Lego Rock Raiders | Looking Back

NOTICE: Manic Miners is a Fan Remake of Rock Raiders. Check the comment section out to learn more! (cz thats all the comments are about these days )
One topic I always wanted to cover on this channel was the past and how it influenced my playable preferences of the present. Lego Rock Raiders! An interesting title and genre that LEGO never revisited when it came to their games.
So join me as we dive into the dawn of the new millennium and an odd but loved game.
Don't forget to comment, drop a like and HEY! Why not subscribe?
You can also find me on twitter @Under_theMoons
I stole footage from all these places!
Main Gameplay footage
• LEGO Rock Raiders (199...
Pum pum PUMP IT UP
• How to Lego Rock Raiders
(just an amazing video)
Rock Raiders Stop Frame animation
• Lego Rock raiders
Hey cutie ;)

[@MrZyy1]

I wasn’t ready for the PTSD of hearing “frozen frenzy” 😂 that level broke me as a kid

[@pfefferminzbonbonverkaufer8836]

Same omg, i didnt knew this was such a popular bug. There is a remake now called Manic Miners its awesome and runs on Windows 10. They are constantly updating playing since 2 days nostalgia hits hard

[@Richie_Godsil]

Bro, same! I started this and was like "which Ice level was I stuck on? Oh, yeah... 😑"

[@bcbitchkkv]

Frozen Frenzy and Back to Basics (the only level I couldn't beat) turned children into adults in the early 00s!

[@cotton9087]

Frozen Frenzy lol

[@pieterboelen2862]

Frozen Frenzy was my FAVOURITE level! It had enough size and energy crystals to really make a big base with lots of vehicles. I'd replay it over and over.

[@Azarath08]

Manic Miners got its 1.0 release a couple of days ago! :D Rock Raiders completely remade in the Unreal engine by a single person. Insane amount of quality of life improvements, remastered campaign levels with classic as an alternative. Some rebalanced game mechanics, a level editor and scripting functions and a lot of community made levels. Working cutscenes too! If You enjoyed Rock Raiders, then you will LOVE Manic Miners! Go check it out! :)

[@UnderTheMoons]

And you’ll never guess who did the “Lego Fan Game” intro animation ;) Big fans of Manic Miners over here 👏

[@youtubeaccountlol4942]

Tbh the new graphics kind of ruin the experience

[@tinkaraazb9383]

Lego rock raiders was my Child hood And lego racing

[@Hagbarth_Fistforge]

Omg Lego Racers was the shit! Such good fun!

[@tinkaraazb9383]

@@Hagbarth_Fistforge I remeber coming back from 1st grade school and playing it for hours

[@___xyz___]

You say something! The only person I knew who had Lego Racer transferred schools in 3rd grade and we never saw him or the game again. But some memories those were.

[@guyman6647]

There's a still somewhat active group of players of this game on a site called Rock Raiders United that have created a modloader for the game that allows the game to run on new computers. Many of the people on that site also have made new levels, and vehicles, and fixed most of the bugs

[@UnderTheMoons]

I was actually just on there having a browse! I couldn’t quite figure out how to get to the mods page. Would love to see some of those new levels and such.

[@guyman6647]

@@UnderTheMoons I think this is the link to it: www.rockraidersunited.com/forum/193-rock-raiders/

[@dovos8572]

@@UnderTheMoons there is a group that makes a UE4 remake of the game. they named it "manic miners" and they already remade the entire story and made a custom map editor with event support that let's you make your own story missions. it is basically a 1-1 remake with the same textures remade into really similar hd textures. many of the bugs and bad game mechanics got fixed and it doesn't crash randomly anymore like the orginal. it is really worth to look it up if you want to play rock riders without having to deal with the bugs from the orginal

[@frithiofhellgren8013]

grrrr ROCK HARD@@dovos8572

[@frithiofhellgren8013]

Please link please

[@Saiyankev01]

OMG Frozen Frenzy.. F*** that place... oh the memories. I loved this game

[@hardstyle1259]

childhood horror level

[@epicboot7415]

You should try the mission called 'Don't Panic!' That mission with the Lava chasing you gave me nightmares

[@hardstyle1259]

@@epicboot7415 xD

[@darkdismal1235]

Frozen frenzy was one the most hardest levels in the game, but....if you managed to get past it, there was one more far worse. It was on the right side of the big X, and it was hell. Now onto frozen frenzy. The cavern you needed to get to was located on the part of the map that dipped down on the far side of the level when you could look for level. You also needed to build two support stations to handle air supply effectivily.

[@tessbrat8814]

I personally felt like I beat the game after that point...! It took years to break through that one!

[@dani007a]

Man, the late 90's and early 2000's were such a wild time for LEGO games. I spent so much of my childhood playing things like LEGO Racers, LEGO Island, and, yes, Rock Raiders. Unfortunately the, LEGO Star Wars games were both the best and worst things to happen to LEGO video games. Since then, nearly every non-mobile LEGO game has just stuck to that formula. And, as much as I love that formula, I also miss the other styles and formulas that LEGO used to do.

[@alexcrompton1937]

Glad I'm not alone with frozen frenzy, finally beat it about 20 years later XD

[@thugradio6826]

My god the nostalgiaaaa. Thank you for the video man - enjoyed it!

[@Zejgar]

It is interesting how we share the same love for this game, yet for me Frozen Frenzy is the pinnacle of the game and *the* mission that encapsulates LRR for me. Oh how much of a difference the lack/presence of random crashes can do.

[@gerardcurtis3911]

Incase anyone doesnt know, the remake is called manic miners

[@sanderdavid8626]

thanks for the metru nui theme near the end

[@UnderTheMoons]

That music has a special place in my heart.

[@Tacospaceman]

Christ 😂😂😂 I was like oh what a heartfelt moment…” *ROCK HAAAARD* “lol

[@kaitlynvandiver7534]

I really just want to hear a rock raider scream. Their screams were hilarious and I can’t find a video of it.

[@UnderTheMoons]

Whoh whoo Whahahaw woooooooooo! Something like that? Check out some long plays and find the tutorial level in which they plant dynamite. I'm sure you'll find the screams there XD

[@TheDerwish]

The last levels were super hard, I remember that too. But I beat them all when I was a child and it took for ever. Months of playing and raging at how bad the rock raiders listened to commands. The game sits on my shelf with games just above me. It has a part that's shaped like a lego brick. I just love everything about this childhood treasure.

[@VestedUTuber]

"raging at how bad the rock raiders listened to commands" If they were hanging out at the support station eating sandwiches: A Lunchline Has Occurred! If they were just standing around: Idleness Syndrome (a bug that can only really be fixed by rebooting the game)

[@nilymusic]

this game is a gem

[@Mabra51]

A landslide has occurred! An energy crystal has been found! Granite Grinder!

[@theavera9ejoe]

The piano Bionicle theme in the conclusion pulled my hearstrings. For those who want to play this game in 2023, look up "Manic Miners" - an incredible player made remake

[@8.3.4.N]

Found this on r/rockraiders, which I subbed to because IHE mentioned it in a video and then I forgot about it. But I must say, this is a great video! I'm surprised by the production quality for such a small channel.

[@UnderTheMoons]

Aww thanks man. Also yeah thats how I found the subreddit :D

[@YCCCm7]

Bruh. Literally the exact same experience.

[@TheNeXusCore9032]

I'm in shock this channel doesn't even have 1,000 subscribers and yet, I enjoyed this channel's content! What a shame, he really needs more attention.

[@UnderTheMoons]

@@TheNeXusCore9032 Thanks for the lovely comment :) All I can say is share the video around! :D

[@YCCCm7]

Holy shit. How do you only have 718 subs? That is absolutely criminal given the production quality in play here. I'm a stingy fucker with subs, and have been trimmed back aggressively lately... But I mean... Come on. I'm subbing because you genuinely deserve it. Thanks to Alex at IHE for bringing me on this wild adventure. 10/10.

[@UnderTheMoons]

Thanks man :) much appreciated. I think my long gaps between uploads is the culprit of low sub count. But recently I've been uploading far more frequently. So hopefully we can get some more subbies.

[@anLizard]

What great production value this video has! You got yourself a subscriber

[@MellowGaming]

This kinda looks like Dungeon Keeper a fair bit. It's weird how there was a whole slew of Lego games that were very PC gamer like when you'd think they'd be simple console things. Now we just get the one Lego game with different skins forever.

[@UnderTheMoons]

Funny, I was reading a review of the game today and that also mentioned Dungeon Keeper! Will have to watch a video or two. And yeah the first 10 games they made (ignoring Lego Racers) were all PC. I have fond memories of all of them!

[@masterofthelag8414]

Loved this game as a kid, though it was Homeworld 2 that was always my fav. Thankfully nowardays there's manic miners, so at least this game has a good successor (for those who don't know, it's a modern remake that actually works on modern systems and has a bunch of QOL features. Nearly everything from the original's in it (monsters are the main thing that aren't) so I def. recommend a look.

[@paularnold2289]

More videos like this about obscure games that I have never heard of please!

[@UnderTheMoons]

;)

[@bmansk8520]

Dude this video is on point for someone with this few subscribers. Love it!

[@UnderTheMoons]

Thanks man, much appreciated :) If you know poeple or groups that would like the video please share! Well help get that subscriber count up ;)

[@Brickamigos]

Great video! Rock Raiders was a classic I grew up with as well! Too bad it’s not easy to play today :(

[@MrRailden]

Common misconception! This guide should get the game up and running with relatively little hassle: www.rockraidersunited.com/guides/run-lego-rock-raiders-with-dgvoodoo-r7/ And of course, if you're more into *high-quality remakes*, you can check out Manic Miners here (follow links in description): kzbin.info/www/bejne/rqOadnZ7ds-dftE

[@Shaggy08251993]

Thankfully, you're very wrong :} Look up Manic Miners. There's a guy called Baraklava who is recreating the game from teh ground up in a new engine. It looks and plays beautifully on modern computers. AND the project is almost complete :D

[@bcbitchkkv]

Rock Raiders and Lego Racers 2 is all I'm asking for :(

[@YCCCm7]

Secondary comment. I just realized I'm living my life a rock raider. I keep needing to go outside and do jumping jacks or some crap to make me get gud. I'm currently living in the same dark, secluded space and eat PB&J sandwiches prettymuch daily, carefully budgeting my resources while trying to build shit. Just need me an orange jumpsuit, some friggin' laser guns, and a sonic detonator to crash my game, then I'll be all set.

[@swagdaddy_4206]

11:56 Good one

[@alicyjinx8923]

*coolest LEGO game Back when LEGO made up their own franchises and characters and didn't base everything on movies or already existing characters and IPs

[@erikreino5628]

I completely forgot I played this game, but I've played this for so many hours....

[@_SDK_]

So badly want a remake of this! MEMORIES! Usend hours up on hours on it

[@isaacalich8150]

Here's a cool community remake, WIP: www.reddit.com/r/manicminers/comments/cs34nc/announcing_manic_miners_an_uncompromising_unreal/

[@dovos8572]

@@isaacalich8150 it is really good by now and still getting updates regularly

[@JRBCubed]

Alright, you got yourself a sub. Your editing and personality is on point, and I love love love rock raiders. I own all the sets haha~ Keep up the good work!

[@UnderTheMoons]

Thank you so much! :) Means a lot

[@julkkis666]

I loved the random low bitrate voice clips, especially since i didn't speak english :D

[@herobrain8889]

Lego Rock raiders has a realy Die Hard fan base about 10.000 players, there is a forum with tons of mods and some tweaks like a launcherto play this game on modern Pc.s Try out the Bazs mod or bether the Axel"s mod, it changes the game pretty good like the buildings requirements are changed and new bigger levels, i just played the last mission for straight 6 hours until i mined every wall

[@shreksnow1918]

Great review. This makes wish I had been able to play this game. I’m excited for Miners Manic so I can experience this too. I thought it was funny how you said you’d name the dumb miners after some kid at school that annoyed you which made me think of the Sonic OC’s (do not steal!) how they will usually have the name of some kid in their dislikes section. Putting the Bionicle music at the end was a nice touch when talking about the miner that died.

[@UnderTheMoons]

Eyy someone recognised the Mask of Light / Metru Nui music! And Manic Miners is looking to be a real recreation + more! So, you’re going to get a greater experience! And the renaming mechanic was the cherry on top. They didn’t have to add that, but it made the game so much funnier.

[@Archeris]

I remember playing that game sooo much. Loved the music in it. And the gameplay was awesome. One other game that springs to mind is Battlezone 2 🙏🏻

[@UnderTheMoons]

Is that the tron-esk Tank game? I've played the VR version, will have a look at number 2!

[@Archeris]

@@UnderTheMoons Yes! Yes it is! You build your base and control the vehicles you make. It has very crappy AI tho, but back in the days the recommended settings was a Pentium 3. They just made a remaster of it aswell. Such a cool game.

[@RolePlayingGarchomp445]

I can relate to you pain with Frozen Frenzy. I could never beat that level as a kid and the game would constantly crash no matter which computer I used. I haven't been able to get the game to run in over a decade meaning Frozen Frenzy will haunt me for the rest of my life.

[@GBudja]

What a throwback!!!

[@Ranstone]

I am so glad me and my brothers weren't the only ones who hated Frozen Frenzy.

[@Tadakatsu]

An absolute favorite from my childhood, I still reinstall it sometimes and die on a few levels. It was my first RTS (as was the case for a lot of the other people watching this I think). Great summary video. Did you play any of the other 90s lego games? Lego Racers and the Lego Island games were a couple other old favorites with some great ideas in their own right as well, but this one was the most near and dear because it was just so different.

[@zolafuckass8606]

It's a weird game, but this is the game that got me hooked on strategy games all the way back in 2001.

[@ThyLegohood]

"Mission failed, we'll get them next time."

[@rabbitenjoyer6320]

Never knew it had close-in view options! Might have been my favorite game until I got a PS2 a few years later

[@StrudelerOfTheTSociety]

Slugger sent me down this route.

[@BoanergesTWELF12]

I thought 3D Space Cadet was my favorite pc game growing up but I think it was Rock Raiders

[@maddoxXL101]

I came here for a certain joke, and im glad you made it :')

[@critapocalypse1836]

Fuck yeah... Rock Raiders?

[@UnderTheMoons]

yeah baby

[@kered13]

There's a free fan remake available now called Manic Miners, it has reimplemented basically the entire game, including the campaigns, runs great on modern systems, and even supports custom levels!

[@ZemplinTemplar]

Funnily enough, I was a fan of this line's sets, but never got to play the game. I knew it existed and it looked nice, but unlike some people, I don't think "the game was the only memorable thing about the line", as some have claimed. If anything, the game was a nice companion piece to the line. At times, I'm a bit sad Rock Raiders was the last of LEGO's varied 90s space themes. They saved their take on the Space Western, with mining prospectors et al, for last.

[@luckyjohny181]

I dont buy lego sets, but the game was really really fun.

[@roymarshall_]

I credit this game's OST for my lifelong love of drum and bass

[@MrJonnyq3]

This game taught me resource management.

[@awildmizuki6413]

If you want to relive the Rock Raider experience, I recommend looking into Manic Miners. Its a faithful Unreal Engine remake to the game

[@UnderTheMoons]

Oh have I got some good news for you! I released another Lego video in which I go over the other 90’s Lego games and I’m that i dive into Manic Miners! Also, I THINK he’s updated it so it’s included. But I believe there was an update that added in a remake of the classic Lego media intro to the start of Manic Miners. Which I made :)

[@awildmizuki6413]

@Under The Moons I believe it was late, and I never checked the date of this video when I had commented. Ironically, after a quick look I realized I had already watched the aforementioned video a while ago too haha. So my bad for not keeping up to date. Good video though, also that old intro will forever remain a classic, I will definitely check it out!

[@TheStevedie]

Absolutely loved this game when I was young (33 now...). Ahhh good times *looks up on the shelves to look at Rock Raider Lego sets I built 20 years ago*

[@kratochvil11]

I have actually never played it on PC, but I finished the game on PS1 and I love it to this day even tho people find it ''bad''..

[@manofmercy1500]

Probably because the two versions are completely different from the other. PC being the intended Strategy Game (though there’s been some cut content like extra creatures to fight), while the PS1 version was changed (by Sony’s theory att that point & click strategy didn’t sell) to more of a shooter with very little building involved.

[@PalvoChekov]

thanks you for mentioning froezen frenzy. as 9 year old I'm surprised I even got that far! Loved making a lot of drillers.

[@psy169]

this game is ultimate

[@alexkazhdan]

10:17 Lhikan theme! You have good taste, I see. ;)

[@theeeMitchi]

10:40 whaaat - there is a level with so many crystals? amazing... never knew that.

[@JustFLBeats]

Nostgaaaalgia trip!!

[@cotton9087]

Rock Raiders was amazing, its been remade currently

[@correctopinion4708]

would be pretty cool if manic miners had a Power Miners overhaul

[@akg_table]

7:56 I never made it past Frozen Frenzy as a kid either. Didnt understand the oxygen mechanism. Sometimes its a little challenging even now.

[@sjabdimogo]

Good video, thank you :)

[@skywardsoul1178]

I was also stuck on Frozen Frenzy as a kid (started playing at maybe 2-3 years old). One of my absolute favourite games. I never realised until a while later that support stations produce air and only after realising that was I finally able to finish the game. Used to wonder what all the other missions were like. Gave it an air of mystery and discovery.

[@136truth]

yes its still playable nowadays, I am playing on win10. I've watched a youtube video in german that explained it, it was really just installing and adding certain files to the RR directory, sth like that, and it works. Its cool to play again

[@chrispygamin727]

I made it to the final level! I remember it not being that difficult compared to Frozen Frenzy!

[@Schicksaal24]

There's a remake in the making called Manic Miners :)

[@Splintercelmaster1]

Damn this brings back the memories. Fuck I'm somewhat old

[@ThyLegohood]

Army Men RTS put me in the path of playing strategy games. The comic mischief and mission design, especially the map layout was some of the finest things i've witnessed growing up. The side characters were hella funny, but it was lowkey dark even tho it was a T for teen game.

[@bezimiennykronikarz]

You know, about the game not being able to run on modern computers, there's a sorft of solution to that. Bunch of fans bought the source code for the game and now are remaking LEGO Rock Raiders. Granted now it's called Manic Miners, obviously because it's no longer LEGO product, but everything has been redone and upgraded, graphics, AI, you can even make your own Rock Raider, and he's not going to look the same as the rest. As someone who had the pleasure of playing the original as a kid I highly recommend to check it out. Keep in mind that it's still early access, very playable and good, but still early access.

[@UnderTheMoons]

I’m not sure if the chap has updated Manic Miners yet, but if so, you start it up there’s a “Lego fan game” animation that plays which I made for him :) so you could say I’m aware of Manic Miners 😅

[@williammonk1756]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this already but there's a remake called Manic Miners

[@UnderTheMoons]

😂 I was just about to screen shot this and send it too you before I saw your name.

[@williambartholomew5680]

A version was made for the Playstaion too, I recall less minifig action (the Sims-like aspects of the game) during actual gameplay but seems similar

[@Jeppmeister]

This game was my world back then 😍

[@BoulderWraith]

A supprising amount of people feel nostalgic of this game I am one of them But hey you can re-live that nostalgia by downloading a reboot! Manic miners! It's really well done! (Not sponsored by manic miners)

[@UnderTheMoons]

I actualy plan to do a follow up all about Manic Miners!

[@BoulderWraith]

@@UnderTheMoons Nice! A lot of people have started to talk about rock raiders recently.. I think.. But I think manic miners needs some attention

[@UnderTheMoons]

@@BoulderWraith Theres definetly been an influx of views on this video as of recent thats for sure!

[@miabbqpitgrill]

@@UnderTheMoons the best thing about it is the level editor

[@YCCCm7]

Oh right. Also, someone please tell me I'm not the only one who got pissed off at their workers for eating too many PB&J sandwiches, and turned off the oxygen generators for a bit so they'd stop eating next to it. EDIT: Also 12 year old me got stuck on frozen frenzy for like a million years. Also due to digging in the wrong direction + the game crashing like some kind of bizarre machine gun. That mission was buggy AF.

[@luckyjohny181]

Sounds familiar

[@gummbyandpokey]

legit got stuck on the same level as kid haha

[@ToPMiniDwarf]

Hey, for anyone that wants to try the game there is a guy named Baraklava that is making a Rock Raiders remake from scratch! Look up Manic Miners. He have come so far and its looking so great!

[@Damn-good-deal]

The nostalgia is insane rn

[@Cyberbrickmaster1986]

I can only play this game again either on an old Windows XP computer or by playing the unofficial remake: Manic Miners, which is still currently in beta. I have tried all the relevant walkthroughs on RRU to get this game to work on my Windows 10 PC, but every single time I get the same game breaking bug (the gameplay screen goes blank after seconds of play). I have given up on trying to fix this, until someone posts a walkthrough on the very issue I'm facing right now.

[@USBYDProductions]

Rock n Stone, brothers

[@Memoquin]

Got every set in the theme. 20 years on I’m find all of it broken into pieces in a 250 litre container of Lego

[@YCCCm7]

Alright. I give up commenting. There's just too much that's so damn real about this game. Just know that I was there and 1000% of the everything said in this video is completely true. I feel like I'm looking in a mirror watching this video the experience is so uncanny.

[@majormaccas]

An energy crystal HAS been found! I'll just leave this link here: oldgamesdownload.com/lego-rock-raiders/ and you'll also need this: www.rockraidersunited.com/guides/lrr-music-without-cd-fix-r11/ since the music was streamed from the CD originally, so without this link you could play the game but wouldn't have music! I've been playing a lot this week!

[@chef_moquin9535]

I had some much fun messing around in this game never doing the actual objectives until the very end, curse you running out of oxygen levels lol

[@TheBalthassar]

Did you know that you only needed to complete the leftmost levels to proceed? Doesn't help you get past Frozen Frenzy, but it's a thing. I did eventually get past Frozen Frenzy, and then after that it was the level just before the last that I got stuck on. And I still couldn't do it when I came back to it years later, except by then I had learned to mod and I nerfed the slimy slugs.

[@slushthefox1234]

I managed to run rock raiders on win 10. The process to make it work involved an aztec blood sacrefice, latin singing and lighting candles in the form of a pentagram... i refuse to ellaborate further.

[@andreashuber5594]

For anyone who also finds this waaaaaaay after it's upload date. There is a game called Manic Minera which is a fan remake of the game. It isn't completely done yet but it is already better than the original. You HAVE to check it out if you loved rock raiders back then.

[@thomasoates3003]

Incidentally, there is a fan remake currently in development.

[@MrBOBOCHOCHO]

I also had the frozen frenzy issue! but it was compounded by an inability to save! so I just played the first half of the game over and over again

[@BambiTrout]

I absolutely adored this game as a kid. Despite the bugs and slow speed it had so much going on and so much depth for just a toy tie in. It was the perfect game for both testing your strategy, knowledge, and decision making under pressure, while still being chill enough to spend hours just feeding Lego dudes sandwiches. Plus the voice acting is fucking hilarious! I wish they would remaster it but without changing it. Like just fix the graphical glitches, upres the textures, squish the bugs, and add some more levels.

[@SubcribeMinecraftNOW]

A MONSTER HAS APPEARED!

[@spncy6663]

Damn. Flashback to 4th grade here.

[@Polonium2.10]

imagine a rock raiders remastered

[@SpaceDave-on8uv]

Best game from lego

[@HylianDefender]

Oh, that Slimy Slug repeating isn't a bug with the audio. The Slimy Slugs keep coming up, forgetting that Rock Raiders exist, and immediately reburrowing back down. It's a bug with the AI. Aside from that, my graphics kept glitching out whenever I played that game on fullscreen. Haven't tried it in windowed, because a good 3/4 of it would always get cut off.

[@Mabra51]

I never renamed my rock raiders because the feature was broken with some letters not working or being swapped.

[@UnderTheMoons]

Oh no! 😔 tbh with how buggy that game was I’m not surprised 😂

[@michaelwells529]

This game was kinda like Dungeon Keeper for kids. Never was very good at it, I just liked trying to make a cool looking base to wander around in in 1st person and explore the caves than complete objectives lol. That final giant level always filled me with wonder because I never made it that far, still don''t know what happens in it.

[@ThyLegohood]

This game surprisingly has mods.

[@cillianennis9921]

I have the CD of this game but never got to playing it since I never knew how PC games worked & had heard from Cadicarus that this was trash clearly he hadn't played much as his view was not very detailed like if he never learned how the game was meant to be played with the base building.

[@timno2639]

good, slightly annoying, but still good memories

[@SmitzPNK]

yo! we need a remake

[@deloctyte]

There is a remake. It's called Manic Miners. Come join us and play!

[@masonhales]

weirdest? More like best