The Nintendo 64, while simultaneously renowned and infamous for doing many things, is arguably best remembered for defining the 3D platforming genre. When Super Mario 64 released in 1996, it didn't just blow everyone’s socks off; it revolutionised home console gaming and set the gold standard for platformers for years to come — or at least it would have done if Rare’s Banjo-Kazooie hadn't arrived two years later. The system may have struggled to compete against Sony’s PlayStation, but it’s fair to say that it was completely unrivalled when it came to its quality 3D-platformer offerings.
With that said, this lasting legacy of excellence in the field of 3D platforming is somewhat plagued by the misconception that the above examples — and Rare’s 2000 follow-up, Banjo-Tooie — are the only N64 games in this genre that are really worth playing. It’s a lazy narrative that fits all too easily into any telling of the N64's history; there were only a few good games, primarily first- and second- party releases, hence why it was vastly outsold by its competitor. But there were far more factors at play than just the number of titles available, and out of the 387 that did get released, there was actually a good number of great games — our ongoing #Nintendo64x64 project is proof of that.
Coming back to 3D platformers, many third-party games were overshadowed by the first- and second-party line-up. While quality was usually the main factor for this, some just didn't get the attention they deserved, although none more so than Rocket: Robot on Wheels. Released in 1999 and developed by Sucker Punch Productions — you may be more familiar with their more recent titles in the Infamous and Sly Cooper series — this was, in fact, the first game ever released by the studio. For an inaugural release, it was incredibly impressive, and while it’s sadly not remembered by the masses as such, it most certainly outclassed Nintendo and Rare’s own efforts in many ways.
We recently caught up with Don Munsil, who was largely responsible for the game’s impressive design, to discuss how this underrated classic came to be.
Rocket: Robot on Wheels is a 3D platforming game that had one key difference back in the day: it featured a realistic physics engine which played a key role in the core gameplay. “The pitch was ‘Mario 64 meets The Incredible Machine’, which was a great concept”, Don tell us. In case you’re wondering, The Incredible Machine is a series of a video games produced by the now-defunct studio, Jeff Tunnell Productions, in which the player is tasked with building absurdly complex contraptions in order to perform incredibly simple tasks.
The physics engine on Rocket is astonishingly good and something that Nintendo didn't really think was possible.
It’s an idea that’s firmly embedded into Rocket: Robot on Wheels’ very essence. Much like other 3D platforming games at the time, the player is tasked with obtaining desirable items known as “challenge tickets” which are the Rocket equivalent to Super Mario’s power stars. Acquiring these typically involves completing a physics-based puzzle or platforming segment. The game’s hero, a robot that — as the game's title suggests — moves around on a large wheel (meaning it should technically be "Robot on Wheel"), has numerous abilities and vehicles you can call upon to achieve said tasks, such as a tractor beam which served as the main tool through which to manipulate objects in the game’s world.
It was Sucker Punch Productions’ founders, Chris Zimmerman, Brian Fleming and Bruce Oberg, who came up with the basic concept for the game and its character. “Chris Zimmerman had a vision of being able to do a full-scale physics engine on an N64, and he had (and has) the technical chops to be able to do it”, Don explains. “Let me tell you: I'm a very good engineer. I've been programming professionally for my entire working life and I like to think I know some things. Chris Zimmerman is way out of my league. He's Carmack-good. Or maybe Carmack is Zimmerman-good. The physics engine on Rocket is astonishingly good and something that Nintendo didn't really think was possible”.
Don isn't exaggerating when he speaks highly of both his former colleague and the quality of the game’s physics engine. The things which the game allows you to do, while relatively primitive by today’s standards, were remarkable for its time: platforming segments in which you used friction and gravity to manipulate and traverse the environment and being able to throw objects which would roll, bounce and behave in a lifelike manner added a surprising amount of realism to what was otherwise a far-fetched premise. Don tells us that the emphasis on physics was borne out of a desire to be seen as doing something unique; an objective that is sadly no longer a priority for many game developers today.
As has been well documented in the past, the N64 is a system that was notoriously difficult to develop for, although it didn't faze Don and his team. “The N64, like a lot of game systems, had a very sketchy development kit that was really hard to deal with”, he says. “We were lucky in that we had a team of experienced ex-Microsoft engineers who were entirely comfortable getting in and going around the dev kit where it was necessary.“ The real development challenge arose from the getting a real-time physics engine to run on the system’s underpowered processor, so much so that Don admits that there were days where the team thought the game wasn't going to work. The final product is a testament to the skill and dedication the team put in: it runs superbly and with very little in the way of slowdown.
While Rocket: Robot on Wheels’ technical prowess is largely attributed to Zimmerman’s input, it was Don’s game design work that gave it an overwhelming amount of heart and soul. “I did most of the writing, came up with the bulk of the different lands and challenge ticket ideas, and built a bunch of the challenges in physics form (which the art department then took and made look astonishingly great)”, he tells us, while going on to acknowledge Art Director Dev Madan as the one who gave the game’s protagonist its personality and look. “The stuff that feels very puzzle-y was pretty much all me”, Don states. With that in mind, it’s pretty clear that Rocket wouldn't be the game that it is had Don not worked on it.
Moreover, Don’s love of theme parks is what essentially gave the game its setting — well that, and it provided a good excuse to have numerous stages without it being an “obvious rip-off of Mario 64”, as the Sucker Punch veteran puts it. There was a clear consensus within the team to ensure their creation be seen as different from Nintendo’s own platforming masterpiece in more areas than just gameplay. “In retrospect, we probably were over-thinking it. Mario demonstrates that you don't really have to explain anything; just make the worlds compelling and people will enjoy them”.
And this is where Rocket: Robot on Wheels truly sets itself apart from similar games on the system. Whereas Super Mario 64 and Banjo-Kazooie gave you areas to explore, Rocket went one step further, providing playgrounds you could truly manipulate and interact with. For example the second stage, Paint Misbehavin’, provides you with a vehicle in which you can change the colour of various bits of the landscape and other objects. Don astutely notes that “it was a rarity at the time to have a world you could change and would stay that way”, going on to highlight that even painting the in-game sheep would make them behave differently depending on what colour you used. It’s something that’s perhaps wasted on us spoilt gamers of today, but even just being able to pick up an object and throw it in an accurate and realistic manner felt remarkably fresh at the time.
Mario demonstrates that you don't really have to explain anything; just make the worlds compelling and people will enjoy them.
All sorts of ideas are explored across each of the game’s worlds, and each one has its own distinct look and feel. The influence of the Heath Robinson-like contraptions that appeared in The Incredible Machine is felt throughout; a prime example of this is a challenge in which you have to build an entire, surprisingly complex roller coaster just to obtain a challenge ticket. Don remarks that his favourite stage is Pyramid Scheme, in which you are able to transform the world into an alternate version — similar to the Dark World transformation in The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past — which in turn enables you to complete challenges that require an interaction across both versions of it. Another stage, the pun-tastically named “Arabian Flights”, is filled with floating buildings in the sky that are connected via the use of a flying magic carpet, which is not only great fun to pilot but also central to completing some of the challenges.
The tasks on offer typically incorporate the central physics concept, but do so to varying degrees of difficulty. Near the beginning there are fairly straightforward challenges, where you throw balls at objects for example, allow you to get to grips with the mechanics. Later on, however, the difficulty level really ramps up, with the game in one instance a throwing complex platforming gauntlet at you which requires precise timing, speed and execution in order to conquer. Of particular note is the very last stage, which requires you to use virtually everything you've learned throughout to get through what is most certainly one of the toughest and most unforgiving moments you can experience on N64. Our words — and even Don’s for that matter — really aren't enough to convey the sense of wonder Rocket offered back in the day; we’d go as far as to say that even today it’s still thoroughly entertaining, and certainly deserving of a digital re-release (although that seems highly unlikely). Nevertheless, this is an N64 game you need to experience in order to truly understand what makes it so different and, in some ways, better than its counterparts.
When asked if he would do anything differently, Don is quick to list many things. “Like any project, you always see the flaws. There were puzzles that were too hard, or too easy, or too obscure. There were challenges that we thought would be a problem that we obsessed over, when it turned out they were fine; it was some other challenge that people were having a tough time with.” Don references the “Chick Tac-Toe” game which appears in the first stage as an example of a challenge that not everybody got. The premise is fairly simple: compete against a robotic chicken at tic-tac-toe by throwing balls at the grid to mark your move. The key to winning, however, is to also throw the balls at the chicken, which distracts it and basically let’s you cheat a win out of it. “That was perhaps too out-there an idea”, admits Don, although the fact that he still hears complaints about it today means that it was obviously memorable too.
Rocket: Robot on Wheels was Sucker Punch Productions’ first release and this understandably had some bearing on the game’s overall success. “ Because we were all new to that process, Rocket didn't sell as well as it could have, and that is frustrating, because we were proud of the game and people who played it liked it”, Don clarifies. “It just didn't get into enough people's hands, and that was partially our fault, in hindsight”. It was an important lesson for the company, and one which it evidently learnt from given its current success. It was nevertheless warmly received by critics upon release, and was even declared Nintendo Power’s 18th Best Nintendo 64 Game of All Time nearly ten years later in 2008.
Sucker Punch Productions’ first foray into game development sadly isn't remembered for the right reasons; it's a game that deserves to be placed on the much vaunted pedestal of quality alongside the likes of Super Mario 64 and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. However, with hindsight comes clarity, and one thing that is definitely clear is that Rocket: Robot on Wheels is proof that high-quality third-party titles do exist within the N64’s limited software library. It sadly isn't a title that's looked back on with nostalgic warmth by millions of players, which in itself is a terrible shame; yet on the flip side, Rocket: Robot on Wheels’ creators can look back on their hard work, safe in the knowledge that what they made was not only unique compared to rival titles at the time, but that it was actually superior to them in many ways.
Our thanks go to Don Munsil for taking the time to speak to us.
Comments 26
The title doesn't and Never did jump out at me. If I had paid more attention then maybe it would've been in my library. Sometimes good games slip through the cracks because well they don't look all that interesting.
I think the protagonist and packaging let the game down in terms of exciting the consumer. There also wasn't any marketing at all really. I own the game but haven't played through it, though I remember my cousin loving it. One thing I do take away from this article, that I have always loved about the N64, was that almost every game had its own engine, built from the ground up and that was trying to accomplish something. It made every title feel unique and organic. Nowadays I despair at the cookie cutter reliance on the Unreal engine. Games now may look different, but feel fundamentally the same. Detest it.
I miss the reign of the N64.
The problem with this (and some other good, "forgotten" games of its time) was that even at the time of its release, the art design (especially of the hero) was somewhat questionable. And, of course, the N64 in particular offered a great number of similar exploration platformers.
By contrast to some other games I never played, I had utterly forgotten that this one even existed. But reading all that praise now, I may give it a try.
Too bad this will never see a VC release
Based on the design of the main character and packaging I can't say I would be immediately interested in this game if I saw it at the store. That being said, I've never heard of this title and it does sound like fun. Too bad.
Another underrated Robot game was 'Metal Arms - Glitch in the system' on Gamecube - was totally awesome!
Brilliant article, thanks for this. One of my fave N64 games this, naturally you had no idea of its relative performance back in the day what with the lack of the internets and any concept of information. But hey. Great game. Not so sure those screenshots are a little too high res... Have you done an article on Glover yet? Another classic.
I had never heard of this before until now.Just watched a video on Youtube and it looks great but that woohoo noise he makes every time he jumps would drive me insane
honestly this games great! i somehow got my hands on this back in the day despite it not being so popular not as good as BK but i still reckon it beats BT!
all the people in here saying they never game it a chance i implore you to do so missing out on one of the 64's greatest!
I hate myself for passing on this at a garage sale for 2 bucks
you should do aswell lol, worth at least 20.
Thank you for this article. Rocket was one of my favorite games on N64. Also, I strongly agree that "one thing that is definitely clear is... that high-quality third-party titles do exist within the N64’s limited software library."
Whenever someone says N64 didn't have strong 3rd party support or exclusives, I immediately know that person is very unfamiliar with the system's library. I can list dozens of top-notch 3rd party exclusives... certainly more than any other 3D Nintendo system has.
This game really is a lot of fun. Glad to see it getting some attention — thanks @MegaWatts!
"The system may have struggled to compete against Sony’s PlayStation, but it’s fair to say that it was completely unrivalled when it came to its quality 3D-platformer offerings."
WHOA WHOA WHOA. I'm real happy for you and Imma let you finish, but all 3 Crash Bandicoot platformers and all 3 Spyro games were the best 3d platformers of all time. Of all time. Spyro 2 is perfect.
I'm a Nintendo fan now, partially because that's where most of the good mascot platformers currently are, but Crash and Spyro were my childhood. </unpopular opinion for NL>
Disclaimer: Haven't played any 3D platformers for the 64. Best ones are Banjo-Kazooie, SM64, and the one in this article?
@sketchturner Totally agree. The N64 had a fantastic range of high quality 3rd party ports, sure it had quite a few high profile duff ports by rubbish teams (Raster - Quake 64 and 2) were it was clear the developers lacked skill and time and may be hindered by being forced to use an 8mb cart due to cost but what console doesn't? The N64 has been very much misrepresented by the gaming press by journalists who did not game in that era and simply repost myths later manufactured by a Playstation loving dominant press.
All EA games post FIFA 64 featured 640x480 resolution, more polygons, texture detail and lighting effects than their PS1 counterparts, all Acclaim 3rd party games were superior on N64 - most running in high resolution, Ubisoft Rayman 2 vastly superior, Vigilante 8 2 - vastly superior, all Midway games were superior on N64 (Rush series, Mortal Kombat 4 etc), Lucas Arts Factor 5 Star Wars...I could go on. The N64 however did miss out on a true Gran Turismo spec racer and a Colin McRae 2.0 level of rally racing and a FF7 but it had every other box ticked!
@Sforzando - you are entitled to your opinion - I would call Crash and Spiro platformers and the N64 games adventure platformers - essentially two different genres that do share similarities.
I say this is because the levels in Crash and Spiro series, while fun - are really very small and linear trawls compared to even the sprawling, multi tiered environments of the first gen Super Mario 64. The Playstation couldn't render the size of worlds required to join the N64s adventure platformer legacy.
Oh--but I have played Mario Kart 64, and Crash Team Racing is vastly superior to that. Fact.
Crash Team Racing is better than Mario Kart 64, true.
I've always wanted to play this game. It's a real shame it'll never end up on the VC. There are too many N64 games that will never see a re-release.
@liveswired They definitely are different types of games. Although I'd say Sypro is more similar to sm64 than it is to Crash Bandicoot.
@SparkOfSpirit That is a difficult one to answer - I still have Crash Racing and I also have the digital download on my PS3 and Vita. I have to give the gameplay to Mario Kart 64 every time though. Crash has a much larger single player game - but that is because it came out 3 years later.
The N64 was awesome for quirky originals. This, Silicon Valley, Glover.
I vaguely remember some kind of arced aiming system in Robot: Rocket on Wheels. I remember having a blast playing it but actual moments slip my memory.... maybe a YouTube let's play will refresh!
I remember this game, it was amazing. This, Space Station Silicon Valley, Glover, to name a few, were some of the best games on the system and best examples of great 3rd party games.
"The influence of the Rube Goldberg-like contraptions that appeared in The Incredible Machine is felt throughout"
There, I fixed it.
edit I keep forgetting this is a UK site, lol!
A pleasant surprise I took a chance on renting long ago and was very surprised at how fun it was.
As a big fan of the Sly Cooper series the fact that Sucker Punch made this game alone makes me want to play it!
I rented this back in the day but honestly didn't remember too much of it. I bought it recently and played it last night and can affirm, yes this game is indeed great. I didn't think the "Chick-Tac-Toe" minigame was too obscure. I figured it out in a minute or two. A sequel would be most welcome (by me at least)
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