Rocket Riot Review (XBLA)

Comparing Rocket Riot to other games only works so well; it may take one idea from a game, one from another, and so on. You could call it a dual-stick shooter like so many other XBLA titles, but this ignores its focus on multiplayer fun and the unusual ways you move and fight. Rocket Riot is a 2D side-scrolling shooter inside a variety of arenas, and your cartoony blob of a character flies around thanks to having a rocket pack where his feet should be. He also attacks with a rocket launcher, albeit one very affected by gravity; you’ll have to carefully arc your shots to hit targets at long range, or just toss up a close range barrage.

Gravity and inertia affect both your movement and attacks, though using these skillfully in conjunction with the stage’s terrain will help a lot. You can either bounce off of objects or blast through them (or avoid them, I suppose), use terrain for cover, and go searching for power-ups within it. Suddenly the game sounds a lot more like a dual-stick shooter with influences from Spacewar, Lunar Lander, and the Worms series... and that’s a good thing.

The power-ups range in effects from just making the game more fun to look at, to giving you rapid-fire or homing rockets, or offering defensive options, and even handicapping you in funny ways like making you bounce off all walls like they were pinball bumpers. They all add up to a game that is very fast and frantic, striking a nice balance of rewarding good skill in movement and aim while making sure newer players won’t be completely overwhelmed.