Robotron Review

By Chris Wilkins Published 25 October, 2007

Do it for Mikey, please?

Version tested: Retro

Robotron:2084 is the epitome of organised chaos. An unbridled jaunt into insanity and the ultimate in twitch gaming. This is a title that all shooter fans must play at least once in order to experience the finely balanced gaming perfection achieved by the legendary Eugene Jarvis.

Jarvis, I'm sure, is a very nice man. Yet Inside the depths of his twisted psyche lurks a dark recess where evil thought processes provide inspiration for such nefarious game designs; games that test the player's skill and resolve, while constantly challenging their boundaries of patience and frustration. Robotron is a hallmark example - an unforgiving game permeated by an inexplicable addictiveness.

There has to be a method to the Robotron madness. The basic game premise and controls are such that anyone can understand: one stick for moving, one stick for firing and the simple task of destroying everything on the screen (with the added nuisance of rescuing humans for vital bonus points).

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The early levels prove straight forward as the game mechanics unfold. A few levels in and the screen quickly fills with enemies that home in on you in swarms, inducing player panic and reactive joystick hammering. A blink of the eye, another life lost. A slight loss of concentration, and there goes another. And from that brief moment when you felt you were doing so well, its game over.

If you looked up "classic" in the dictionary, the definition would be "Robotron". The cabinet design for both the upright and cocktail versions is exquisite and both have become sought after objects of desire for collectors, while the game has an intangible ability to taunt you; making you think the next time you play you will do better and maybe, just maybe, get one stage further.

10 / 10

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Comments (5) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • Stoatboy #1 5 years ago

    ^^^ What he said.

    Robotron is the absolute business. Shame I'm pretty rubbish at it, but I still love it to bits. It's got my favourite audio of any game ever too - it's the quintessential sound of an arcade in the early 80s. Awesome.

  • badoli #2 5 years ago

    Such a beautyful design and it barely motivated any clones... man, was i happy when geometry wars arrived to fill that blank!

  • darc #3 5 years ago

    "The great tragedy of Robotron is that it requires a perfect interface for the player to control adequately."

    Interesting. I used to make the same speech about centipede/millipede. You never knew quite what you were going to get in the way of trackball accuracy.

  • octalX #4 5 years ago

    Outstanding game. The daddy!
    Two players if both good was the best way to survive.

  • scarabium #5 4 years ago

    The kind of game, when mastered, earned you plenty of manpoints. Macho, hairy-chested gaming at its finest :)