Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is a top-down adventure game that has all the qualities of the perfect date: it's fun, charming, lasts just long enough and has great replay value.
From beginning to end, this game truly looks like a blast. Rocket Slime is rich with 2-D sprites done in bright, bold colors and backgrounds that are perfect cartoonish settings for Rocket, the hero slime, to bounce around in. Each place, from Rocket's hometown of Boingburg to the most remote areas on the overworld map has its own unique and fitting ambiance, from a desert location with intensely golden sand and prickly cacti enemies to a high mountain rife with deep purple rocks, caves full of cobwebs and items that weigh a slimeton.
The game begins in Boingburg when everyone in town is kidnapped by a group of miscreants called the Plob. Rocket, mistaken for a worm after he swallows a flute, is left behind. Despite being a little slime in a big bad world, Rocket bounces forward endearingly with a constant silly smile, making him something of an absurd hero. As Rocket, your goal is to rescue all 100 of your friends and family to repopulate the town bit by bit.
Doing so is admittedly a very easy, but never boring task. Rocket's body of goo is perfect for bouncing, stretching and even flinging across the screen—just like a rubber band shot at his enemies! Not only is this easy Elasto Blast maneuver perfect for getting from one point to another quickly, it is extremely effective at sending your enemies or items flying into the air to much comedic effect. If you can get Rocket beneath them, they will pile up on his head; thankfully the slime can carry three things at once, allowing for quick and efficient collection in a game that rewards the accumulation of everything you can fit on the trains back to Boingburg.
Rocket's body and its bouncing, stretching, ultra-strong gooey-ness is all you need to succeed, as each level's puzzles allow you use Rocket's abilities in a fresh new way. No task is too challenging, since you don't have to learn new button combinations, but I was consistenly amazed at each innovative new use of the controls as I figured out what I was supposed to do. Since the gameplay changes with each radically different stage, the ease with which I bounced through never seemed dull.
The best part of Rocket Slime is undoubtedly the Tank Battles. In order to defeat the Plob minibosses, Rocket must use the same flute that he swallowed at the beginning of the game to summon his Schleiman Tank, a mythical enemy ass-kicking mechanism that rains fire and destruction on whatever it opposes. Here's where all the items that you've diligently tossed onto the cart back to Boingburg come in handy. Rocket can customize a deadly arsenal for his tank, using all the crazy items lying about the levels as ammunition. Some friends that he saves can also be chosen as comrades for his battles, each with different abilities. In these battles, you and your slimepals must run around gathering all the ammo you can to toss into the cannons at your enemy. You and your friends also make good ammo—I almost died of laughter the first time I got chucked into the cannon accidentally and zoomed across the screen into the enemy's cockpit.
Rocket Slime is a quick, satisfying caper to finish at a little over ten hours for the main quest. Even after the credits roll, though, there is still much to be done. A character that Rocket saves during his adventure will allow you to throw items together in recipes that create bigger, cooler items to use for ammo. There are minigames to play, and a Tank Masters challenge that will likely find you sweating to become the top slime. The Boingburg residents have requests of their own, usually for items, that you are asked to fulfill. Moreover, the town museum is woefully empty of specimens. This provides the potential for hours of item-fetching goodness, which can get a little tiring but always allows for something to pick up when you're bored.
The only qualm I have with Rocket Slime is that multiplayer mode requires players to have their own cartridge. I don't know many friends with this quirky title, and I shrink at the idea of letting them play with my own highly customized tank, so it would be nice if I could battle against friends who were provided a generic tank, much in the vein of Mario Kart.
Overall, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is quite satisfying. As a busy college student, I found its pick-up-and-playability convenient, its level-design intriguing, and its characters and gameplay downright candy sweet—and just like that perfect date, the game ends just before it begins to get nauseating, leaving you with a warm glowing sensation and, maybe, a goodnight kiss.
From beginning to end, this game truly looks like a blast. Rocket Slime is rich with 2-D sprites done in bright, bold colors and backgrounds that are perfect cartoonish settings for Rocket, the hero slime, to bounce around in. Each place, from Rocket's hometown of Boingburg to the most remote areas on the overworld map has its own unique and fitting ambiance, from a desert location with intensely golden sand and prickly cacti enemies to a high mountain rife with deep purple rocks, caves full of cobwebs and items that weigh a slimeton.
Saving your game is painfully cute.
The game begins in Boingburg when everyone in town is kidnapped by a group of miscreants called the Plob. Rocket, mistaken for a worm after he swallows a flute, is left behind. Despite being a little slime in a big bad world, Rocket bounces forward endearingly with a constant silly smile, making him something of an absurd hero. As Rocket, your goal is to rescue all 100 of your friends and family to repopulate the town bit by bit.
Doing so is admittedly a very easy, but never boring task. Rocket's body of goo is perfect for bouncing, stretching and even flinging across the screen—just like a rubber band shot at his enemies! Not only is this easy Elasto Blast maneuver perfect for getting from one point to another quickly, it is extremely effective at sending your enemies or items flying into the air to much comedic effect. If you can get Rocket beneath them, they will pile up on his head; thankfully the slime can carry three things at once, allowing for quick and efficient collection in a game that rewards the accumulation of everything you can fit on the trains back to Boingburg.
Rocket's body and its bouncing, stretching, ultra-strong gooey-ness is all you need to succeed, as each level's puzzles allow you use Rocket's abilities in a fresh new way. No task is too challenging, since you don't have to learn new button combinations, but I was consistenly amazed at each innovative new use of the controls as I figured out what I was supposed to do. Since the gameplay changes with each radically different stage, the ease with which I bounced through never seemed dull.
Raining fire and death upon your enemies!
Rocket Slime is a quick, satisfying caper to finish at a little over ten hours for the main quest. Even after the credits roll, though, there is still much to be done. A character that Rocket saves during his adventure will allow you to throw items together in recipes that create bigger, cooler items to use for ammo. There are minigames to play, and a Tank Masters challenge that will likely find you sweating to become the top slime. The Boingburg residents have requests of their own, usually for items, that you are asked to fulfill. Moreover, the town museum is woefully empty of specimens. This provides the potential for hours of item-fetching goodness, which can get a little tiring but always allows for something to pick up when you're bored.
Rocket's unchanging expression of joy indicates nothing of the danger he is in as he sabotages his enemy's tank.
The only qualm I have with Rocket Slime is that multiplayer mode requires players to have their own cartridge. I don't know many friends with this quirky title, and I shrink at the idea of letting them play with my own highly customized tank, so it would be nice if I could battle against friends who were provided a generic tank, much in the vein of Mario Kart.
Overall, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime is quite satisfying. As a busy college student, I found its pick-up-and-playability convenient, its level-design intriguing, and its characters and gameplay downright candy sweet—and just like that perfect date, the game ends just before it begins to get nauseating, leaving you with a warm glowing sensation and, maybe, a goodnight kiss.