Released by Atlus.
STORY : Willy is a cat living in New York (a New York filled with anthropomorphic animals [!]) and works as a private eye. He has to deal with a lot of slime.... like the local crime boss, Muggsy. Muggsy can really get Willy's goat sometimes, but now he's done something unforgiveable.... he's kidnapped Willy's girlfriend, Jill! She is the perfect bait to lure Willy into his horde of followers, so he'll be out of Muggsy's hair forever! But Muggsy has underestimated Willy, and his mistreatment of Jill has caused Willy to go over the top! Now Willy is out to teach the scumbag a lesson once and for all. He's have to search out Jill in different areas and take care of Muggsy's henchmen. Shouldn't be too much trouble... that is, if he watches where he's going and lands on his feet...
CHARACTERS :
Willy : He's our hero! This cat is a private eye in New York who is very successful. He's a little gruff, but a good person. And his girlfriend is the stunning Jill. Now that Muggsy has got his little plot, though, Willy needs to jump into action to free her! Willy is an anthropomorphic cat (hence, Rockin' Kats) who wields a gun. But it doesn't shoot bullets..... this gun has a spring loaded fist inside! BIFF! POW! That's the way to give your enemies the old right hook! The fist can also unfold into a hand to grab items, and if Willy aims at the ground, he can launch himself into the air! Of course, being a cat, Willy's quite the acrobat. He can do somersaults like you've never seen! He's going to have to stay on his feet to fight his way through all of the mugs that Muggsy has after him, trying to stop his efforts. Willy's a cool cat, though... so he should be able to handle it!
Jill : Jill and Willy are, as you might say, an item. Not much is said as to her background, though. (Pretty depressing really.) What we DO know is that she has a nasty habit of being kidnapped by Muggsy's goons. So, she waits for Willy to come to her rescue.... gee, sounds almost like a fairy tale!
Muggsy : This anthropomorphic dog is the villain who's got a grip on New York, and he's squeezing it for all it's worth. Being the boss of the underworld, he terrorizes the city, and his cronies have met up with Willy one time or another. Now, Muggsy is trying a direct attack on kidnapping Jill! Willy can easily be drawn into a trap, and taken care of by subordinates. Meanwhile, Muggsy can try to get closer to Jill.... Well, can even Muggsy's entire underworld force stop Willy from smashing his plan? That leaves to be seen...
ENDING : (You may want to avoid looking at this if you want to see it yourself.)
Upon reaching Muggsy's island, Willy finally corners him in his little room of death. The two have a battle, and in the end, Muggsy is knocked to the ceiling... no, he's going into the sky now.... he's heading into the stratosphere!... in the end, Muggsy winds up crashing into the moon, hopefully never to be heard from again. Willy reunites with Jill, and the two stand in New York together as the day turns to night, and kiss.
TIPS : - Uh.... BUY HAMMER PUNCH. It's extremely useful. Just be sure to switch back to your fist when you need to grab on to something to swing around.
- Oh, and remember, if you need to propel yourself to the left or right, and there's a wall or other upright structure on your level, you can punch it to go flying backwards. This helps sometimes. One case is when you're fighting the eagle in the old west area. If you stand next to a rock and punch just as he's dropping a boulder, you should fly back far enough to avoid getting hit.
MY OPINION : Hah! Maybe it's a bit short, and some may think it's dull. But I love this game! I used to keep renting it out, until finally it was sold in the same store where it was rented, and my mom bought it. The play control is smooth, and fighting through the creeps at Muggsy's command was exciting. (And besides, I like anthropomorphs. A LOT. So sue me.) I say, if you have no problem with platform games, give this a try as soon as you can find it! (Although I assume by now it's rather rare.)
Time to somersault back to the NES list.