Rocket: Robot on Wheels is a video game for Nintendo 64

Nintendo 64

The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...

, developed by Sucker Punch Productions

Sucker Punch Productions

Sucker Punch Productions is an American production company founded in 1997 and based in Bellevue, Washington. It was an independent company until August 2011, but had worked exclusively with Sony Computer Entertainment since 2000. Sony acquired Sucker Punch on August 2, 2011.-History:In late 1999,...

 and published by Ubisoft

Ubisoft

Ubisoft Entertainment S.A. is a major French video game publisher and developer, with headquarters in Montreuil, France. The company has a worldwide presence with 25 studios in 17 countries and subsidiaries in 26 countries....

, released in 1999. In the game the player takes control over Rocket, the title robot

Robot

A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

, who despite the title has only one wheel. This was the first game developed by Sucker Punch Productions

Sucker Punch Productions

Sucker Punch Productions is an American production company founded in 1997 and based in Bellevue, Washington. It was an independent company until August 2011, but had worked exclusively with Sony Computer Entertainment since 2000. Sony acquired Sucker Punch on August 2, 2011.-History:In late 1999,...

, who would later develop the Sly Cooper

Sly Cooper

Sly Cooper is a series of platform stealth video games for the Sony PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. The series was developed by Sucker Punch Productions for the first three games, and then it was passed on to Sanzaru Games while Sucker Punch continued work on the Infamous series...

series and Infamous

Infamous

Infamous may refer to:* Infamous , a 2006 film* Infamous Mobb, Queens rap group* The Infamous, a 1995 album by Mobb Deep* DJ Infamous, a record producer and former world champion DJ...

for Sony

Sony

, commonly referred to as Sony, is a Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan and the world's fifth largest media conglomerate measured by revenues....

. Rocket was also notable for its use of a relatively advanced physics engine

Physics engine

A physics engine is computer software that provides an approximate simulation of certain physical systems, such as rigid body dynamics , soft body dynamics, and fluid dynamics, of use in the domains of computer graphics, video games and film. Their main uses are in video games , in which case the...

. The game had also been developed under the title Sprocket until three months before its release, when it was changed due to copyright

Copyright

Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

 concerns.

Story

Rocket belongs to Dr. Gavin, the architect and owner of Whoopie World, a futuristic zoo and theme park. On the night before opening day, he goes to a party, leaving Rocket in charge of all the animals and two mascots: Whoopie the walrus and his sidekick Jojo the raccoon. As soon as Gavin leaves, Rocket sees Jojo looking over his plans to ruin opening day and replace the park with Jojo World. Before he can do anything, Jojo knocks out Rocket with a mallet and takes the teleporter down into the park, bringing Whoopie with him. Now Rocket must rescue Whoopie, free the animals, find the tickets and tokens Jojo has scattered throughout the park, and catch the raccoon, all before Dr. Gavin returns.

Gameplay

The game has six differently themed worlds (not including the final level), all connected to the main Whoopie World area. Each world is opened by finding a requisite amount of tickets in the other worlds. On the way, the player must learn new moves and techniques from a maintenance robot named Tinker in exchange for tokens found throughout the park. Each world has at least one vehicle, used for solving puzzles and getting tickets. After collecting enough tickets from throughout the park, the player can gain entry to the final stage, Jojo World, where Jojo is finally confronted.

Reception

Rocket: Robot on Wheels was listed as the "24th Best Nintendo 64 Game of All Time" in Nintendo Power

Nintendo Power

Nintendo Power magazine is a monthly news and strategy magazine formerly published in-house by Nintendo of America, but now run independently. As of issue #222 , Nintendo contracted publishing duties to Future US, the U.S. subsidiary of British publisher Future.The first issue published was...

 magazine's 20th anniversary issue.

Trivia

• In Sucker Punch's Sly 2 Band of Thieves, the 5th world has several tombstones that say "R.I.P Rocket".
• In Sucker Punch's Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
  Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
  Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus is a platform stealth video game created by Sucker Punch Productions, and released on the Sony PlayStation 2 in 2002, subsequently republished as a "Greatest Hits" title. The game was followed by two sequels, Sly 2: Band of Thieves and Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves...
  
  in the video sequence after defeating Muggshot if you look close at Murray he is wearing a hat with "WW" on it this is a reference to Whoopie World from Rocket: Robot on Wheels.