Literally how this adventure started.
Rock n' Rage (Koi no Hot Rock: John, Rick and Sheena in Japan) is a 1986 comedy-themed arcade Run-and-Gun shooter viewed from a top-down perspective made by Konami, and probably the only musical-themed shooter of it's type.
In the middle of a rock concert featuring the musical band, Rock N' Rage, a mysterious, disembodied hand suddenly appears on the stage and abducts Sheena, the band's lead singer. Her bandmates, vocalist John and lead guitarist Rick follows Sheena into the portal, holding only their instruments - respectively, a mic stand and an electric guitar - as weapons. As it turns out, the portal the hand emerged from leads them through time, and it's up to John and Rick to travel across ancient lands, fighting their way through Ancient Egypt, Medieval Britain, Renaissance Era Italy and modern-day Japan while trying to retrieve Sheena so that the show can go on.
It's... as weird a game as it sounds. And still all kinds of charming despite the oddity.
Rock on! Through time!
- All Part of the Show: The cheering crowd in the concert doesn't seem to find anything strange when a gigantic disembodied hand grabs Sheena, the lead singer, and pulls her through a portal, with Rick and John following suit under the assumption it's made by special effects. It helps that once the whole adventure is over, all three of them goes back onstage and continues their concert as if nothing else had happened.
- Alliterative Name: Rock and Rage.
- Ambushing Enemy: The fish-people enemies in Egypt who pops out of the Nile, and skeletons in Rome who tunnels from underground. Both of them can use ranged projectiles as an attack, appears at random locations and goes back under after a few seconds.
- Animate Inanimate Object:
- The rocks in this game can come to life and charge at you with a tackle, for reasons unknown.
- Also the dustbins in the last level.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: For some reason, Medieval Britain is infested with giant insect monsters as enemies.
- Book Ends: After the Final Boss, the game goes back to the concert from the start, with Sheena rescued, Rick and John back on stage, and the show continues as the credits roll. But then... AFTER the credits, suddenly the Giant Hand from the beginning pops up again, grabbing Sheena, and then John and Rick chases after it, going all the way back to the first level, Egypt. Yep, Here We Go Again!
- Combat Hand Fan: The Enchantress boss in Italy uses an Italian-style feathered folding fan as her weapon, which she use either by throwing at John and Rick, swooping an arc around the area before returning to her, or shooting it's feathers from a distance as a projectile attack.
- Company Cameo: Japan have a stage where you pass a sign, saying: "Konami: Best Software for you!"
- Damsel in Distress: Sheena has been kidnapped by an unknown entity in the middle of the concert, and it's up to John and Rick to save her.
- Deflector Shields: One of the defensive power-ups John and Rick can obtain is a circular, glowing forcefield surrounding them, which can absorb projectile attacks and even damage enemies by touching.
- Dem Bones:
- You'll fight skeleton knights at the start of Medieval Britain and in Rome.
- Ancient Rome have an underground crypt below the colosseum where you're attacked by skeletons who periodically pop out and throw their bones at you.
- Everything Trying to Kill You: If there's a moveable object onscreen and it's not a fired projectile the other player, it's going to attack you. Even the wildlife as well as dustbins and rocks are hostile!
- Evil Sorceress:
- An unnamed crone which the game simply identifies as "Sorceress" serves as the boss of Great Britain. You make your way to the heart of the maze-like crypt and she suddenly teleports into the area, cue boss battle.
- Renaissance Italy caps with you battling the "Enchantress", another sorceress with a magic fan.
- Fish People: Fish-men resembling the Lagoon Creature will occasionally pop up from underneath the Nile to attack. By spitting their infant offspring - depicted as flying piranhas at John and Rick.
- Foreshadowing: After finishing off the final boss, if you closely at the meaty chunks left behind after you destroyed him, you can actually see the blue hand that grabbed Sheena regenerating, thus explaining why it comes back to capture her again right after the credits and start the whole game over.
- Giant Hands of Doom: One which extends into the stage and abducts Sheena in the opening cinematics. John and Rick then follows suit to retrieve her, kickstarting the plot of the game.
- Glamour Failure: The Enchantress, upon receiving enough damage, will shed her human (or at least, humanoid, what with her green skin) and reveal her true appearance. Turns out she's a harpy-woman underneath her disguise.
- Instrument of Murder: The musical instruments used by Rick and John have the ability to shoot projectiles, somehow, serving as a stand-in for firearms used in more typical Run-and-Gun games. Then there's the stage in Renaissance Italy, where hostile musicians will attack you with violins capable of shooting energy balls.
- Looks Like Orlok: The stage in Britain leads to an underground crypt containing vampire mooks based on Orlok himself; pale skin, balding head, cape obscuring most of his body...
- Mummy: They're everywhere in the Ancient Egypt stage, unsurprisingly.
- One-Hit-Point Wonder: Both John and Rick dies after one hit, so make sure you get them that shield as soon as possible!
- Our Minotaurs Are Different: Rome ends with a boss battle against a huge purple-skinned Minotaur, armed with a sword and shield and the ability to breathe projectiles at you.
- Rockers Smash Guitars: Rick, the guitarist of the duo, carries his electric guitar around as an impromptu weapon, and if he's without a power-up he can use his guitar like a club. It doesn't break no matter how many hits he scores with it.
- Shout-Out Theme Naming: According to Hardcore Gaming 101 (at least), the game's leads are named after Sheena Easton, Rick Derringer and John Oates.
- Spread Shot: An early power-up allows your instruments to fire weaponized musical notes in arcs of three projectiles at a time.
- Stationary Boss: Tutankhamen from the Egypt stage is a giant Pharaoh head fixed in a wall, who unleashes a pair of giant asps attached to his crown to bite at John and Rick while firing Eye Beams all over the place.
- Time Travel: The game is set across a number of different time periods, ranging from Ancient Egypt to Renaissance Italy and present-day Japan.
- When Trees Attack: Living trees with faces capable of shooting weaponized leaves at you shows up in the woods in Britain.
