Chuck Rock - Sequels and Legacy

Sequels and Legacy

A direct sequel came in 1993 in the form of Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck, which was also ported to several consoles like its predecessor. Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck was more aimed at a younger audience than its predecessor, and the player character was not actually Chuck Rock himself but his infant son, Chuck Junior. It was not as well received by fans. Nonetheless around the time of the game's release, Core commissioned a comic strip in the long-running UK children's magazine LookIn, centering on the day-to-day lives of Chuck, Ophelia and Junior. As a meta-referential joke, Chuck Jr owned a 'SteggaDrive' console, as a reference to the Mega Drive name. A year later the magazine was closed (after almost 25 years), and the final strip saw Chuck being swept away from his boat, presumed dead but washing up on a tribal island and being revered as a God - as an inexplicable comic touch, mourners at his 'funeral' included then-Prime-Minister John Major.

An spin-off to Chuck Rock came in the game BC Racers, released later in the same year as Chuck Rock II: Son of Chuck. BC Racers was released on the Mega-CD, Sega 32X and 3DO, and the format was changed from that of a platformer to that of a racing game. The game was designed by Toby Gard, who later created Lara Croft. BC Racers retained the characters of Chuck Rock as well as his son Chuck Junior. Other prehistoric racers include Millstone Rockafella, Brick Jagger and Jimi Handtrix. The game was generally well received among the fans of the consoles in question, and BC Racers was named the Best Sega CD Driving/Racing Game of the Year in GameFan's 1994 "Megawards" (Vol 3, Iss. 1). BC Racers was released as freeware two years later for the PC.

Core promised an updated version of Chuck Rock for a next generation console, although it never materialized.