Rocket Panda Review for Mega Drive / Genesis

Rocket Panda is only available on Mega Drive/Genesis as a physical game with box and manual on Mega Cat Studio’s webshop for €45,95.

Saying the Mega Drive/Genesis homebrew community is thriving is a bit of an understatement. In the past few years, several publishers have emerged, specializing in these nice collector products, each with boxed physical copies available for dozens of different games. Most of these games start on Kickstarter and eventually get picked up by one of these publishers. In this case, Rocket Panda got funded on Kickstarter in no time, sent out all the games to the backers, and found a publisher to breathe extra life into the project. Mega Cat Studios picked it up, and now Rocket Panda is available for all non-backers.

Biscuits and Tea

The karaoke-style lyrics that hop along with the peppy theme song and animation tell you everything you need to know about Rocket Panda. He’s a rocket-propelled panda superhero who loves tea, biscuits, and wafers. This unusual fascination with British snacks and beverages dominates the game’s theme. Rocket Panda’s nemesis, Biscuit Head, has invaded the panda’s home realm, conveniently called Biscuit Land. The story could have used more literary spice—perhaps with a visit to a thesaurus-, but that’s nitpicking. As a token of his evilness, Biscuit Head has also kidnapped all of Panda’s badger friends.

As the superhero he is, Rocket Panda sets out on a path of vengeance to rescue his badger buddies and grind Biscuit Head to proverbial crumbs. Or would that be literal?

Sacrificing badgers

Across six worlds (not counting the brief introductory one), Rocket Panda uses his rocket to propel himself through 60 levels filled with obstacles. Expect fireworks, UFOs, and other hazards in search of his caged-up badger friends. Once rescued, the badgers dangle alongside Panda, and you need to find a door that serves as the level exit. First, though, you must find the key, which puts you and your badgers in harm’s way as well. Awkwardly, getting hit by any hazard kills one of those cute badgers, only leaving a ghostly silhouette of said badger at the place death. Once you’re out of badgers, Rocket Panda himself will perish. This clearly indicated that Rocket Panda sacrifices the badgers to save himself. He can only defend his actions by declaring it’s a “Sophie’s choice” to offer up one badger to better the chance to rescue the others. I doubt this will result in a Biscuit Land parliamentary hearing regarding to the tendency of its hero to self-preservate at the expense of others. It just wouldn’t feel right to let this collateral damage left unmentioned.

Each world contains 10 levels that progressively get harder. The first two or three levels in each world are quite easy, with many badgers rescued, but the further you go, the hairier things can get. The word “can” is intentional, as I never encountered truly brain-breaking puzzles or sections that tested hand-eye coordination beyond an average degree. In general, the levels tease difficulty without actually delivering it. Of course, achieving maximum points—rescuing all the badgers, eating all the biscuits, and beating the timer—takes practice, and in some cases, a lot of practice. However, frustration is not what Space Pants Games aims to evoke.

Floaty Panda!

Finding a teacup in a level grants you a powerful rocket-fueled (or tea-fueled) burst straight ahead, or slightly in the direction you steer Rocket Panda. It lets you smash through obstacles like wafers (yes, cookies), enemies, and some hazards. It’s wildly uncontrolled, though, so use it with care!

Controlling Rocket Panda is steady and predictable. Back in the day, games of this style often added difficulty by playing with gravity and physics, intentionally using it to add difficulty. But keeping Rocket Panda afloat is surprisingly balanced and not frustrating at all. By staying away from adding difficulty through controls and physics, the game encourages you to take risks with tight corners and other maneuvers, often with gratifying results.

Visuals and design

The food-themed worlds and levels look nice enough, though they don’t push the Mega Drive to its limits. All the levels are colorful but lack detail, especially in the backgrounds. Adding more “art design” to the backgrounds would be something you’d expect as a token of innovation in current retro platformer development. Developers today often incorporate modern standards into 2D game design, as Bitmap Bureau did so well with Xeno Crisis. Most sprites, with a few exceptions, look rather plain. On the other hand, Rocket Panda is well-animated and extremely cute, both in the intro scene and sprite work. The game clearly applies modern flair to classic development.

Panda Tunes

The music features hallmarks of authentic Mega Drive sound. The deep synths that unmistakably identify the six-channel FM YM2612 chip, beloved by Mega Drive connoisseurs, ridiculed by ‘SNES-people’. In general the few tunes are very cheery and good enough to hear multiple times per playthrough. As a side note, I couldn’t help but associate one of the game’s songs with the theme of the US version of The Office. The visions of the Dunder Mifflin office building were dancing through my head as I played.

Panda Asteroids

As a fun little pack-in Rocket Panda also includes a mini-game. If you want to play an Asteroids-like shooter that adds extra value to the overall package.

Constantly middle of the road

In conclusion, Rocket Panda never fully commits to leaving kids behind for difficulty or going all-in on a kid-friendly experience. The result lingers in between—never truly challenging hardened gamers but occasionally too finicky for inexperienced gamers. Let’s be honest, these kind of releases are aimed at long time gamers and collectors that probably prefer a bit more challenge. The game is already pretty accessible with all worlds available through a menu form the get-go, rather than being locked behind progression. Similarly, there’s no real punishment for dying, aside from missing out on the “No Death” bonus. However, the level design and challenge stays too consistently mild throughout all the worlds, with little variation in approach. Many of the game’s core mechanics, such as switches, are introduced early on and don’t evolve much as you progress.

Be sure to check out our other Retro homebrew release reviews.