The Rocket Bar in Ulence Flats is the only bar on Kerona, and the only place to legally serve genuine Keronian Ale. This location appears in the Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter (time sector) a parallel universe/timeline created through the overuse of time travel by Roger Wilco and others throughout the series..
Background[]
Rocket Bar is a combination bar, pool hall, backwater brothel, Astro-Rooter disposal site, and pre-school.[1] The Rocket Bar gets its name for it was constructed around the wreckage of a crashed spaceship (although a rocket may have crashed into it later).
The bar on Kerona has seating for five, and the bartender apparently lives in-house. Maintenance is entirely filled by a lone cleaning droid, and the bar is frequented by some rather popular entertainment. A slot machine is also provided, courtesy of Gippazoid Novelty Company.
Roger Wilco visited the Rocket Bark, technically once in modified timeline, one he remembers as his original trip (but this is influence of his time travel changing his memories). But he has visited the alternate versions of the bar itself two times ( or three or four if counting all parallel timelines). He was tempted to the place by a free coupon worth 5 Buckazoids and a Keronian Ale, he was tempted into playing the slot machine (until he broke it), giving him enough money to buy a ship and a droid. He was also able to overhear the location of the Sarien ship carrying the Star Generator.
Roger's "second" visit was during his time-travel experience in Space Quest IV, but rather he had returned to his original past (with only minor deviations) where he visited the Ulence Flats Bar (rather than the Rocket Bar). During that visit he noted that the world seemed different to him, and that things looked flat and not as detailed as he remembered the first time visiting the world. He assumed that it was one of the affects of his repeated time travel. He noticed strange banner on the horizon welcoming him to Space Quest I: The Sarian Encounter (original version). He wondered what it meant by original version but turned his attention to his surroundings. He was able to take a book of matches from the bar, but he also had a run-in with the Monochrome Boys.
Somewhere in all of this is an altered version of the events of Space Quest IV, where Roger used a timepod to travel back to visit the Rocket Bar for the second time in the parallel Space Quest I: Roger Wilco in the Sarien Encounter (time sector). He materialized just moments after Roger Wilco had blasted off the planet in a stolen vessel, just as the owner came looking for his ship. The outcome of this encounter is sketchy at best. In Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter (original version) time sector at the alternate Ulence Flats Bar, there was no ship, and the place was often known simply as the BAR. The original bar was one of the 2000 Oasis BAR franchises across the galaxy (although its not clear if this distinction remained after the time and world changed). Fortunately there is a archive of the unmodified timeline, and Roger's memories.
Customers and Employees[]
Plot Inconsistency[]
The bar in Ulence Flats is called simply "BAR" in the AGI version, and "The Oasis BAR" according to the coupons packed in the game and in the remake it's called "Rocket Bar". According to SQ4 its called the Ulence Flats Bar. According to the Space Piston SQ2, its called the "Keronian Palace". According to the first issue of the Space Quest comic it's sign listed it as Tiggy's, the sign became the Rocket Bar in the second issue (though Roger still calls it Tiggy's).
In Space Quest 4 one can examine some writings on the backside wall of the Bar and the game will display that "you don't know what it says but you're sure it's not flattering". However, in Space Quest 1, one can also read the message, and it will display that "It appears to be Sarien. You're a little rusty in your Sarien but it appears to say: "Xenon bites!" So either Roger did know, or some time between the events of Space Quest 1 and Space Quest 4, he must have learned Sarien.
Behind the scenes[]
- The Blues Brothers, Madonna, and ZZ Top are three of the random performers in the bar. ZZ Top are playing Sharp Dressed Man, released only three years earlier. The Blues Brothers are playing the theme from their movies. Madonna only appears in the SCI remake. A band of green aliens replace her in the AGI version.
- The "slug guy" is described as "having come from Santa Cruz". This is a reference to the University of California at Santa Cruz, whose mascot is the banana slug.
References[]
- ↑ SQC2E, pg