The Jetsons: Invasion of the Planet Pirates is a 1994 Platform Game by Sting Entertainment. Following up Cogswell's Caper from a year prior, it is the second of Taito's Jetsons games.
Our story begins one morning at the Jetsons residence, and George Jetson is running late to work, until suddenly, the famed superhero Captain Zoom appears and informs him that the evil space pirate Zora and her organization SPREE (Space Pirates Revelling in Evil Enterprises), have been robbing various planets of their natural resources in order to create her own world. Captain Zoom engaged in a fierce battle to stop Zora's fleet, but the resulting battle left him drained of his strength, and enlists good old George to help him. George is handed a vacuum pack, dubbed "P.O.P" (Pnuemo Osmatic Precipitator), and sets off on a mission to stop the Invasion of the Planet Pirates.
The player controls George Jetson in a 2D Action platformer. He can use his P.O.P. Vacuum to capture blocks and enemies and shoot them at walls and other targets. P.O.P. also has other uses, like letting George cling to walls and ceilings, and well as grab enemy projectiles. The game boasts very colorful graphics invocative of the show's style and animation.
Also of Note: The game was released in 1995 in Japan, under a new coat of paint and went by the name of Youkai Buster: Ruka no Daibouken, which starred a young demon-girl named Ruka and the P.O.P. vacuum was replaced with a strange devil head that inhaled enemies and objects instead. Ruka carried the Demon Head around and battled various monsters in contemporary Japan settings.
Vacuum up the following Tropes:
- Badass Normal: George Jetson is a simple family man, and now he has to save the planet.
- Big Bad: Zora, the leader of the Space Pirates, who is stealing resources from other planets and solar systems to create her own world.
- Broke Your Arm Punching Out Cthulhu: Captain Zoom's prior battle against Zora's forces left him basically powerless and drained, and thus he asks for George's help.
- Dolled-Up Installment: Notably a reverse of this as it was a U.S. property first that got a new coat of paint in Japan instead of the other way around at the time.
- Eternal Engine: Stages 1 (Spacely's Space Sprockets) and 2 (Cogswell's Cosmic Cogs) have this setting, taking George into colorful industrial facilities with various mechanical hazards like pounding weights and cogwheels.
- Fun with Acronyms: This game has a few. S.P.R.E.E. (Space Pirates Revelling in Evil Enterprises), Zora's criminal organization, and P.O.P (Pnuemo Osmatic Precipitator).
- Heroic RRoD: Captain Zoom is suffering from one, hence why he enlists George to help him stop Zora.
- Killer Gorilla: The first boss is large gorilla who battles George on a large seesaw platform. He leaps from one end to the other and throws objects, which George has to vacuum and launch back to attack. Getting too close to the gorilla results in it grabbing George and throwing him off the screen for an instant K.O.
- Muggle: The object of the story. Captain Zoom, the world's most powerful superhero asks mere George Jetson to save the world in his stead.
- Space Pirates: The subtitular Planet Pirates, S.P.R.E.E. is basically an entire organization of these, led by the evil Zora.
- Throw the Mook at Them: George can suction up blocks and enemies with P.O.P, then launch them at walls and other enemies to defeat them.
- Weapons That Suck: The P.O.P is a fanny pack/vacuum that lets George grab and attack enemies.
