonna lie like it was and it and it's not that long, It's
like an hour hour and a half a play or something.
Like it's not crazy.

But early on it I I think like
they should have made the double jump a little bit earlier,
'cause you can really sort of save yourself in a way.
Maybe it's too much of A crutch.

Maybe I should I should learn to
be better, but I don't know.

So it's it's.
The controls have like a flow to them, which is like something
that is very common now in like very artsy platformers.
You see, like nowadays where it's kind of like you have to
like, you're the key to like getting through the challenges
is you have to keep moving like you can't like stop and like,
yeah.

Yeah, it's it's like it's the
momentum, right?

Like it's all physics based.
So like your momentum matters and that's not what you expect
with with games like this, right?
You expect to just, you know, go like you said Jiggy, like you
were saying, just jump and just go, right.
So anyways, you're going to say yeah.
I was going to say, First off, I don't have a compulsive form of
movement in this game, which is a little irritating to me.
Like, usually you have something like Link has like constant
rolling Donkey Kong 64.

I do like cartwheel jump,
tailspin, like, you know what I mean?
Like, I wanted something like that to, like, feel like I was
moving faster than I was.

I totally lost my trail of
thought.

I wanted to say that.
But what?

What?
What did we say right before that?
Just remind me.

You're talking about?
What just like the momentum and everything like in the platform?
Gosh, yeah.

I totally lost my thought.
It'll come back to me.

Oh, yes.
It came back to me.

Yes.
OK.

I was going to say what What is
like, super annoying is?

Yes.
They want you to keep moving.

They want you to go fast.
I would say for the most part your tractor beam like as a as a
tether as grabbing things works great right?
Yeah, it's fine.

What I don't like is that you
use that for combat as well, OK?

And the combat, it's it's just
you grab an enemy and you jump in the air and you slam them
down.

It's like it's it's a ground
pound essentially.

I actually want to talk about
the the combat real quick.

Let's do it.
OK, go for it.

I had a interesting experience
with it.

I didn't realize initially the
first time I played this that you could pick enemies up, so I
was throwing bombs and items at them, which I thought I was
like, this is a cool combat.

Idea.
And I was like, that's cool.

But then I would have to run
into the problem where, like, I would throw a bomb and it would
blow up and damage me as well.

So I was like, so I was like,
OK, this isn't isn't great.

So then I kind of had this
thought.

I realized, oh, I can pick the
enemy up.

Oh, I can throw the enemy at the
bomb.

This is genius.
And then I quickly realized, oh,

I can just ground, pound and
kill the enemy by picking it up.

Yeah.
Essentially, yeah.

It was like, well, that's
convenient.

I can help too.
Yes.

Yeah.
Here's Here's the thing I wanted to capitalize on with the
tractor beam and moving fast, right?
And you can't think about it.

There are stages that require.
I'm looking at this one in particular.
I think I just hated the stage.

It's like the first or second
one, yeah.

You have to grab bombs and move
through these cave systems.

And I've had so many instances
where you pick up some momentum like going down a hill or
something, and the bomb would like your tractor beam wouldn't
hold it level.

It would like kind of dip it, go
up a little bit and it would yeah.
And it would smack a wall or smack the ground more.
The wall, I can forgive the ground is irritating because
then it would blow up.

I had this one part in
particular where you're sitting on a platform, you have to
descend to the like bottom level and as you have to grab a bomb,
go to this platform to descend down.
And as you're doing it like I must have done it like 8-9 times
and I would sit in the middle, not moving, I'm not moving, I'm
sitting in the middle.

I have the tractor beam like
right in front of me with the bomb.
Boom, it explodes just by like the platform moving.
It hits a wall.

I don't know.
I couldn't tell why it was blowing up and I had to do it
until finally I got through it and I was like.
Yes.

And then I threw it on the
ground and accidentally, like blew it up and I had to do it
again.

But I got it right after that.
So he did.

OK, that's good.
But it was so.

It was so needlessly irritating.
So so it's that that's the whole physics based gameplay part of
it, right, is that like they they had, they put in physics
and they and they program in physics to every pretty much
everything in the game, right.

I think that particular issue I
ran into too.

And in a few instances, I
understand where they're going with it.
And I I don't hate it or anything, but I do think it
would get rid of a few headaches if the tractor beam would just
be, you know, hold things in place, you know, like just just
keep it in one place and that's it.
I I, I like the way it works.

I like that you could use it
like all these things, like it's it's good.
But sometimes it's like we'll just make the choice to make one
thing a tiny bit simpler.

You know what I mean?
So.

Or if when you pick up items,
maybe it just puts it like directly above your head or
something.

Something.
Yeah, something like.

That I'm like just just a little
bit higher than because it's actually like below your head.
It's kind of like your body level.
Like it holds it like right about here, right?
Yeah but like for example if anyone's trying to picture sort
of like if you're not watching like the video and stuff but if
if you're if you're picturing it, it's like a beam like you
said sort of that neck level shoulder level of like a person
if you were a person like that.

But like if you were to jump the
bomb or whatever you're holding kind of bobs with the momentum
of of your body.

Again I think that's a that's a
cool idea and concept and the fact that that that's what they
went for I think is really interesting in some aspects.
I that that's where I got confused.
Where it's like I'm not confused but I just tried to say to
myself like well is is this a kids game or is this an adult's
game?

Because that's hard to pull off
as someone who may not be as experienced.
Like if I was playing this when it came out, I would have been
and then I'd just get killed by an enemy really quickly and I
didn't even see.

I mean, that happens in games I
guess, but but if I was playing this as as like an 11 or 12 year
old when this came out, I don't know if I could wrap my head
around some of those sections at least.
It's a It's a hard one.

It isn't the easiest.
I kind of like that it doesn't hold your hand though at all.
I I don't mind it I I think it's it's kind of it's kind of
interesting like I I I don't mind the fact that it's like I
although it doesn't hold your hand but but some of those sort
of like mini tutorial like you know instances where tells you
what you need to do when you get your new ability or when you go
into a new area and it kind of gives you some information when
you talk to the little robot head or whatever it gives you
something it and and then you kind of have to figure it out
yourself from there.

And I I'm OK with that.
Like, I I, you know it doesn't have to be perfect, but every
once in a while I was like, I wish the introduction to some of
these abilities that you get, for example, or introduction to
some of the world's were just like a touch simpler, that's
all.

But otherwise I still had fun,
you know, it can be frustrating, but, and nowadays a lot of these
can be frustrating in a lot in some ways, I think.
Most old platformers are kind of frustrating at at times.
There's always elements of it, right?
Yeah, exactly.

I'm trying to I'm trying to like
and so one thing I wanted to point out was that that whole
just because I know it's published by Ubisoft.
I don't know if they've how much of a hand they had in this game
if any at all.

But I like.
But I love the the when you go into a level and leave a level I
was like that's so tonic trouble.
That I mean literally it's it's what happens in tonic trouble.
It's it's cool.

You're like disassemble and then
reassemble.

Yes, that's a real animation.
Yeah, Yeah, yeah.

It felt it felt very Ubisoft.
Oh, OK, yeah, go ahead.

One thing.
I really enjoy about this game is its level design not so much
the designs itself.

Some of the levels are a little
frustrating.

It's the these levels aren't
massive because I think 1 issue some of these games have are
like one of my biggest gripes with Donkey Kong 64 is the it's
the the levels are just too big at times.
Some of them are huge, some of them are huge.
You kind of like it's very hard to do a a a really big expansive
platformer and make it interesting.
It's like one of the reasons why, like all these open world
games just annoy me nowadays, because they're just empty and
barren and like, it's really hard to fill them with stuff.
These levels are all very medium sized.
Like, there's not.

They're big enough that they're
interesting, but they're not, like, so big that you, like,
feel like it's gonna be a struggle to find everything in
them.

Yeah.
What I find interesting about what I notice as as you get
further along, I kind of I kind of realized it more and more.
But I think it's interesting because some of them don't don't
feel big at all.

Like the first couple ones I'm
like oh this is pretty especially the very first one
like that one seems very, very close.
You're sort of just on like a beach island type thing.
But like I think some of them you you you end up collecting
like these machine parts that open you up to a whole other
area that you didn't have before.
So that the level does feel like that sort of medium to to small,
medium size.

And then all of a sudden it
opens up to more.

And sometimes there's like I've
heard most of the time there's more an intricate platforming
section.

There's sometimes a couple more
tickets that you need to collect.
And the and the little machine parts or whatever they call
them, I can't remember what those are called.
And the and the level just feels different and it feels bigger
and it feels like there's more going on.
And it's not just, hey, there's a couple little like rooms where
you can find some tickets and then you move on to the next
one.

I like that.
Part of it too is the fact that, like, it's not just what's in
front of you.

After you do a couple things,
you open up to another section and that, and that's fun too.
I I know a lot of these games kind of have that idea, but for
some reason it it was more and more entertaining as it went on
for me, I I enjoyed that part of it, so.
Did you guys, did you guys have, so First off have you completed
it?

Yes, I have 100 percented it
once.

Oh, OK, good.
I did not 100%.

It that's for sure, but I did
not.

See, you got the very boring,
lifeless ending.

I don't even know.
I I think I did look it up.

I don't remember what the.
Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, I do remember now.
If you don't 100% it, you don't get the ending.
You don't get an, I do.

Well, yeah, but but I know,
yeah, I know what happens.

I did look it up.
I did not.

What happened?
What happens in the, in the, in the non boring ending?
The actual ending.

The The owner of the park
renames it from Rocket World.

He names it from like Wubby
World or whatever it is.

Whoopi World or Wubby World.
Yeah, Whoopi world into Rocket world.
Cause Rocket was the true hero.

Yeah.
And Whoopi looks very upset.

Poor Whoopi.
And Jojo's in his cage.

Also, Jojo's design is just sly
it is.

Yeah, yeah, it is, Sly.
It's 100.

Percent like the raccoons.
Yeah, so fun fact, if you look at the the like the early
concept art for Sly One Sly's original design was a lot
chunkier and like more legit raccoon looking.
Yeah, and he looked just like

JoJo.
Yeah, it first thing that came to mind when I saw this, like
100% the first thing.

So yeah.
But also like Whoopi the Walrus like looks like his friend too.
I I'm not.

I'm not super into Sly Cooper,
but.

He kind of looks like Murray to
a degree.

Murray was a hippopotamus, but I
can see the yeah, I can see the similarities, yeah.
Also the very comic book looking like art style that that's
that's just like a sucker punch trademark, which I really enjoy
in this game, yeah.

Yeah, I I I do like the the
design.

I think of a lot of the
characters and stuff.

I think some of the world's are
hit and miss.

To me, like the one that that
was just up on the video before where it's like The Cave and
stuff like that.

It's OK, but there's only so
much you can do with like cave walls in a cave.
Yeah, I.

Guess it's, you know, I I wanted
to backtrack a little bit because.
Yeah, I'm sorry.

You're going to say something.
I.

Thought I was going to just say
the Did you guys find some of the tickets?
Like, to go back to complete the game, you need 65 tickets, I
believe 65, and there's a total of 84 in the game.
I got to the point where I needed the 65 tickets and I had
to go back and like really hunt in these old levels to find
tickets.

Like did you guys find it to be
a struggle to find things?

Like, is that just a me thing,
'cause I feel like I explore often in games and I was like,
man, this is kind of hard.

So.
Yeah, I will shamelessly admit

I'll go through the levels once,
and then once I can't find anything, I'll just look up the
good.

OK.
This one there, there's definitely a few of those
tickets which in if you think about other 3D platformers like
take Banjo Kazooie for example, the tickets are the Jiggies and
the I think machine parts.

What are they?
The other ones are basically the notes.
Tokens.

I think they're.
Tokens, Machine tokens or something?
Those are the tokens.

Yeah, those are the notes.
So those are the two things you're mainly collecting.
And I mentioned machine parts.

So there's just like sort of an
extra thing that's within each level.
It's it's hard to explain, but just like another thing you
collect to open up a new area 100%.
I found I found it hard to to find some of these things.
Like I it wasn't like not all of them.
Because sometimes what I did like about this game is
sometimes it was actually kind of easy.
Not easy to figure out, but easy to notice.
Like, oh, this is going to be one of those sections that is
going to lead me to where a ticket is and where some of the
tokens are.

Cool.
I'm going to put myself through it.
I'm going to do it even though it's not super obvious.
It just kind of feels like it's set up that way.
But that didn't feel overly unique.
What felt unique is when I stumbled upon things, but that
was few and far between.

I think I I looked up a guide
for a couple of them so that I can unlock more worlds and
everything.

So I did go back a couple times,
but it is difficult I think to get through some of these, these
ones like this particular level that I'm showing, which I think
is like the fourth stage.

Maybe it's the third where
you're sort of on like a magic carpet and like flying around
this like open area.

I hated this one.
I did not.

You know what I.
Did not like this one at all.

This one was probably in my
mind.

This is one of the easier ones I
felt like this one easier ones to.
Find them.

Yes.
Easier ones to find the tickets, yeah.
But I found it to be a bit of a pain in the ass.
Not gonna lie.

OK.
Favorite.

Level.
I don't know.

Did do you have one jiggy?
Do you have like a a?

Particular Yeah, I do.
I really liked, I think it's pyramid scheme and that's the
one like in the jungle and it does like a time travel sort of
thing.

That's the one I was about to
say.

That, Yeah, yeah, I love that
one.

That's the best one.
Yeah.

OK.
So we're all in the same.

Page vehicle in the game.
OK, vehicle.

Yeah, I didn't think the magic
carpet was bad, But that motorcycle, that thing is sick.
It like shoots out bat wings and it it uses the momentum, kind of
like Batman Arkham City style, where you like dive and then you
shoot back up like it's it's a lot of fun.
I wish I could have the vehicle.

Just like, threw away the
carpet.

There he was.
Like I'm done with this.

I just want man, I did that so
many times and and then this I was like, how do I jump back on
it like I couldn't quite figure.

Oh, I couldn't.
I didn't.

Do this on this on my first try,
no chance.

I I love this mix in this level.
Most of the platforming I did not do in my first try.
Like, I think I'd fall off, like right in this jump.
See ya.

Oh yeah.
Oh, there we go, He.

Didn't even miss it, He just
ran.

Off I just.
I just kept going up and.

There's the camera.
And and and that's so.

So that's the thing with like
some of the the platforming stuff as an example.
So if anyone's not watching it, basically there's a bunch of
suspended platforms that are like, I don't know what they
were hexagons or something.

Like doesn't matter what the
shape is, let's just say they're circles.
The the problem is, it's not that you need momentum to kind
of just make those jumps in order to get speed to kind of
create, you know, more momentum to have a further jump.
The problem is that those platforms also wobble because
they're floating in suspended space.
And again, that adds to the physics of what this game is.
And it does to me feel interesting.
I like that, but oh, here's my abandoned carpet that I try and
jump on and I think I fall off the level.
Oh my gosh, you're not gonna try to jump it?
Over 100%.

I tried.
I I threw it in the middle of the stage and I'm just like, you
know what?

Screw it.
I'm gonna do a running jump.

Let's see what happens.
Wee.

I almost made it too.
You always got a time to double jump, man.
You wait for it to be in view.

I I, I I had to struggle with
the camera.

The the the problem with some of
those platforms is that they also wobble.
So it affects your momentum.

Again, ambitious idea, stuff
that for the most part I think works, but every once in a while
I'm just like I don't.

Know and the fact they fall and
you're like you're under that anxiety stress that you're like,
I gotta go fast to do this.

Yeah, right.
And I think that's that's probably part of the the like
you said that so early on I'm like that's totally right
because you start you have to keep moving and if you commit
you have to commit.

You have to commit.
Yeah, that's a good way.

To you have to commit.
I I partially kind of love that 'cause I kind of.
I always joke like it.

I call it like the full send
method where you just full send.

See what happens.
Yeah, yeah.

Yep.
Oh, 100%.

You have to do that so many
times and in a way that that is that is just, you know, it's
another approach, it's another interesting way of doing it and
whatever you know there are there is there is something
unique, there is an advantage to that.
The bomb thing happened.

There's the bomb thing, yeah.
And I just and I just took.

That death animation is so sad.
He just rolls around, like, sadly.
Also, sometimes when you die, like it kind of just like sits
there for longer than it should.

And then you watch him.
Roll, yeah.

You watch him roll around and
it's like wah wah wah wah like.

You know, it's interesting.
Oh, go ahead, you go.

Ahead, I was gonna say, I don't
know if that's better than like something like Jack and Daxter,
where like Daxter just criticizes you whenever you die.
Oh, that's true.

Yeah, he chirps you.
Yeah, that's right.

The the thing about like the
platforming too, is in other games you have a form of like
correction when you do it.

So like Donkey Kong 64, you can
jump off something.

You have an aerial attack that
you could, you know, you could do an aerial attack and get you
just that little bit extra that you needed to kind of pull back
a little bit.

Banjo Kazooie, you had Kazooie,
you could flap your wings and kind of like maneuver around.
Mario, you had your dive, right?

So if you didn't think you can
make quite make it, you could dive, try to go in a different
direction or something.

This has no correction, it's
just a full set, like you said, big hunk of metal on one wheel
coming at.

You yeah it's it's real.
It's realism, you know, You you you make you, you can't, you
can't change your direction in mid air in real life so.
I know and and that's so that's.

I've tried, it doesn't work.
I've tried to jump off a magic carpet and make a platform, but
I just couldn't do it.

I'm pretty sure we all as kids
tried to do like the change your direction in mid air and just
fell.

I just like doesn't work.
Fall like a sack of bricks.

Yeah, 100%.
Castlevania always had it right.

That's that's how jumping really
works.

Yeah that's actually when you
think about it, yeah, that that that's how it goes.
The again I I think I think the the ideas in in all this
platforming in the physics space gameplay is is fantastic.
I think it's great that they just went for it.
I I think that needs to be applauded and honestly that's
one of the reasons why like even though it was it could be
frustrating at times.

I was like.
What happened there?

The thing closed on me before I
got a chance to get in there.

You were.
You were in there though?

I know.
And it closed and pushed me out.

I know I didn't hit.
The switch in time.

I didn't yeah I didn't hit the
switch in time.

I don't even know if I I don't
even know if I got this one.

This is one of the first times I
did this level or the first time it it's yeah I I applaud.
I applaud this game and and found I was slightly less
frustrated with it because I was like OK I see what they're going
for here.

Like, I get it, you know?
And I think that that deserves some some extra credit.
Not not saying that you guys aren't giving it credit for that
or anything, but I do think that that is a factor as to why I may
have pushed through some of the elements and some of the moments
that I would have been otherwise too frustrated to continue with.
Did I ever rage quit this game?

No.
But I came close every once in a while.
I get it sometimes.

You know one thing about this
game though that, like I noticed just from watching the footage
here alone, this game runs incredibly well.
Oh yeah, you're right.

Like especially because the N64
is kind of infamous for bad frame rates and games not
running perfectly.

This game was is smooth the
whole way through.

I I had no issue running this
game.

I mean I played it on on an ever
drive which you know is is is

ROMs of of all these games and
stuff but like it worked really well.
I had no issues with the what's

I I didn't hit frame rate
problems at all.

I think you're right.
I don't, I don't know if you guys did, but I doesn't have any
of those kinds of issues that that the game has a lot going on
at points like even like this particular instance, the magic
carpet area.

It's it's a big expansive space.
There's things moving and flying around.
You're also moving at a pretty pretty high clip like it.
It pushes the limits of what you could probably do in this, and
for the most part, the is pretty good in this as well, I found.
So for the time, yeah.

For the time, yeah.
For the time.

Yeah, not a whole lot, I would
say.

I would say one.
Of the reasons why we're getting such good performance is there
really is a lack of enemies in this game.
Yeah, there's no, there's no AI enemies that really come at and
attack you.

There's the clowns, like,
they're just kind of nuisances, but they they just show up every
once in a while here or there.

Like for the most part this is a
big empty space that you're just moving rocket.
And when you do have an enemy like a like one of those flying
cars or something, it's a flying car.
There's no animations on it.

Besides, it's like moving around
in a space, you know, like they didn't, they didn't really.
I think it's just, it's just for what it is.
It runs better.

It's just not pushing all those
polygons in that information as much as it needs, or as much as
it would have otherwise.

Yeah.
No, I.

Think you're.
I think you're right.

Yeah.
It also puts a lot more emphasis on the fact.
That the the real challenge is the platforming.
There's no need for like, added fluff.
I I think that's.

What it is?
It's like they want.

You to just hit up the
platforming and that's it.

You know, this is me trying to
explore a level that I just can't figure out how to at this
point.

You just gave up and you're
like, I'm just gonna.

Explore now I I think I just
fell off the level and I was like.
All right.

Well, next time I'll just die
again.

So.
So that's the other thing is like, that actually reminds me
of a point where I think the respawn and the save stuff in
this I wrote down as a note.

So respawning like the game's
not easy, but like you fall off a stage, for example in this, in
this particular one where there's no ground, you just fall
into the clouds.

It'll respawn you at the closest
sort of quote, UN quote spawn point that that you come across
so that you are are activating and that.
I find that to be somewhat forgiving.
Yeah, I think I think that's pretty good.
Some games don't even do that, see, Like he's just rolling
around when he dies and then he responds.
So I think I think there's something to that.
I think that helps a little bit.

You know, it's quick, you
respawn, you go to an area and you can just pick up where you
left off.

When you die completely, you
start at the beginning of the level, but for the most part you
can get back to where you were fairly quickly, and then the
save option doesn't have lives, right?
It doesn't.

Have.
Lives.

Exactly.
So you can die fifty times in the first stage if you wanted to
and you can just keep going.

It has a health bar that you
can, you know get pieces to to make your health bar larger as
the game goes on.

That's totally fine.
And then I I I don't know.

I wrote this down Same to like
sort of thinking to myself I don't know if this is unique at
the time in like 9899 but a save and quit option is that is that
a thing at this point Like unless you had like a
PlayStation with a memory card or unless you had the memory
card in that like save and quit, close the game and then
everything is right there.

And and I found that in this
game in particular, I don't know why but you could be in the
middle of anything.

You could be in the middle of a
of a, you know the Last Battle or last stage and a really
difficult point.

I could be falling off a Cliff
about to die.

I could pit, pause, save and
quit, and I can pick up where I left off the next time I turn
the game on and everything is.

Safe.
I didn't lose.

Progress on any stages.
I didn't lose progress on anything I collected.
I have everything that I had to that exact moment and maybe I'm
making too big of a deal out of it, but maybe it's because this
game is not super easy.

Doesn't hold your hand like you
guys have said that.

That feels good to me.
That felt like not a hand hold.

It's not that, but it it worked
in this game and I think it needed to work.
Otherwise it may have been even more frustrating.
I don't know.

I wrote that down as a point.
Whether it actually is a legit point or not, I don't know.
You guys can correct me if I'm wrong, but that's what it felt
like.

If this game had lives, it would
be a.

Much more frustrating experience
I oh, I think that would make a difference.
I think that make a huge difference.
If it did, yeah.

Yeah, you have unlimited lives.
That's.

I didn't even realize that at
first.

And then I died, like, you know,
like four times in one level, which is really funny to me
because.

Sly One has lives, So they kind
of reverted.

Oh, does it really?
Oh, I didn't know that.

Yeah.
Sly, sly one's also very.

Easy.
Oh, I don't know that I've played the first time.
I think I've.

Played the other ones, but yeah,
yeah, it's here's, here's the thing.
The last level, OK, generally.

Generally I'd say yes, you have
unlimited lives.

Everything's fine, you just
spawn out where you need to spawn out.
It works great the last level against the boss, against JoJo
freaking.

Sucks, OK?
And it doesn't suck because it's bad.
It sucks because if you.

If you you know what you're you.
Do have lives.

Wait, hang on.
It's not.

It's not lives per SE.
It's your health.

It's your health.
It's your health if you if you fall off a ledge and you have
health.

You'll spawn up at.
The top right or at the last like checkpoint almost.
But if you lose all your health, you will have to completely
restart.

Yes, OK.
In this particular level at the very least, yes.
And this particular level is a lot of platforming.
A lot of, you know, semi difficult platforming too
difficult using all your abilities.
And all those using all your abilities, it's the.
Finale I got all the way to the ball, which is the very last
part of it.

Oh yeah, yeah, I.
Fell off the ball.

And it was my last health.
I had to completely restart over.
And that's when I looked up cheat codes and I got called out
of my video.

They're like low gravity cheat.
I'm like, heck yeah.

I was like, I'm not ashamed to
say that you put the low gravity cheat on.
I think I also put super jump.

I did like everything I could.
I'm like, I'm just bypassing I did this level the right way.
I am bypassing it.

So I witted and I jump and I'm
like, woo.

I'm like halfway to the end of 1
jump.

Like this will work.
This will work I but it's fine.

There's nothing wrong with that.
Like, you know, if if you got as far as you did as well this part
of it and also like are you still playing the game and
enjoying it, Yes, that's fine.

Just it.
It is what it is.

I wanted to finish it.
I was committed.

At that you're right there.
So you're right there.

I was so irritated.
I was like come on.

So that was I don't often break
out the cheat codes, but I did for this game.
Yeah.

Yeah, the I.
Like the final boss.

Just 'cause it was.
It's different cause there's so many final bosses in this era
that the boss is so boring and just like generic, like Mario
64.

I love that game, but the Bowser
fights are just it's a level's more interesting than the boss
fight.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree
for.

Sure.
And I kind of like that they made.
They just kind of Jojo's not really even a boss.
He just, he's more of a thing in the background and the actual
boss is the level itself.

Yeah, totally staying true to
the game.

Yes, that's what it is.
Yeah, I.

I will say too, like even with
elements like that, like that particular part of the game, I
don't know how he did it man.

Maybe I was just like in a
groove that day that I did it without the codes, but I can
completely understand wanting to have low gravity and like 100%.
But it is.

He just went full send.
Yeah, he went full send.

Yeah, I I went.
Full send and Jiggu went full send in one way.
I went full send in the other way.
Either way, full send, yeah, it was I I could totally see it.
But I do think that like when it comes to the platform and my
favorite parts, at first I had a hard time sort of wrapping my
head around it.

Maybe it's because without the
double jump or maybe it's 'cause

I just wasn't used to it yet.
But I do really like the swinging.
I thought when you when you have like 6 of them in a row, I just
like the whole woo woo, woo, woo, woo in.
This and just like.

Jump grab, jump, grab, like I
think that momentum really works to me.
I felt the groove of what Sucker

Punch was doing with that and
those ones works pretty much every time for me.
Is was is it perfect every single time they implement them?
No.

But I think that when you when I
once I got used to it, especially a couple stages in
and it's just the right amount of difficulty.
I found that I I really enjoyed it and look forward to more of
those.

I think it's the second or third
stage, the sort of underground one that I that we were looking
at before.

Once you open up where the
machine parts are and it gives you that area, there's things
spinning and you're going up, you're going down, There's this
thing spinning vertically and horizontally and it's like
really the first time that a lot of that more complicated stuff
happens.

And I thought that was like a
ton of fun.

And I was like, oh, I get it
now, I get it.

It's something that a sucker.
Punch is just like known for

Yeah, like a cuz they're still
doing this even maybe not so much goes to Tushima, cuz that's
very much it's own thing.

Different game.
Yeah, yeah, in infamous.

In particular like 1.
Of my favorite parts of that game is like when you unlock
more powers as coal, you can legit jump off like the top of
buildings and like electric glide over like electrical wires
and then jump in the air and hover those are onto another
one, onto another wire and just like keep the momentum going.
And it's all stuff that I kind of can see like the original
budding in like this game in particular.
Yeah, yeah, I could see that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think.

I think Fly had like that, kind
of like.

Parkourish platforming.
Oh, especially those games.

Yeah, and.
And The Walking across the wires and, you know, all that kind of
stuff.

Yeah, I didn't realize this
until now.

I just looked it up.
The game, I mean, this is

Nintendo Power.
It's not based on sales, but even.
I mean, I know Nintendo Power is kind of like a, you know, a a
marketing ploy for Nintendo games in some ways at that time,
but they rated it as the 18th best and 64 game.
That's just interesting, 'cause it was very.
Unknown yeah, at the time and and that was in.
Their 20th anniversary issue, which I think would have been
around this time around in 99, so I'd like to see this list.
I'm gonna.

I should look it up.
Yeah, but.

Wait, there's there's some
interesting.

Games that's above.
Yes.

OK.
Yeah.

This, this was late.
This was.

Before the this when the console
was still out, I'm sure there was OK.
I'm sure there was lots of lots of other games that were not out
yet for sure.

And I wanted to Did you guys
build?

Did you guys do roller coaster?
Tycoon.

Yes.
Oh, this is it right here.

I I have.
I have a video of it.

Perfect timing, perfect timing.
I did this one and it was I think I I I did one where I
collected like the tokens and then I made another one that did
the all the numbers where I could get the the actual ticket
itself.

I thought this was gonna be a
bigger thing in this.

Game like, no, it's it's very
early on and then they kind of.

Forget about it.
Yeah, yeah, it was like, it was like 1.
Of those things.

When people talk about this
game, they show this clip, right?
They show the roller.

Coaster when you.
See a trailer?

You see the roller coaster, it's
A I'm the The freaking Game cover.
There's the roller coaster and you think it's gonna play A?
Major.

Factor in this game, it's the
first level and then it never shows up again.
Yeah, and it's cool.

I liked it.
I wish I could have built more roller coasters.
Yeah.

Also, I built the one that I'm.
That we're watching right now that I built.
I built the loop to loop like by accident.
And I was like, I'm just gonna try and see if I have no
momentum and see if it works.

And it didn't.
I was like fuck yeah.

Basically if anyone is again if
anyone isn't watching what it is is you go to an area at a theme
park and it lets you build a roller coaster.
But you have to take momentum into into play here where you
have to make sure you go high and and make sure that rocket
goes down on the roller coaster in order to go back up again and
collect five points.

That will give you your ticket
in it.

But you know you can do loops
and you can do you know some zigzags and whatever and stuff
like that.

But it it's basically just gives
you like this little rectangular area to build your own roller
coaster and it's kind of cool.

It kind of pulls out in like a
separate little like mini menu almost.
It looks like and you just kind of use a joystick and the A&B
buttons to create new like a new little like roller coaster and
you can do whatever you want for the most part within that
confined space.

And I liked it.
I thought that was kind of fun.

I thought it was it was cool.
I wish.

I wish it came back, though I
agree it happens once and then never.
Again, I know it.

It makes sense.
You're in like a theme.

Park OK, get it.
But like, I don't know maybe the maybe do like some other kind of
track.

I don't know figure it out like
there's got to be a way that you can you can do it.
Well, they have the, the, minecart, the.
Mycart at this level.

And that you you don't.
Build that track.

I know it's there.
And in fact, they actually take you off the track for like half
of it multiple times, yeah.

Yeah.
It's like, come on.

Yeah.
I wonder if.

It was like a memory thing.
'Cause N64 games lacked the memory at the time.
Yeah, that's true.

That's true.
That could.

Have been part.
I mean, it's always, always feels like that's that's pretty
much an issue almost across the board.
It feels like with these larger games, and again, not again.
But that reminds me, it's not a really long game.
But there's a lot to do in this and there's a lot to collect.
Whether whether you get everything, get the true ending
or the OR the full ending or not.
There's a lot, there's a lot to do here and I think there's a
lot to master as well.

It's not an easy game, but it is
something that you can definitely get the feel of and
the more and more you play it, I think the more and more you feel
like confident in being able to do these platforming sections.
When I was looking up sort of reviews of it and stuff, I want
to find where exactly what it said.
OK, this is a review that happened at the time.
I don't know what next Gen. is.

I don't know if that's like a
magazine, magazine, I believe magazine.
I guess at the time this person

Doug Truman wrote, it's an
attractive, almost anti violent 3D puzzler with graphics
intended for kids but with some puzzles whose level of challenge
is more appropriate for adults.

And I think that is perfectly on
point.

Yeah, I think that is a great
way to sum of this up.

I don't think any of that's a
negative, but it is something to be aware of.
I think if if you're going to go into this game and you haven't
played it before, I think there's lots of fun to be had
here.

It's just you have to be ready
to not play the same 3D platformer that you're used to
because it is not like the others I think.
That's honestly one of the reasons.
Why it stands out nowadays is just that compared to like a lot
of the other platformers on N64, this one really feels like its
own thing.

Yeah, it it.
Is and and it absolutely.

Is I think, Oh yeah, I wrote
down the JoJo the raccoon looks like Sly Cooper.
Yeah, I I think so.

I had a good time with this
game.

I I think once I got the hang of
it, I was really gelling with the with the momentum of it was
really gelling with the with the platforming.
Yes, I didn't you know, like some areas of it, but none of
these games are really all that perfect when it comes to that
stuff in my opinion.

But I'm happy I played it like
this is a game that was not on my radar whatsoever, especially
growing up as a kid.

Interestingly enough, I feel
like if I knew what this is or tried it at a friend's place, I
would have definitely gone out and and got this and been like,
this is cool.

It's different.
It's 3D platformer.

It's got cool music.
I like the music even though it's quite repetitive.
I think the music's pretty good for the most part.
Other than the camera movements like Jiggy mentioned, the sound
effects are are pretty decent I think.
But yeah, I I enjoyed this game.

I think Rocket Robot on Wheels
is worth your time.

Just be prepared for some more
challenge than you may expect.

Jiggy.
What about you man?

What do you think?
Sort of final thoughts I I think this game.
I did a thorough analysis of it on my YouTube channel and I
think that it's it was overhyped for me on my Discord, Like
people wanted me to play this game and I'd never played it,
and I actually found it at a a game store near me and it was I
think I paid I.

Think I paid 80.
Dollars for it, but I didn't really care because that's
pretty standard.

Yeah, it's a pretty.
It's pretty around the mark of where it sits.
It actually might be on the low end for a cartridge but it yeah,
which is pretty nuts.

But I don't regret playing
through it.

I think it's fun.
I think realistically you you look it up.
I think they say like 6-7 hours of like gameplay time for this.
I would say I probably sat around 10, maybe same, same,
yeah.

I think I.
Think it's a solid game.

I I it's just different.
It's just not what I'm used to and it's challenging.
It's fun.

I I don't regret playing it.
I think I think people would like it and especially if you
are looking for an N64 game, that's a 3D platformer.
But maybe just it's a little fresh, right?
It's fresh.

It feels different.
It feels totally different than anything else on the 64.
I can't say that and I'll give it some props for that.
I think, I think baseline it's, it's OK to good in my book.
Sure.

OK to good.
Yeah.

Yeah.
Bill.

Bill would say it's, it's the
greatest game of all that.

No.
So what what you know for you is this like one of the, you know
your, I mean you mentioned it a little bit earlier, we talked
about it, but this is like pretty much right up there as
far as platformers go, especially in this era or this
console.

So I didn't grow.
Like I said earlier, I didn't.

Grow up with a lot of the
classic N64 platformers.

So I came into this with a much
different mindset, right,

Compared to a anyone who grew up
with an N64 at the time.

And to me, the best way to
describe this game is its creative.
It is by far one of the most I want to say.
Ambitious and probably.

Platformers on North 64, which
is interesting.

To me because the N64.
Had a lot of unique and original platformers, but it also had a
lot that basically copied Mario 64.
Yeah.

Yeah.
Oh yeah.

And I think this one.
To me is special to me.

Just in the fact that it.
Is basically the bare bone, like the bones of what would become
like sucker punches.

Legacy over at Sony with their
incredibly creative and uniquely ambitious like platformers that
are full of charm and they just feel different than like the
rest.

Like, say, like moving on to
like their future stuff.

Like with Sly Cooper.
I still think out of Sony's big three platformers, Sly Cooper
was the best pure platformer of the three compared to like Jack
and.

Daxter and.
Ratchet and clank, which had their own strengths in different
ways.

Sure.
Yeah, yeah.

And this is this is like you
like you mentioned earlier this is like very foundational for
what they did and and everything which is which is great you can
see a lot of the.

DNA of what's what to me is
Sucker Punch Productions in this game.
Yeah, yeah.

It's it's it's it's all there
and it's.

I just I think you're right.
I think this is this is a a special game because of what
they tried to do and I I do think that that is not to say
like oh they tried to do it and they failed completely.
They didn't.

I I think there's a lot.
No, it's not a failure by any means.
No way.

Yeah, exactly.
I camera controls better than croc.
That's what you can say on that.

Better than most N64.
Platformers.

Yeah, it it's still weren't.
Made by Nintendo.

They were made, yeah.
Yeah, and that's the thing too.

Like yeah, sure it's different
if you are Nintendo 100% that makes a difference.
Yeah.

Yeah.
This I I'm, I'm, I'm happy that that I sort of like semi
stumbled upon this thanks to you guys.
So I I agree.

I think it's it's a really fun
game.

It's definitely worth,
definitely worth playing for sure if these 3D platformers are
up your alley, like I do think that it it it is one of those
titles that makes makes a a pretty good effort of doing
something different and I think that is definitely something
that that needs to be experienced.
I think so, So before we wrap up.
Do you guys want to hear some fun rocket references in later
Sucker Punch games?

Yes, absolutely, 100% so.
Similar to how?

Like Sucker Punch likes to
reference their older games and their newer games.
Like how in Infamous, Cole

McGrath had a Sly Cooper patch
on his backpack and there was a poster for Sly Four at the movie
theater.

An interesting thing is in Sly
Cooper Two there is a grave marker in, I believe Paris that
says rib Rocket.

Oh what?
Really.

And I believe it says like the
year the game.

Came out nice there was.
There was also a.

Room in slide 2 where it's one
of the levels.

I forget the one exactly, but if
you destroy all the items and like furniture in the room and
then you stand on this one platform, the game will zoom
into the center of the room and 3D models like new models of
Rocket and JoJo will appear in the center that you can look at
what?

Interesting.
It's a little fun little.

Thing that.
Sucker Punch threw in there just to see if people could find it.
That's great.

That that that.
Seems like super like that one in particular would be like
tough to sort of stumble upon sort of thing and then also in
their recent they did.

Their big like, I think it was
like they're either 25th or I wanna say 25th anniversary.
They did like sounds right this big PO.
They did a big poster celebrating their basically the
games that they made and of course it had Sly, Infamous and
Ghost Joshima on it but it also had Rocket and JoJo in the
corner which was a nice touch nice.
That's good.

That's good.
It's.

It's it is one of those games
that seems to be a little bit forgotten, whether it's on the
64 or whether it's from the studio and stuff, or at least
it's not at the forefront of people's mind and stuff.
So at least they're they're still saying like, hey, we did
this thing, I hope.

I hope people remember 18 baby,
yeah.

It's also never been.
Re released, which is one of the other reasons why it's kind of
got this mystique to it I I think, I think.
They could, they could find a way to re release this and you
know, maybe it's, maybe it's not.
It's gotta be a licensing issue.

That's.
Probably the Ubisoft and stuff is probably.
Probably a problem.

I would assume there's something
to it with that, but sometimes it's small things, sometimes
it's music, sometimes it's character design, sometimes
there's usually something there.

But, you know, maybe you don't
have to.

Pay 8200.
Dollars to play the game and stuff.
Hopefully you not everyone has to but if you have a chance to
pick up a copy or you have a chance to experience this game I
think it's worth it.

I think it's a good game.
I think rocket Robot on on wheels is something that people
should try and and as I usually say for people that bring in
bring games.

I'm going to say to both of you
guys thanks for bringing this game more to my attention
because I'm happy I played it.

If if not perfect, still a good
time and still something that

I'm happy I've played.
So before we get out of here

Bill, let's talk about your
stuff online and all the the expanding shows that you keep
doing and and all that let's let's chat about your work.
Yeah.

So I think the.
Last time I was on.

It was mostly still just G and
CI think 3D O existed, but it wasn't active at the time.
I think you were like just kicking it off.
Yeah, I well 'cause I did the, I did the.
Original like 3 episodes and then it went on hiatus for good
like half a year.

Just because of.
Logistical reasons, yeah.

But yeah, so my three shows I
currently have, I have my main show is Gaming and collecting.
That is a gaming and anime based nostalgia podcast I do with my
sister Alex, where we talk about a whole bunch of different
games, anime just different stuff from our child.
Let's be able to talk about some modern stuff every now and then.
My second show is the 3D O

Experience, which may or may not
have been inspired by this podcast.
Yes.

It is a.
Retrospective podcast talking about the Panasonic, well, the
3D O console which was famously made by Panasonic and it's
essentially a show where me and my Co host rack, we go over
either the games we talked about, some of the developers or
we talked about the company behind it, the console,
basically everything in between.

I kind of given sort of a
retrospective of this very obscure console from the the
90s.

It it is.
Honestly, I know.

Almost nothing about this
console about these games.

It was something that would like
I knew existed when I was younger but didn't really know
anything about and still don't.

I have learned more in just a
few episodes of the podcast than

I ever have leading up to this
point.

So if the three, even if you
never, even if you don't have any experience with a 3D O like
me, it is worth a lesson because it is very cool and interesting.
Obviously you guys put on a good show, so I highly recommend it.
Thanks.

And then my final show, this one
recently started.

It's a it's more of a spin off
than a new podcast.

It releases in the GNC feed
directly, but I do a third show called Geek Addicts, which is a
pop culture podcast I do with my my friend Matt.
And we basically just talk about all sorts of pop culture things
like gaming, anime, comics, books, all sorts of stuff like
once a week.

Just it's most the best way to
describe it is just two buddies like shoot the shit for an hour
every every week.

Love it.
Love it.

All that stuff's on podcast
feeds Jiggy.

What about you man?
What's what's happening on the.

I mean you did you did something
in Rocket Robot on Wheels.

What?
What's happening at the at the

YouTube page?
Oh, so much is happening on the.

YouTube page.
I just feel like I've I've been pumping stuff out.
You have to just put out, just put out in analyzing everything
about Earthworm Jim one and two, a little retrospective playing
through those and those, those are those are very hard, well
not Earth from gym 2, but earth from gym one very hard, a very
unforgiving, but it was a lot of fun and I love it And so I got
that, I got a big, I'm super excited.
I think I mentioned it a while back but the mapping out the
rear rear universe video I've been working on going to have a
special guest on it.

It's going to be super cool,
super pumped for that one.

I'm just waiting for the guests
to finish their part, but it's going to be something really
special.

If you love Diddy Kong Racing,
Banjo Kazooie, any rare, rare game, basically of all time,
it's going to be represented in some way there.
So I'm super stoked for that.

But yeah, it's been been a lot
of fun.

It's been a wild ride.
Yeah, just keeps growing.

Yeah, you're plugging away, man.
The stuff is is.

Awesome rocket robot on wheels
as well, if you want to hear a little bit more about that.
From jiggy and breaking things down, from gameplay to music to
sound to all of that stuff.

You hear a little bit more about
that on his YouTube page and I want to address something.
Yes, please do I.

Want to address something?
Rocket.

Robot on wheels, plural.
OK, it's real, but I want to defend it, OK?
Because I never even thought about that until you said this
by the.

Way I I feel.
Like I've seen people pointed out and be like it's rocket
robot on wheel, not wheels, right?
But he does drive a lot of vehicles.
Oh, that's true.

And he.
Does that like?

So many vehicles without the
game, so I'm defending wheels as the proper title.
So that, let's face it, Rocket robot on.
Wheel just sounds it sounds bad.

Yeah, or like.
Unicycle robot.

Like it just wouldn't, wouldn't
quite work.

Yeah, Rocket the circus robot.
Yeah, right.

I mean, but then that just
doesn't.

Sound as appealing?
You know, like it just doesn't

Rocket Cycle Bot.
It's like.

Yeah, OK, I'm done.
No, no, it's good.

You know what I.
Literally never even thought about it until you said that.
Well, that's a good.

Thing or not, I got it.
Yeah, I.

Don't know if that's a good
thing that I never thought about it, but yeah, go play this game,
Don't think about it.

Don't think about it, just play
it.

Yeah, and I just I just
subscribed so.

Yeah, word.
Yeah, there you go.

And another one, lock them in.
Remember 64 Show, Across the

Board patreon.com/remember 64
Show.

You can also get all the all the
episodes early.

There you can find us across
social media, Remember 64 show and yeah some some gameplay
videos and get a video version of this.
We're referencing the video of me playing and being terrible at
at most games that we play on the show.
That's because we haven't playing while we're recording
episodes.

If you want to see what we're
talking about, that's the best way to find it.
And other than that, some pretty fun games coming up as 2024
continues.

And until next time, everybody,
thank you very much for joining us.
Jiggy Bill, thanks for being here and we will see you next
time on Remember 64.