Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles

Roughnecks was a television series came out about 20 years ago that nobody seems to remember, but was my absolute jam back when I was a kid.

Source: http://starshiptroopers.wikia.com/wiki/Roughnecks:_Starship_Troopers_Chronicles

Fully titled “Roughnecks: Starship Trooper Chronicles," the show was based on a movie, based on a book. I didn’t know anything of the book or the film until recently. When the show was airing, I just knew it was about military guys shooting aliens with big guns, and that was awesome.

As one can assume, CGI animation from the late 1990s and early 2000s was not very good. The creators reused a lot of scenes, especially one particular explosion sequence that seemed to be in every episode. I only know this because I watched through the series again during my freshman year in college with my roommate, the only person I know who also watched this show and remembered it. We wanted to love the show the same way we did as kids, but it did not age well at all. Much the same way that I think ReBoot would be, Roughnecks was a lot better without newer and more polished animation to compare to. One of the main reasons I haven’t pursued my initiative of watching through the entire ReBoot series again. I want to remember the show the way I saw it long ago.

Source: https://www.amazon.com/Roughnecks-Starship-Troopers-Chronicles-Campaigns/dp/B0009I8QI6

Admittedly, Roughnecks was probably never that good to begin with. The story is shallow, there was very little character development, and the studio never finished the final three episodes of the series. If you didn’t catch the series while it was ongoing, don’t expect to go back now and discover some incredible sleeper hit or cult classic. This isn’t the Earthbound of ‘90s television series. It’s a show that tried to capitalize on the success of other media, but never quite nailed it.

Part of the reason I remember Roughnecks so fondly is because of the circumstances around when I watched it. Around that time, my parents were going through a divorce. As anyone who experienced a splitting family can attest, it was a very lonely and alienating experience. When Roughnecks would air early in the morning, my father and I would watch it together. Oddly enough, it was a bonding experience for us. With everything else going on, it was nice to still spend some quality time together, even if it was just watching a cartoon. It’s funny what people latch onto in times of stress.

Regardless of why I liked Roughnecks so much, I thought it was amazing as a kid. Along with ReBoot and SWAT Kats, it forms a sort of trifecta of shows I grew up with, but quickly became obscure relics of a generation of television. Animation of the 1990s was not great, and CGI even less so. Still, these shows had a charm about them, and for those of us who were at an impressionable stage of life during their airing, they were magical. For a time, I thought I could grow up to be a Starship Trooper and go on adventures in space. Who knows, maybe I still can. Either way, Roughnecks was a part of my childhood, and gave me some fond memories that I refuse to let go of.

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