"A plunger is an armadillo's best friend"

While the title may look and sound like this game is about a vibrating plastic phallus, Cyberdillo could not actually be further from that. Cyberdillo is one of those games that most people do not get. It stars an armadillo who gets drilled by a run away car off-roading in the desert somewhere in the world. Somehow, an evil company named Cyber Salvage gets a hold of the body and turns him into a Cybernetic Armadillo, ala the Bionic Man. Understandably, this armadillo is none too happy and is now looking to extract revenge on the company and people who did this to him. If the story ended here, the game wouldn't be so off the wall. Unfortunately, this company never moved out of the 1970's so everything is disco themed. Magic 8-balls and disco balls flood every level with bouncing smiley faces that pack a killer punch. Did I mention that Cyberdillo was outfitted with a plunger shooter for an arm? Yeah. This game is a little bit out there. However, just because this game is so odd doesn't make it terrible. Underneath the crude humor and fart jokes is a decent first person shooter.

In the wake of Doom and Wolfenstein 3D comes Cyberdillo. First person shooters were still a relatively new concept at the time this game was released. This shows greatly throughout the game. However, Cyberdillo looks at the lighter side of killing things and gives you a plunger shooter and a magical princess wand to kill enemies rather than guns and bullets. Those looking for a bloody game of rampaging Martians and Germen army members from the second world war will not want to give this game a second glace. The enemies in this game are not typical. As you travel through tie-dyed walls you encounter such things as floating eye balls and hot dogs with robotic legs. Med packs are replaced with grasshoppers and ants.

There are eight total levels with four stages in each making a total of 32 maps to play though. Each level is based off of some disco music and the game has the feeling of it. In each stage you have to seek out and find a certain item that anyone who was a live in the disco era would shudder to look at these days. Disco balls, pants, wigs and shirts all are the items needed to be found in order to advance. Why exactly a cybernetic armadillo would need any of these items to exact revenge is anyone's guess, but at least we can take solace in the fact that disco probably won't be making a come back any time soon.

The maps themselves are fairly diverse. As with most games, it starts out easy and gets more difficult as you traverse the disco filled world. Color keyed doors that do not allow you to pass until you gain the same colored key start appearing in the second level as the enemies get tougher and weirder. While everyone may not be open to gigantic television sets trying to kill you, one has to take a step back and realize that this isn't meant to be serious.

The greatest humor (or crudest, depending on your personal view) comes in two forms. One is the "bone flute." There are several of these hiding throughout the game that if played with, make you go blind for twenty seconds. Yes. Even subtle jokes of that nature are hidden throughout the game. The other crudely hilarious situation occurs when our cyborg hero consumes a box of chocolate ex-lax. In what is probably one of the greatest video game deaths ever, after consumption, if you do not find a toilet in twenty seconds, you die of embarrassment because you messed your self. Great humor couples with what was then a new genera in video games really pull this game together.

Musically the game feels like it is right out of 1974. Disco styled theme music plays throughout the game and thanks to CD quality music, actually sounds good. There is a lack of music within menu navigation but entertaining sound effects help to make up for it. With every selection there is a crunch like an armadillo is eating some sort of six legged creature. Within the game there are funny sayings when you pick up health or a shield enhancement that cannot be repeated due to vulgarity. Various sounds warn you of enemies behind doors and a cute and cuddly voice lets you know when you pick up a stage item.

While other first person shooters have little to no music to help set the mood, Cyberdillo sets the mood perfectly with renegade disco music being pumped through the speakers of your television of headphones. While disco music may be unappealing to most, an appreciator of video game music will want to use the headphone jack on the 3DO controller to listen to how well done the music actually is. For an underground game with almost no following whatsoever, the music will surprise even the most cynical of us.

An aspect of this game which brings it down ever so slightly are the controls. While they are far from awful, the certainly are not great. Most action buttons (every thing except the directional pad) work really well and do not plague you. However, moving your armadillo incarnate can be tedious. You seem to bounce off of walls slightly which causes issues when you are trying to navigate through a field of spiny balls. You do move at a good speed and typically stop instantly. Perhaps the most interesting part comes when you are on an incline. As you move up you slow down ever so slightly and speed up when you go down the slope. If you rest on the slope sometimes you slide down slowly. It is an attribute that helps to make up for the sluggish controlling.

It takes the player a little while to learn all the aspects of moving but after playing for a while, it gets easier. However, you can't just plow through each level shooting everything in sight. Throughout each level are objects that cannot be killed but can kill you. One very interesting concept is hanging from the ceiling in the form of stop lights. Throughout the game there are stoplights that, unlike real life, change quickly. You cannot pass under a light if it is red without taking damage. The only way to pass unscathed is to follow the law and move when the light is green.

Graphically, this game looks like an acid trip from the 60's rather than the 70's. Every level has at least some form of brightly colored tie-dye floors and walls. All colors are very bright and you don't have a problem with shadows in the corners or questioning where exactly the tunnel in front of you leads.

Monsters are not actually in the 3rd dimension but rather four drawings placed together in such a manor that it forms a box. Each enemy has four positions you can view it in, you just don't see it turn. Weapons, ammunition and health are not static and actually move around if you shoot them with a plunger, and scale as they get closer to and further away.

While most things within the game actually create the illusion of the third dimension, the toilets on the walls do not. While flatulence noises play in the background after eating ex-lax, one can easily see that the toilet is just a cell drawing and nothing more. While it may not be a big deal, it is very noticeable as it feels like it was added in, last minute.

Cyberdillo is just "one of those games." You have to be able to appreciate crude and off the wall humor to get anything out of this game. While most of the jokes feel like they are directed at a ten year old, it takes an adult to understand everything. The concept of disco is lost on the children of the 90's. If you are a fellow 3DO owner (there has to be at least one more out there) this is a game that will prove to be fun. While it certainly is not perfect and may be inferior to other titles available for this system, it certainly is a game that provides many hours of enjoyment, even if it is all not the way it is intended. Some will like it for being a first person shooter, some will like it for its odd-ball humor, and some will just love it because it is so insanely bad. Whatever the category you fall under, this is definitely a game that you will enjoy. So stop making the jokes about the title and actually go out and pick up the game. It will surprise you with crazy enemies, great music, odd disco themed levels, and plungers like you would not believe.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 06/30/06, Updated 08/19/07