Robotron: the greatest game ever?

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

Something in another forum, and discussion over Edge's recent worthy-but-agonisingly-safe-and-predictable all-time Top 100 special, got me to thinking. Any game that ends up at the top of a "best ever" chart is usually a bit controversial. Lots of people can't be arsed with Zelda. Quite a few people find Mario 64 childish (stupid people, but still plenty of them). A great many find PC games like Half-Life 2 or Civilisation offputtingly complicated. There are even people who'd argue that (say) Goldeneye's framerate doesn't stand up in the modern era, and so on and so forth.

But if the best game ever is the one that the greatest number of people would agree is brilliant, is it Robotron? An almost universal inclusion in Retro Gamer's Desert Island Disks feature, I can't think in my whole life of hearing anyone say a bad word about Robotron. It's incredibly accessible (even your mum can instantly grasp the idea of one stick to move, the other to fire), immediately entertaining (as even the most badly-co-ordinated player blows away waves of GRUNTs in a shower of pretty particle effects), and endlessly challenging (even players with years and years of practice will get their arses handed to them if they don't give it 100% concentration 100% of the time).

Unlike many older games it's even got a story, a classic dystopian man-versus-machine tale told chillingly in the simple but evocative intro sequence. The graphics, while basic, still look good today, and the audio is so iconic many TV shows still use Robotron as the universal sound of "someone playing a videogame". It is, as far as I can tell, literally flawless, a perfect test of pure skill that even its own pseudo-sequels couldn't improve on overall.

But is there a secret silent constituency out there who hates it? Let's find out.

[theMot]

I think Pit Fighter is better. So there.

[Push Upstairs]

Sword of Sodan = teh r0x0rs.

[JerseyDevil65]

As far as arcade games go, Robotron is a great game and I wasted quite few quarters on it. But I can't put it ahead of Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Moon Patrol, Mr. Do's Castle, Pac-Man, Ms Pac-Man, Galaga or Dig Dug.

When judged against console games, Robotron is not even Top 100, IMO.

[Oobgarm]

It's in my Top 100, at #80.

Galaga, Ms. Pac-Man, Tron, Time Pilot, Tempest, and Qix all precede it.

[Griking]

While Robotron was a great game it wasn't even my favorite game by Williams. Stargate will probably be my all time nostalgic favorite. While not a Williams game Mr. Do also fits somewhere in my top 5 arcade games.

[blue lander]

I think Robotron stands on it's own without relying on nostalgia than a lot of more popular arcade games. I don't know if I'd bother playing something like Qix or Ms. Pac Man if it just came out yesterday.

But why play Robotron when you can play Llamatron?

[Rev. Stuart Campbell]

But why play Robotron when you can play Llamatron?

Why watch Assault On Precinct 13 when you could watch a couple of episodes of The Thin Blue Line?

LOL

[Sanriostar]

Anytime I have to deal with snot-nosed punks giving me grief over 'old games suck and are too easy!' I throw them in front of Robotron. They start screaming around level 4. God I love Robotron.

[diskoboy]

I think the 2-D shoot-em-up peaked with Robotron.

It's still hard to find a game that tops it. Geometry Wars is the only knockoff that comes remotely close. Smash TV and Total Carnage were okay, but Robotron was just so chaotic.

IMO - Robotron is gaming zen.

[Pantechnicon]

IMO - Robotron is gaming zen.

Amen. Although I suck at every game ever made by Williams Electronics, Robotron is the one that I'll always come back to for more self-flagellation. It's one of the reasons I built my MAME cab with two centered sticks. Excellent game.

There's actually a great essay on Robotron buried right inside our own Digital Press print archives. (clicky-read) (http://www.digitpress.com/archives/arc00044.htm)


Of the many facets that make Robotron such an incredibly exciting game to play, one immediately stands out: it simply grabs you by the balls the second you begin playing and doesn’t ever let go. Ever...if you’re not up to snuff, you’ll know it after the first few boards. Boy, will you ever know.

[Graham Mitchell]

Robotron stands the test of time for me. I didn't even play it until I got the first Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits comp for the PS1 in 1996. I was so hooked it wasn't even funny, and I had stuff like Dark Savior and Mario 64 to compare it to. It quickly ended up in my top 5 favorite games of all time.

And I totally suck at it.

[japster]

Amen. Although I suck at every game ever made by Williams Electronics, Robotron is the one that I'll always come back to for more self-flagellation. It's one of the reasons I built my MAME cab with two centered sticks. Excellent game.

There's actually a great essay on Robotron buried right inside our own Digital Press print archives. (clicky-read) (http://www.digitpress.com/archives/arc00044.htm)

Same here - I recently built a mame cab, and after finding Robotron out, we decided to give it a go (I'd never got on with it/was scared of it in my youth!) - After us all getting constantly creamed after the first couple of waves, then gradually getting better and just letting yourself "zone" out, you start playing by instinct/twitch gaming, and that's where the true beauty of the game lies - once you're in the zone, you can seemingly do the impossible in terms of what you can get away with, and onlookers are flabberghasted! (not to mention yourself) LOL

EVERYONE that I've put in front of it has now got into it in a big way (especially as I was lucky enough to have placed both joysticks in a suitable configuration when I built the cab!), and currently, my high score (which I doubt I'll ever beat without a solid day's gaming again!) - is 384,000+ - I was definitely in the zone with that one, and yes, I came off the cab shaking and sweaty!

To sum up - One HELL of a top game, that at first glance doean't grab you, but is the very definition of risk vs. reward! - Try keeping your calm and collecting as many women as you can on the first "brain" level, in one life, while trying NOT to shoot them, while dodging and shooting everything else, to get a higher score (and more lives!) and you'll start to appreciate the way it works, and how tough every single split-second choice is, based on the need to score points against the need to survive! - You really do have to bow down to Eugene Jarvis's brilliance... 8-)

PS - Apparently it was going to have a map of "rooms" and a mission originally, but they liked the random arena so much it became that instead....

Yep, I'm glad we found out what we were missing all those years ago! ;)



Den.

[KingCobra]

But is there a secret silent constituency out there who hates it? Let's find out.

Not me, it's a great game still to date IMO. But I don't know? I wouldn't argue that it isen't the greatest Williams twin-stick arcade'er ever? I still play it, but Donkey Kong Arcade has got to be up there also, maybe even a tie?!

[le geek]

I am more of an Ocarina of Time and/or Tempest 2000 man m'self...

[whoisKeel]

Well I answered "Really a lot" which is very different from the title "the greatest game ever?". Robotron kicks so much ass that you'll have trouble finding more ass to kick at the end of the day. Best game ever is a tough position to fill though, still ... you won't find me bitchin' if it makes the top slot.

[swlovinist]

I own over 5000 games, and this is my favorite. If people off the streets ask me what my favorite game in my collection is, it is this game, that is how much I like it. The game to me never gets tired, and it truly one of the most remarkable twitch one screen arcade games ever made.

[Chuplayer]

Robotron stands the test of time for me. I didn't even play it until I got the first Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits comp for the PS1 in 1996. I was so hooked it wasn't even funny, and I had stuff like Dark Savior and Mario 64 to compare it to. It quickly ended up in my top 5 favorite games of all time.

And I totally suck at it.

That's pretty much how I felt about it, too. I have the SNES version of the Williams cart, though. The game's just plain awesome. I really like Robotron 64, too. The dual-joystick mode is epic.

I played Geometry Wars a while ago, and I was so surprised. This is what everybody's raving about? It's just Robotron! Why hasn't Robotron become a smash hit like Geometry Wars?

[Mobius]

Amazingly, I just played Robotron for the first time last weekend. It was fantastic, I loved it! I sucked at first because I was walking around shooting, not paying much attention. Then I started to concentrate more and strategized on how to pick up more people and get a higher score. That's when it all clicked.

[telengard]

This poll looks familiar. Was it also posted @ retro gamer?

Regardless, Robotron is my #1 of all time, played on an upright.

~telengard

[zektor]

I love it alot, and voted as such. But, greatest game of all time? Dunno... I may have to side with Galaga on that one.

[Moo Cow]

Why watch Assault On Precinct 13 when you could watch a couple of episodes of The Thin Blue Line?

LOL

Why watch Assault On Precinct 9?

[mr.bill]

As far as arcade games go, Robotron is a great game and I wasted quite few quarters on it. But I can't put it ahead of Asteroids, Donkey Kong, Space Invaders, Moon Patrol, Mr. Do's Castle, Pac-Man, Ms Pac-Man, Galaga or Dig Dug.

When judged against console games, Robotron is not even Top 100, IMO.

as far as arcade games go #1 robotron and #2 tempest.

How can anyone like asteroids? Why play that, when you can play asteroids deluxe(better game and has blacklighting effects) and an even better choice is space duel (#3 in my book).

I agree Dig dug, mr do (not do's castle), and galaga are great. But pacmania is better than all the other pacs!

[Rubentron]

I own only one game, and that is Robotron. I tracked down an original, overpaid for a piece of crap, rebuilt it myself and play it only occasionally because otherwise I'll get addicted again and I need my job! Here's why I think it's better than all the other classics:

No pattern! Screw pac man and anything else you can beat by memorizing a pattern.

complexity - there is enough variation in robots and boards that it keeps you on your toes. And when robots exclusive to one board start showing up on others, the adrenaline really starts pumping!

It has a story! It's 2007 and the new sci-fi network hit is "The Sarah Connor Chronicles", Robotron was ahead of it's time.

Deceptively simple - Anyone can play it, no one can ever really master it.

No matter how good you think you are, someone else can kick your ass! I thought I was hot stuff when I was a kid because I could get up close to 10,000,000. Then I heard of guys that could turn the machine over! Now I consider it a good day if I break 1,000,000 and a stellar day if I break 2,000,000.

Needless to say at this point, I consider it the greatest game ever.

Ruben

[DigitalSpace]

Imo, Super Metroid is the greatest game ever. Robotron's pretty good, though.

[DefaultGen]

.....

[Chris]

I recently read about game structures and that one can basically differentiate between games of emergence (simple rules combined to form interesting variations) and games of progression (seperate challenges presented serially).
So something like Zelda OoT and nearly every other game with storytelling ambitions (where players are faced with predefined set of events or actions), fall into the latter category and something like Robotron (and even more so PONG) is more on the emergent side of things I guess.
So it depends which appoach you prefer (I for myself favor games of emergence).

Anyway, I've actually yet to play Robotron (embarassing, I know), so I'd like to ask which version to get?
MAME of course, but I'd also like to know if there are good home conversions? What are the Atari, ZX Spectrum, C64, SNES, Genesis & Playstation conversions like? I also read that the XBox Live version sports Co-Op?

[NoahsMyBro]

I've never really liked Robotron much. I'm awful at it; I don't know if that's why I don't care for the game.

What I find interesting is that my all-time favorite game is Defender (maybe Stargate - I like them both). And every thread here that specifies what makes Robotron so great is exactly what I would say about Defender.

Defender has on-screen chaos, beautiful graphics that share a lot of stylistic similarities with Robotron, distinctive sounds, frantic, frenetic, "twitch"-gameplay, gameplay such that to be successful you need to get into a trance-like state, where you can pull off feats that noone, yourself included, would believe possible, etc... There's a basic story - sci-fi, save the humans from the baddies.

In fact, the only substantive difference I can come up with is that Robotron's controls are distilled down to the ultimate simplicity, while Defender/Stargate's controls are unusually complex.

Still, considering all of the similarities, I'm surprised that I've never cared for Robotron, and consider Defender my all-time favorite game. (It's also a little interesting that I've never really compared the games like this before.)

[Graham Mitchell]

I've never really liked Robotron much. I'm awful at it; I don't know if that's why I don't care for the game.

What I find interesting is that my all-time favorite game is Defender (maybe Stargate - I like them both). And every thread here that specifies what makes Robotron so great is exactly what I would say about Defender.

Defender has on-screen chaos, beautiful graphics that share a lot of stylistic similarities with Robotron, distinctive sounds, frantic, frenetic, "twitch"-gameplay, gameplay such that to be successful you need to get into a trance-like state, where you can pull off feats that noone, yourself included, would believe possible, etc... There's a basic story - sci-fi, save the humans from the baddies.

In fact, the only substantive difference I can come up with is that Robotron's controls are distilled down to the ultimate simplicity, while Defender/Stargate's controls are unusually complex.

Still, considering all of the similarities, I'm surprised that I've never cared for Robotron, and consider Defender my all-time favorite game. (It's also a little interesting that I've never really compared the games like this before.)

Well, the similarities are no coincidence. Both games were developed by Eugene Jarvis (although Larry DeMar helped on Robotron--those two made up the "Vid Kidz" team).

And to answer Chris's Question, the port you want is probably the Xbox Live Arcade version if you can get it. Remember that on PSX and N64, Robotron X is a different game (essentially the same thing but in 3-D.) I've played it briefly and it's fun, but camera angles became a bit of a problem for me. Robotron can be found in "Williams Arcade's Greatest Hits" on PSX or "Midway Arcade Tresures, vol. 1) on PS2 and Xbox. Those are definitive, MAME versions.

The Atari 7800 port is supposedly really fun because you can use dual joystick control by using the second controller, but I myself have not actually played it so I can't tell you how it compares to the original.

[fcw3]

My thoughts on Robotron from several years ago:

http://www.tomheroes.com/Video%20Games%20FS/Retrotimes/retrotimes_26.htm#Thoughts%20on%20Robotron%20and%2 0Life

[Ed Oscuro]

I'm split on the 'arena shooters' genre. I don't enjoy Robotron and the Midway games Smash T.V. & Total Carnage much. There are other offerings that I've found pretty compelling, though; I enjoyed Crimson Land (recent PC game) a lot for the few weeks I played it. I played a bit of the Unreal 2004 mod "Alien Swarm," but I didn't go back to it.

I can't really say why I don't like these games that much. Robotron's difficulty ramps up, while Smash T.V. is ugly (important!) and the player moves too slowly for my liking and I find the powerups annoying to use.

Probably the biggest single thing I dislike about arena shooters is the constricted playfield.

[Neil Koch]

That's actually one of the things I enjoy most about it. There's just such a great sense of danger and panic. I'm not very good at the game though. I can only get up about wave 12. I prefer Smash TV much more; I would call that one of my top 5 games of all time.