Robotrek

"I tell ya, it doesn't get much better than this."

It's from Quintet, the makers of Actraiser and the transcendently brilliant Soulblazer trilogy, so how could it possibly be anything but great? Um...let's just forget about Actraiser 2, shall we?

While the aforementioned games concern themselves with fairly highbrow themes of death and rebirth, Robotrek (''Slapstick'' in Japan) takes a lighter approach--that doesn't mean it isn't as good, though.

The story is...good. Really good. Great, in fact. As the son of a famous inventor, your mission is to stop the evil invading hackers and rescue your dad. As with many great RPG stories, it sounds simple on paper, but, god being in the details, rocks like anything in practice. There are all sorts of unexpected twists and turns which, I must say, are all incredibly cool. Some people call the game badly translated, but I've never found that to be the case--the script IS slightly off-kilter, but to me that only serves to accentuate the general atmosphere of goofy fun that surrounds it as a whole. And believe me, I tend to be more than a little picky about these things.

Another main aspect of Robotrek that is good, very good, great is the dungeons. I kid you not: these are just sheer genius. Nothing less. Quintet's always been good with their dungeons, but Robotrek represents their apex in that department. In most RPGs, dungeons consist of wandering around, fighting monsters, and maybe a puzzle or two if you're lucky. Robotrek, on the other hand, far surpasses that in every way. In almost all of the dungeons (argh! I'm using the word 'dungeon' too often, but I can't think of a good synonym! Ack!), combat and mazes are perfectly integrated with charater interaction. As in, you'll have to talk to people and do things for them. It's hard to really convey via words, but it makes the dungeons as compelling as anything else in the game, in stark contrast to a lot of games in which dungeons (there it is again!) are a chore rather than a pleasure. Punk rawk!

The game is innovative in other ways, too. As an aspiring inventor, you don't do your own fighting--you build robots to do it for you; you can build three of them, but only one fights at the same time. While these deadly fighting machines aren't as customizable as they could be, it's still a pretty damn cool feature. You can give your 'bots all sorts of different weapons and armours, choose which of their stats you want to increase upon leveling up, and give them various different special attacks that combine their different weapons. Combat works well too--you have some freedom of movement when it's your turn, as do the enemies, making for a bit of strategy--you have to be next to a monster to use melee weapons, but you can use ranged attacks from far away (obvious statement of the year). There are also little 'treasure chest' thingies that you can find both in and out of battle--out of it, they're just ordinary boxes, but in it they give you little bonuses if you bash them open, or else hurt you if you're unlucky. Okay...enough said about that. The battle system works well, and it's fairly balanced. Most enemies are pretty easy, but the bosses range from middlingly difficult to insanely hard. But, with tenacity, you'll be able to overcome them all.

In addition to building robots, you can also create and combine all sorts of weapons and armour and items, which you unlock by reading books--you can read more as your level increases. Yet more coolness! Where will it ever end!

Graphics and sound are very nice indeed. Visually, the game is brightly coloured and fairly simple--the perfect visual style for the type of gameplay. The soundtrack consists of bouncy, catchy tunes, a few of which will surely stick in your head long after you've finished the game.

There is nothing more to say. Robotrek is truly a great game, and those who disagree are lost souls indeed. Go now! Play!

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 05/11/00, Updated 05/11/00