by Lisa Callaway

Created on: February 05, 2009   Last Updated: February 09, 2009

Adventures of Rick Rocket

Rating 5/5

Installing the game was flawless.

The instruction are refreshingly simple and clear. The graphics are bright, colorful and crisp. The stars in space are very nicely done. The planets were not over or under done; they appeared 'natural' as did the stars.The spacing of all the elements was well thought out.

The game ran perfectly; not even a hitch. I was very impressed with that aspect.

Game-play was also smooth. My spaceship was quick and responsive. The keys used for game-play were close together and simple.

The arrow pointing the player in the direction of the closest asteroid to explode, enemy or ship to dock with is great. It made game-play fast with no pauses in between fast paced shooting action. I wasn't left to fly around trying to find my objective, ever.

Games with asteroids and spaceships have been done to death over the years but this game can't be added to that pile. When I began playing the game, I thought it would be a typical asteroid game but pleasantly surprised.

The first mission was really easy; fun but easy. I expected the game to get increasingly difficult with each mission but it didn't. I liked that the missions varied in difficulty.

The first and second missions I won a bronze medal. The second mission was a little more difficult than the first but easy and fun.

The third mission really increased in difficulty. I had to destroy the larger of the enemy ships while trying to defend my ship against the smaller enemy spaceships.I failed the first two times. After I failed the first time, I was instructed to let my two wingmen take care of the smaller ships and I should destroy the larger ships. I tried that strategy the second time but there were too many smaller enemy ships for those two wingmen.

On the third try to complete the third mission, I left the two wingmen in the melee with the many enemy ships. I went off to find a larger enemy ship that was all alone and hadn't started deploying the smaller ships. I lined up behind the larger ship and fired repeatedly. As long as I stayed in line with the ship it was easy. The smaller ships were destroyed as soon as they exited and with none of the other ships even near me it was easy to destroy the larger ship. Then on to the next larger ship that was by itself. I received another bronze medal.

The fourth mission was very easy. I received another bronze medal.

The fifth mission was easy as well. I received another bronze medal.

The sixth mission was a little harder but I received a silver medal!

Now, the seventh mission was a complete surprise. When the 'worm' suddenly appeared, I thought, 'Coooool'. On the second try I defeated the worm. I accidentally flew my ship in the center of the large circle being made by the worm. Since the worm just continued to circle, I stayed in one spot and fired. There were no other ships around to fire on my ship. I had to fire repeatedly to defeat the worm and it took a while but there was no challenge after I found the center of the worm's path. I received a gold medal for this mission.

The eight mission was easy and fun.

The music was appropriate. Sound quality was good; not too loud or soft.

I wanted my five year old to play the game. She will love it as will my nieces and nephews who range it age from twelve to seventeen. As an adult who has played many games, I thoroughly enjoyed playing.

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