Games of the Abstract: Rockin' Kats (1991)

 

Developer: Atlus

Publisher: Atlus

One Player

Nintendo Entertainment System

 

Atlus, starting in 1986, became famous for the likes of the Megami Tensei series, an RPG franchise which would last for decades and where even its spin-off series, Persona, is as successful and well regarded. Altus has made other games however, and with some exceptions like Catherine (2011), their psychodrama in a puzzle game mould, many have been lost to time. Many sound compelling, like the Trauma Centre franchise, which looked at Nintendo Wii and DS motion controls/styluses and thought performing medical surgery was the right way to use their mechanics as consoles. Rockin’ Kats, as a prolific collaborator with Nintendo, is a traditional 2D platformer but for Atlus is interesting as a cute one in which the story is presented like a cartoon TV series on a TV for the level select, where an anthropomorphic cat has to constantly rescue his girlfriend from a dog Mafioso per level.

The protagonist, Willy, has in his arsenal a boxing glove gun which works also as a grappling hook. Unlike what you would presume, being pulled directly forwards where the gloves goes, Willy swings in full circles unless you contact a solid object or wall, which means that there is a different game play challenge when swinging and making sure you fly off in the direction you wish to, including some moments of swinging over precarious bodies of water. The glove, when shot down, allows for a double jump, as is being able to be launched back when hitting a trash can/rock. It could seem paradoxical to say this, but this can be fiddly to use as game play mechanics but not because the mechanics are faulty, but because you need to get used to the dexterity required, a game play style which would be fleshed out and made easy to pull off, but able to be mastered at a god tier skill level, in a modern indie game based on this structure. Only the restrictions as an older game feel involved in struggling with the commands, and it is telling the secret level when you beat the main story, which ups the difficulty, is as much about mastering the glove’s many tricks to even progress.

The result is a bright NES game, finding oneself against plate spinning pandas in a carnival, which gets into a horror setting midway through, to travelling in the air in literal dog fights. Notwithstanding Native American stereotypes in the western level, it is a wholesome world if with spike traps, goons with guns and women dropping plant pots out of their multi-floor windows out of spite, even if one of the funnier moments is that the way to beat the mob boss’ goliath gorilla henchmen is to get between his legs and constantly punch his testicles. It is a challenge, but there are health pickups, as well as its additional options on the level select. Mini games exist to earn more lives and coins, and as you earn coins in levels too, you can buy secondary weapons in a store, which can be selectable at any time on its own button, weapons which are unlimited in use and effective, be it a super punch or the ability increase one’s jump height. It is an admirable production, a playful game which does win you over even if it is another game which hides its difficulty in its cute veneer. Rockin’ Kats was also a one-off, something which never returned in Atlus’ back catalogue and is thus an obscurity in their midst which is worth tracking down.