Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day (SNES) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
669A playthrough of Viacom New Media's 1994 license-based action-puzzle game for the Super Nintendo, Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day.
Played through on the hard difficulty level.
Rocko's Modern Life was one of the three Nickelodeon-based SNES games that Viacom published (alongside Nickelodeon GUTS! and Aaahh! Real Monsters), and though it seems that people tend to look back upon the classic cartoon far more favorably than they do this action-puzzler cart, I honestly don't think Rocko's Modern Life: Spunky's Dangerous Day deserves quite the level of harshness that I've seen aimed at it in modern reviews.
At it's core, it does indeed earn its label as an "extended escort mission," though I don't mean it pejoratively as most people seem to. The game, spanning four "episodes," features Rocko (a wallaby) doing his utmost to prevent Spunky (his brainless dog) from blithely wandering into mortal danger as he pursues whatever object his canine laser-focus locks onto. Spunky's not suicidal - he's too dumb for that - but if you don't look out for him, "death by misadventure" is pretty much guaranteed.
Instead of keeping Spunky in the house, installing an electric fence, or picking him up and walking home with the damned mutt in a vice-like grip, Rocko follows his cognitively-challenged K9 pal, clearing the path ahead of Spunky so that the pooch can safely reach the golden fire hydrant in each stage. Presumably to relieve himself on it.
For Rocko, this means flipping switches, strategically placing treats, and beating up anything that moves. Since Spunky doesn't listen to any commands and marches relentlessly onward, if you don't throw a distraction in front of him, he will go full-on lemming if you aren't being diligent enough in your efforts. If he gets to a puddle and you haven't left him a makeshift raft, he'll probably drown. If you don't turn a dryer on before he gets to it, he'll jump inside and will promptly get... laundered. It's unpleasant.
The puzzle elements are pretty light and nothing requires much thought once you've figured out where the coveted golden fire hydrant lurks in each stage. It can be entertaining if all you want is to just veg out with your mouth open, controller in hand. We all have those moments, right?
The graphics and sound are great. The characters all look just like their TV counterparts, and the stages all reflect some element of the show. Most of the favorite side characters show up too, though I do lament the seeming lack of Mrs. Big Head and her, "Ooooh Ed!" soundbite. The music is distinctly lacking any B52's vocals, but the tunes are here are pretty catchy - I especially liked the last stage's tune.
There are a couple of big snags here, though. Big enough to bring it down from being potentially good to being flat-out mediocre. The gameplay is really uneven - there will be stretches where you're made to wait a solid 10-20 seconds for Spunky to catch up to you, but then there will also be patches where you barely have enough time to juggle both babysitting and clearing the path. It doesn't help matters that the controls are so frustratingly imprecise. It's entirely too difficult to aim a jump, and you'll often get hit and fall off of/through platforms because of the wonky hit detection.
If the pacing and difficulty had been smoothed out and the controls fixed, I think we'd have a better-than-average game here. As it is, Rocko's Modern Life still isn't a terrible game by any means. It's just not a very good one, either. As far as Nickelodeon games go, though, it's head-and-shoulders above any Ren & Stimpy game on the system. Not a ringing endorsement, granted, but it has got to count for something, right?
If nothing else, it does scratch a funny, nostalgic itch. I absolutely adored the show as a kid.
_
No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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