ROCKETRON

I have a soft spot for small Japanese doujin studios that quietly release something oddly specific and then disappear back into the internet. ASTRO PORT is exactly that kind of shop, and ROCKETRON is their pivot from the lumbering mech-action of Gigantic Army and Steel Strider into something altogether more nimble. You play as B.L.A.M., a cybernetic warrior armed with a rocket musket, dropped onto planet Metnal 28 to dismantle a faction called the Congregation of Gogoh. The plot is precisely as thin as it sounds, and that's fine, because the worldbuilding is more texture than story, delivered through the occasional downed ally with a scrawled warning and one genuinely strange boss-room moment that implies a much larger universe. What makes ROCKETRON feel distinct is its locomotion. Rather than a conventional jump, B.L.A.M.'s movement is built around rocket-propelled bursts: straight up, diagonally backward, short hops with hover frames. It takes real adjustment, in the same way Bionic Commando's grapple hook rewires your instincts before it clicks. Once it does click, threading through enemy formations feels specific and personal in a way that a standard run-and-gun never quite achieves. The arsenal helps, too. You start with a basic musket and gradually pick up roughly eight weapon types, including a shotgun and a rocket launcher, all with unlimited ammo but subject to a durability meter that some players find punishing. Crystals scattered across the six interconnected zones let you upgrade each gun, which means route choice quietly affects your loadout. Those six themed zones, ranging from craggy mountains and mossy forests through to lava-filled cave systems and industrial areas, form a non-linear map navigated with the help of an on-screen minimap and a full atlas from the menu. There is genuine Super Metroid DNA in the branching structure, though ROCKETRON never approaches that game's atmosphere of dread and grandeur. The pixel art leans muddy rather than crisp, which is consistent with Astro Port's house aesthetic but will disappoint players hoping for lavish sprite work. What the art lacks, the soundscape partly compensates for, with a driving score that keeps combat feeling purposeful even on repeat runs through similar corridors. The honest caveat is length and difficulty calibration. On normal or easy, you can clear this in three to four hours. Veteran players of the genre should go straight to hard to avoid feeling like they are just passing through. The weapon durability system is the most contested element in player discussion, the orbs that restore weapon health drop infrequently and restore very little, creating friction that some find punishing and others find irrelevant once they understand the rhythm. There are three different endings, and end-screen stats tracking map percentage and item collection invite a second lap, though the short runtime means a completionist replay barely adds another hour. One practical note: controller support is listed but some Xbox-style gamepads have required workarounds to register correctly, so keyboard is a reliable fallback. For players who loved Gigantic Army or Steel Strider and wanted to see Astro Port work a metroidvania structure, ROCKETRON delivers exactly that compact, earnest experiment. It does not reinvent the genre, but it handles its small scope with the kind of intentionality that keeps it from feeling disposable. If you are willing to meet its shortness and its slightly clunky durability loop on their own terms, there is a genuine little oddity here worth an afternoon.

Kai · Scout Team

Indie & narrative

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