Return of Gear is the seventh stage of Sparkster (SNES). It is the final level on easy difficulty.
Description[]
With Cannon O'Yarge's help, Sparkster rockets into space in pursuit of his nemesis. As he makes his way towards the Wolves' space station, they dispatch a battleship to shoot down the rocket knight.
Details[]
The stage opens with a short cutscene where Cannon O'Yarge instructs Sparkster to leap into his cannon. He then lights the fuse and throws in a pair of rocket wings, launching Sparkster into space. This entire stage plays as a top-down shooter, where Sparkster must use his sonic boomerang and vulcan gun to fend off approaching enemies. Obstacles include Wolves with guns, golden missiles, massive laser cannons and deadly lava streams.
At the end, Sparkster and Axel Gear pilot Powered Gears for the boss fight. This plays out similarly to the mecha fights in the Mega Drive Rocket Knight games, but from a top-down perspective and is much more difficult. Powered Gears are able to punch, shoot and rocket jump. Unlike those fights, the arms on Powered Gears can be destroyed with enough damage, leaving the mech unable to punch or guard. Should this happen, it will be very difficult for the player to win the fight.
If playing on Easy Mode, the game abruptly ends after this stage and the player is encouraged to try a higher difficulty to continue the story.
Accessibility through Difficulty[]
| Easy Mode | Normal Mode | Hard Mode | Very Hard Mode | Crazy Hard Mode |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |