Rex Rocket is a game I personally found very fun, bottom line.

It's a light metroidvania (only a little bit of backtracking and ability-gating) with many platforming, shooting, and enemy gauntlets. I've owned this game since March 2018, and it's one of the older games on my Steam account so I have a fondness for it. Music is excellent, story is pretty typical but it's fine, graphics are chunky and can be a bit ugly but I like them. Bosses are bullet sponges admittedly, but they don't take longer than about a minute or 2 if you are doing constant damage.

I have played through this game 3 times, and each time did the hardest challenges available. And I just have to say, there are a lot of Skill Issues in these reviews. The game is HARD, but it's not unfair in my opinion, and the controls are fine unlike what quite a few of the reviews say. They are a bit stiff for the walljump specifically, but you can easily get used to it. If I played through this game 3 times and enjoyed it enough to do that, then that should tell you it's worth playing for the $1CDN it is. (It used to be I think $12, but the devs moved onto other projects and basically dumped this one.)

Pretty unfortunate it's getting blasted like this in the reviews when it doesn't deserve that in my opinion. So here's my positive review and recommendation. Worst case? You didn't like the game and wasted $1. Big deal.

bro this game is really awesome, it has alot of references like toy story and more. thought it was going to be ez, wrong, is incredibly harder than i thought and has really good mechanics. i could easily say that this is one of my fav underground indie game.

funny and interesting too, thanks for nice little gem

Steam doesn't allow us to go "meh" or "maybe" with our reviews. Keep that in mind.

So.
What's it been?
3 years?
5?
(Possibly 7?)
Since I last played Rex Rocket?

I picked it up again yesterday, the 23rd of September (2023), figuring maybe this could scratch my metroidvania itch.

I'll just tell you this: I'm fresh off of Blasphemous 2 (which I, after acquiring it earlier in the month, "beat" about 10 days ago).
I've played through After Image, and am close to finishing it.
I actually did complete, both, 9 Years of Shadows and Ender Lilies, with 100% achievements unlocked for both.
3,000th Duel is under my belt.
I attained the 3rd level of difficulty, legitimately, in Dead Cells, a couple of years ago.
There is no "cheating" in Summum Aeterna — yet, (after having taken a 2 month break from it), I've managed to graduate to its 60th, and then 70th, levels, 3 days ago.


I supply you this background regarding some of the other metroidvanias I've dabbled in, to bolster my argument that, in 2023, I have no memory of any other game making me involuntarily curse at it in rage, quite as much as Rex Rocket's managed, over these last two days.
(Probably, 4 minutes' worth of raging, thus far.)

Why?

There has to be something "not quite right" with that charge jump mechanic; and, Rex Rocket's controls don't feel like they're as tight as they need to be, for the precision it asks of me (the player).

All the missed jumps; and the sliding off of the one-tile squares, when attempting to stabilize myself; and being knocked into the death juice by enemies, over and over (who could have not been placed more serendipitously, if God himself had attempted to divinely intervene in the matter)?
Yeah.
I guess my vocal chords are lucky I have a roommate down the hall.

Otherwise.....

---

Fortunately for R. Rocket, Death seems to be, but, a slap on the wrist, in this game.

´Still supremely frustrating though — and I can't actually recall, off•hand, the last time it was I found myself getting pi$$ed off because of the game, and not at myself, because of my own Skill Issue.



I know, no further updates are forthcoming for Rex Rocket...
...But, if I had one wish, it'd be, to make the gun•pogoing more reliable.
There are plenty of ways to make one's product Nintendo Hard.
That isn't one of them.



Yeah.
I suppose there was a reason I called it quits, all those years ago.
(I wonder if Valkyrie Profile 2 would give me as much trouble?)


(p.s. — Order of Eccelesia?
Beaten the main game years ago, on the tiny little DS.)

This game is very similar to Mega Man.

I love how the keys can be mapped to any keys on the keyboard.

Very appealing 2D graphics

Checkpoints that are reasonably placed along the levels.

I will definitely have to play this game more.

The download is small and the game contains achievements and trading cards.

Worth the purchase.

cute ass game well worth the dollar

a really nice game give me a vibe betwin duke nukem bio menace a megaman

Incredible platformer with metroidvania influences. Very difficult but extremely satisfying.

If you are looking for an action platformer requiring tight precision and keen reflexes, then look no further. The Metroid lineage is present in upgrades expanding your mobility and allowing you to traverse areas previously inaccessible, eventually letting you acquire optional enhancements and weapons. However, the progression of the game is fairly linear: do not expect an extensive map to explore with plenty of secrets and backtracking like Super Metroid or Castlevania.

Still, what the game does it does superbly: you have a series of platforming challenges proposed with a fair learning curve. It starts easy, but with each tool you get you are expected to master it and use it competently in the next part of the game. This keeps the game fresh with new trials: I rarely had the impression of repeated rooms presenting the same test.

Rex Rocket presents itself as a love letter to old-school classics. While this label is entirely correct, it never degenerates into pandering to obsolete conventions or frustrating design decisions. It is a deliberate and smart homage to what made those classics great. In the end it manages to be original and rises above the status of mere tribute. 9 hours of such quality content for less than a buck is a steal.

I recommend this is to anyone who is a full on experience classic gamer.


I would have gave this a 10/10 if L.A.U.R.E.N hadn't kicked my butt a 100 times but for real, I'm giving this a 10/10. This game is really nostalgic and great! I recommend this game for sure :)

Rex Rocket

10/10