Custom Robo N64 English

[Bartley Trowbridge]

Theseries spans five games, and has titles on the Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, GameCube, and Nintendo DS. Only the two most recent titles have seen a release outside of Japan. Custom Robo Arena was first released in Japan on October 19, 2006, later seeing international release in 2007.

Stated by several issues of Nintendo Power, an international release of Custom Robo GX, the third title in the series, was planned but later canceled. The fourth title in the series, Custom Robo: Battle Revolution, would later be released in 2004, the first title in the series to receive and release outside of Japan. The fifth title of the series, Custom Robo Arena, would become the first and only Custom Robo title released globally.

In Custom Robo, the object is to reduce the opponent's hit points from 1000 to 0 by mixing together different Robos (bodies), guns, bombs and pods, usually by pressuring opponents into taking damage through various trap tactics allowed by a Robo's customized loadout. Custom Robos are arranged in groups that are similar to their abilities. The endurance bar is located above the player's hitbox; once it runs out, the Custom Robo gets "downed" which means that it stays fallen for a couple seconds. After the Robo gets up, it goes into "rebirth" mode, a temporary state of invincibility lasting 3 seconds. Should the player repeatedly lose the same battle, the game will offer the option of reducing the opponent's initial health, in order to make the battle easier. If players continue to lose several times, the degree of handicap offered increases up to 75%, giving the opponent a starting HP of 250, rather than 1000.

In each game's story mode, contextualized as a role-playing game, players slip into the role of a nameable protagonist just beginning to learn about Custom Robo. In each game, the first Robo players obtain is always the latest model of the Ray series. The goal for players is to improve their skills and collect different Custom Robo body kits and gear in order to defeat everyone, including champion Custom Robo users. The main objective of the game is to finish the storyline by collecting every Custom Robo and battle part, while winning every battle that moves players along through the story arc.

The game I played on GameCube was called Custom Robo: Battle Revolution in Japan, but came to North America as Custom Robo. That's because, though it was the fourth game in the series, it was the first to get a release outside of Japan.

Around the same time I was dabbling with tactical RPGs like Shining Force and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, and putting a decent amount of time into action RPGs like Tales of Symphonia and Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. But Custom Robo had a lot more depth than either of those action RPGs, while being significantly more bombastic than the tactical RPGs I loved.

The depth came from the sheer amount of customization possible for your robot's build. Each was broken down into five parts: body, gun (on one arm), bomb (on the other), pod (a back-mounted weapon), and legs. As you played you acquired new parts to equip. I remember having a gun that looked like a dragon that sent missiles flying around the battlefield. But I also had a Gatling gun that let me merk all the other robos.

Of course, all that customizability would make the series ripe for gacha nonsense or microtransactions exploitation. But I prefer to think that a new Custom Robo would be pure, like the delight I got from bringing it home on my birthday 20 years ago.

The game consists of between 2 and 4 small robots fighting in tiny arenas called Colosseums. It's a common sport and a way to deal with disagreements similar to how Pokmon is in the Pokmon series. Excluding GX, they are all in 3D arenas and most have computerized look to them. There are many robot models that recur in the series but, the most prolific is the series mascot, Ray. While each game changes its look, it is always a strong balanced model in the Shining Fighter series. In addition, most games take place in a city that hides the dystopian world outside. The main character typically wants to enforce the law too.

The Knuckle Gun (ナッケルガン) is statistically the strongest weapon in Custom Robo and has appeared in Custom Robo V2, Custom Robo: Battle Revolution, and Custom Robo Arena. Though it also has fast reload, and can down foes quickly, the range is extremely short--less than a foot.

Use this weapon with a fast ground robo, punch once to lift the enemy up, and jump and hit them away for good damage and knockdown (Using the Smash Bomb or an aerial pod are also options at this point).

Once you're hit, you're helpless to getting hit with high combos, so make every effort to avoid the shots. Make good use of long-range weapons and fast robos to keep the Knuckle Gun's obscene power at bay.

I've got a big idea, readers. Why don't we all get together and declare that we've had enough of the same old clichs that lazy Japanese RPG developers like to foist upon us, eh? Just draft up a nice letter, get someone to translate it, and send it off to "All videogame developers, Japan." I'm sure it'll get to someone. And viola! No more amnesiac heroes with a vague but important secret. No more precocious young lads from tiny villages who turn out to be the chosen one. And no more heroes that stand mute, while their companions talk and the plot progresses around them.

Of course, it's entirely possible that Japanese RPG developers might not have any other ideas. Take Custom Robo Arena as a case point. Despite being built around a game system that features robots battling each other, using guns, bombs and all manner of excitingly destructive weapons, the developer, Noise, has wrapped the game with quite possibly the most tedious excuse for a plot I could imagine.

For example, the game begins with the main character waking from a dream of foreboding. On his first day at a new school! If we're going to count clichs, that's at least three already. Rolling out of bed onto a pre-packaged pair of sidekicks (one weedy but friendly, the other rambunctious, talkative, has a knack of getting into trouble) within minutes he's the lynchpin of their Custom Robo team, battling all comers on the way to the Robo Cup, where he'll finally become... The best Robo Commander of them all!

Oh, and of course, one of the sidekicks has a vague, but important "secret" that she doesn't like to talk about. This doesn't count as a spoiler because it's so mind numbingly obvious - it's her brother. And, of course, the main character has to face him before they can finally become... The best Robo blah blah blah whatever.

It's like the developer doesn't have the slightest idea of what makes fighting robots cool. The Custom Robos in question aren't even gigantic, city smashing mecha fighting with real weapons; they're little toys that fight in tiny arenas in battles between children. To make matters worse, as if the game was programmed by your mum, it actually punishes you for not keeping your toys clean!

In Custom Robo Arena's one concession to being on the Nintendo DS (other than its Wi-Fi capabilities) you actually have to polish your Robo after every few battles to keep it working properly. This is the only game I've played yet that has asked me to rub a robot's crotch until it sparkled, and I'm not entirely sure if that's age appropriate.

After all, the best comparison point for Custom Robo Arena is the Pokmon series, as it's quite clearly aimed at children. Both series are known for recycling their plots and their often rudimentary graphics, and Custom Robo Arena's 2D RPG portion looks like it was created for the Master System, never mind the Nintendo DS. While Pokemon Diamond/Pearl's graphical updates are scant, there's at least a vibrancy to the art which gives it the life that is sorely missing here.

The original Custom Robo was on the import list of many N64 gamers. The idea of being able to control little machines capable of big destruction was pretty cool. Now, Noise and Nintendo have brought the GameCube version of the game over to America. Although it doesn't look or sound all that great, the awesome gameplay and the long single player mode make for a really good experience overall.

The idea of Custom Robo is that you control a miniature robot, outfitted with guns, bombs, and other weapons. If you can defeat the other guy, you win. If he defeats you, you lose. Pretty simple, right? Well, there are a variety of gameplay modes for you to see why it's not so simple. The vast majority of the game is spent in story mode, but you also have arcade modes that pit you against others in every combination possible: 1 on 1, 1 on 2, 2 on 1, 2 on 2, and every robo for itself. There's also a tag battle mode so two people can use two robos each. You'll come across all of these gameplay modes in the single-player story mode, but other than the single battle, most of these are constrained to the multiplayer modes.

The game's story mode is actually split up into two parts. The first half has you walking around a world map, going from place to place as member of the Steel Hearts, a bounty hunter group. The story itself is sort of pointless, as its only purpose is to get you into a series of robo battles and offer you battle tips. As you beat the battles, you start accumulating parts to further customize your robo. After you beat the first half of the story, you'll be able to start the second story, which uses the end of the first to set up a series of tournaments. The first story's battles are a good challenge as you get toward the end, but in the tournaments in the second battle, you will find that the game's difficulty ramps up considerably. In order to get good scores in the tournaments, you need to be very good at using the abilities that your customized robo has.

The general strategy of the game is to use your bombs and pods to trap opponents, then come in with your gun and take them down. If you just stand in the middle of the arena and wildly shoot at people, the gun's delay will make you a sitting duck. Likewise, if you just charge in without covering yourself with pods or bombs, you'll be cut down in no time. It's as much a strategy game as it is an action title, so you'll have to think about the best plan of attack given your choice of robo and weapons.

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