The reviews and screenshots that I'd seen of this game were very good, as were the descriptions of its gameplay. All I hoped, though, was that it would change some of the gameplay, feel, and aspects of the failure that was Robotron X for the Playstation. That title featured bad viewing angles, difficult and annoying gameplay, and horrid framerates that reduce gameplay during high robot count to unplayability. I kept my fingers crossed and hoped that Robotron 64 would fix these problems and provide a solid and enjoyable gameplay experience.
Just like Robotron X, Robotron 64 had the potential of being very good or very bad. Let's say right now that Robotron 64 is everything that Robotron X should have been. I made my way to Blockbuster video this weekend and obtained myself a copy of this game and sat down with it. 160 levels later, and I'm here to tell it like it is.
This is not a graphically oriented game by any means. The textures and the robotron designs are pleasant enough to the eye to be attractive and distinguish them from one another. The explosions and backgrounds are well animated and contain some degree of transparency. The design factor that was focused upon in this game was not its graphics, but they don't suffer much as a result.
The gameplay is identical to the playstation Robotron X, except that the frame rate never drops and you don't loose the feel and the motion of your character as 5 or more frames are skipped. The levels start off easy and get more and more challenging as they progress, and get very difficult. If you enjoyed the original Robotron, then this game is a good embellishment upon it.
Definitely a game worth playing. I would reccommend it to anyone that enjoys Robotron, or anyone that enjoys a stimulating arcade-like experience. If you are looking for graphic flair, kick ass music, or rpg-style gameplay, this isn't the game for you.
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| Aspect | Comment: | Score (of 10) |
|---|---|---|
Gameplay and Feel | Solid, fluid framerates provide for a very very pleasant and streamlined experience. Diverse enemies, different and changing level combinations and situations keeps you on your toes at all times. The n64 controller provides excellent game control and ease of movement and fire. A challenging and fun experience. | 9 |
Viewing Angles | Much, much, much improved over the horror that was Robotron X. You have four views to choose from, "smart" isometric views, overhead, and an arena isometric view that allows you to see the whole playfield. The views are non obstructive and let you play without a hindrance. Absolutely perfect. | 10 |
Framerates | Solid. The technology of the Nintendo 64 console shine with this title, and the frames did not drop regardless of the numbers of robots the game threw at me. No more 5-6 fps drops anymore. | 9 |
New Stuff | Many of the weapons/powerups have been changed/kept from Robotron X. There are some new items thrown into the mix as are some other enemies and playfield designs. If you liked the weapons and powerups from Robotron X, you will definitely like those in Robotron 64. | 8 |
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| Aspect | Comment: | Score (of 10) |
|---|---|---|
Music | Nintendo chose carts for their console, and though many of their titles have some decent music, the songs are usually short and repetitive. Well, the Robotron 64 music tries to mimic electronically some of the Robotron X tracks, and doesn't do it too well. Personally, I just turned the music off. | 5 |
Difficulty | At first, it was too easy. Then it got harder. After about level 120, it was almost ridiculous. heh heh. Maybe I just suck. If you hate hard videogames, this isn't one that you're going to want to play. Some of the situations that the game creates were, in my opinion, unfair and ill designed. Some of the grunts fly around and midair and just drop on you, and there's nothing you can do about it. Often you can't shoot fast enough to kill them all. et cetera. | 7 |
The Menagerie of Baddies |
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 | Grunt 1 : Rarely a threat unless in large numbers, just shoot and run. |  | Hulks 1-4 : Serve the ever so well thought out purpose of just getting in the way. The more advanced hulks seem to be better at this. |
 | Grunt 2 : Much faster than the Grunt 1, and they drop onto the board from the air as well as spawning on the ground |  | Hulk 2 |
 | Grunt 3 : Completely ground based, but takes two shots to dispatch | 
| Hulk 3 |
 | Grunt 4 : Like the grunt 3, but nastier |  | Hulk 4 |
 | Sphereoid 1 : Not quite so bad, just shoot them quickly before the enforcers come out. |
 | Enforcer 1 : Not quite so bad, just shoot them when they appear |
 | Sphereoid 2 : A little worse than sphereoid 1, be sure to knock it off pretty quick also. |
 | Enforcer 2 : A little worse, their shots get pretty tricky |
 | Sphereoid 3 : They SUCK!!! Takes many shots to kill, impossible in large numbers, run like hell! |  | Enforcer 3 : They start to suck pretty bad, just hope you kill all the sphereoids |
 | Sphereoid 4 Let's not even go there... :) | | Enforcer 4 : Run like hell |
 | Tank 1 : No really big deal, their shots are slow and inaccurate. |
 | Quarks 1-4 : Pulsating, undulating, nasty things. Knock them out before they start churning out those tanks. |
 | Tank 2 : They start to aim much better now. |
 | Quark 2 |
 | Tank 3 : They are starting to get pretty lethal now, knock the quarks out and quick! |
 | Quark 3 |
 | Tank 4 : God have mercy on you. |
 | Quark 4 |
 | Brain 1 : Just mow them down. |
 | Dinobyte : Sort of like those grid bugs from Tron. |
 | Brain 2 : Quite a pest, they take several shots each to dispatch. |
 | Nanobyte: Ditto. |
 | Brain 3 : These suck like nothing that has ever sucked before! |
 | Ant: Very similar to the last two |
 | Brain 4 : Little jellies. Hard to hit, and they take multiple shots. |
 | Progs: Brains create these, of course. Shoot them up when you can, since a lot of them can suck. |
The Powerups |
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 | Two Way : Allows you the ability to fire directly forwards and backwards. Can be somewhat useful, but not really all that great of a powerup actually. |
 | Three Way: NOW we're getting somewhere. The three way fires a spread beam forwards and makes a killer way to get rid of those evil baddies really fast. Doesn't last too long, so make the best of it while you can. |
 | Four Way: An improvement upon the three way, it also lays mines. Can help when you're on the run and and running out of space really fast! |
 | Flamethrower: Just like it sounds, a pretty cool weapon to employ against those evil baddies. |
 | Gas Gun: A new weapon, much more effective and long ranged than the Flamethrower. |
 | Shield: Probably the best powerup of them all. The shield allows you to come into contact with the evil baddies and their shots. It has a limited number of hits before it's completely destroyed, though, so make it a point to live as long as you can without getting hit. |
 | Speedup: If you thought that you simply couldn't move fast enough, this jobbie will make you wish you hadn't ever thought it. You'll scream when it's all over. |
 | Oneup: You're going to need lots of free men, and the game hands them out in numerous supply, on top of those you get through points. |
Created and maintained by Walton C. Gibson, kalla@aspark.ece.uiuc.edu.