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Why Everyone Hates It: At the time Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime was first released, the most recent game in the Dragon Quest series proper to see release in the U.S. was the shockingly archaic-looking seventh game. Prior to that, the series had not had a presence in America since the NES entries. This left a general public not inclined to look into any spin-offs.
Legitimate Issues With the Game: Rocket Slime is a fairly simplistic game, banking on the sheer pandering appeal of a cute mascot to carry the entire game. While the core gameplay is rather solid and the mascot in question carries things quite well, it is still a fairly blatant exercise in fan service.
Why I Like It Anyway: You play as a Dragon Quest slime rescuing a bunch of other slimes from mobster platypuses and enlisting their aid in piloting your castle sized tank which is shaped like a slime. Quite frankly having said that, there shouldn't be any need to discuss the merits of the game. There are however a few points of interest beyond the absolutely wonderful premise which should be addressed.
The actual gameplay, rather than the RPG fair one might expect, is more of a Zelda-like top-down action game. The protagonist, Rocket, has a fairly limited moveset. He can jump, and he can stretch himself like a rubber band then release to ricochet off walls and knock enemies and objects into the air. Moving under an object before it falls allows it to be caught and thrown. The bulk of the game involves exploring the world, fighting monsters, rescuing fellow slimes, and throwing anything that isn't nailed down into omnipresent mine carts to be taken back to town.
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Periodically, the standard exploration will be interrupted for a tank battle. A wide selection of ammunition is chosen from the list of items which have been collected exploring with varying effects, not unlike constructing a deck for a collectable card game. While many items can be found which are specifically designed to use as ammunition, early on in the game the cannons will typically be loaded with random pieces of miscellany like empty treasure chests and rocks. A crew of additional characters can also be assigned, comprised either of previously rescued slimes, or examples of other monster species who will join up after having defeated a large number of them in the wild.
The objective of these battles is, of course, to wear down the HP of an opposing tank with its own crew and detritus firing cannons. The interface for these battles is however the same as the rest of the game. The player and the selected crew members putter about in a central control room, where random pieces of ammunition pour out of a pipe on one side of the screen, ready to be thrown into one of two differently angled cannons to be fired across the battlefield, either connecting and doing damage, or being deflected by incoming cannon fire. It's also possible to hop directly into the cannon, firing yourself over to the enemy's control room to either harass the crew or directly attack inner components of their tank. Other characters are aware of this tactic however and may employ it themselves, making for a decently strategic experience over all.
The other members of your crew follow differing AI patterns, some focusing on keeping the cannons loaded, others heading over to engage in direct combat. Physically, there's a fair bit of difference between different slimes as well. Walking around the city after having rescued a fair amount means seeing standard slimes in various colors, the more exotic subspecies from the main Dragon Quest series, and a number of interesting original creations. Next to those jewel slimes, giant slimes, flying slimes, and giant slimes will be one sporting a nice mustache, or a trio who have been augmented with cybernetic implants.
Again, showing off a variety of cute little slimes is more or less the entire point. It is however a rather fun game, and the more interesting tank battles are, of course, available for their own sake after completing the game, making for a nice quick distraction on the go. As mascot games go, it's hard to find something as legitimately satisfying.
