Robotron X
{{Short description|1996 video game}}
{{Infobox VG
| title = Robotron X
| image = Robotron X Coverart.png
| caption =
| developer = Leland Interactive Media
Player 1
| publisher = {{vgrelease|NA|Midway Home Entertainment|EU|GT Interactive}}
| designer =
| series =
| engine =
| released = PlayStation{{vgrelease|NA|December 24, 1996{{Cite web |date=1997-02-27 |title=Online Gaming Review |url=http://www.ogr.com/news/news1296.html |access-date=2023-04-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970227065637/http://www.ogr.com/news/news1296.html |archive-date=1997-02-27}}|PAL|March 1997}}Windows{{vgrelease|NA|1997}}
| genre = Multidirectional shooter
| modes = Single-player, multiplayer
| platforms = PlayStation, Windows
}}
Robotron X is a multidirectional shooter video game co-developed by Leland Interactive Media and Player 1 and it was released by Midway Games in November 1996 for the PlayStation. It is a 3D version of the 1982 dual-stick shooter Robotron: 2084. GT Interactive published a Microsoft Windows port in 1997. A Nintendo 64 version was released in 1998 as Robotron 64, and Crave Entertainment bought out the publishing rights to the N64 version.{{Cite web |author=I. G. N. Staff |date=1997-11-12 |title=Robotron X Gears Up for the Holidays |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/1997/11/12/robotron-x-gears-up-for-the-holidays |access-date=2024-12-05 |website=IGN |language=en}}
Gameplay
Robotron X features updated graphics and audio, and also multiple different angles for the camera.{{cite book | title=Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams on Game Design | first1=Andrew | last1=Rollings | first2=Ernest | last2=Adams | page=283 | publisher=New Riders | isbn=1-59273-001-9 | year=2003}}{{cite web | url = http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=2268 | title = Robotron X - Overview - allgame | first = Brett Alan | last = Weiss | publisher = Allgame | accessdate = 2009-03-17}}
Reception
While the game uses gameplay similar to the original, Robotron X was not as well-received,{{cite journal | journal = GamesTM | title = Robotron: 2084 Behind the Scenes | issue = 36 | date=October 2005| author = GamesTM Staff | pages = 146–149}} though reviews for it ranged from mixed to positive.{{cite magazine|title=Review Crew: Robotron X|magazine=Electronic Gaming Monthly |issue=90|publisher=Ziff Davis|date=January 1997|page=66|quote=The first rule of gaming: All things must go 3-D. The second rule: All classics must be revived. Like it or not, that's the trend.}}{{cite web|title=Robotron X Review |url=https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/robotron-x-review/1900-2549135/|website=GameSpot |accessdate=28 January 2018|date=December 1, 1996}}{{cite magazine |title=Robotron X |magazine=Next Generation|issue=27 |publisher=Imagine Media|date=March 1997|pages=88, 90}}{{cite magazine |title=PlayStation ProReview: Robotron X|magazine=GamePro|issue=101 |publisher=IDG|date=February 1997|page=72}} Andrew Rollings and Ernest Adams felt that the moving camera featured in the 3D environment was a negative, and that the original overhead perspective format of a single screen actually presented all the information a player and relied more on the skill of the player. They felt that the moving camera angle obscured playing field areas which would make it hard for the player to avoid being shot when an enemy appears suddenly. Some critics cited this as the game's one major flaw. John Vince felt the same way, stating that gameplay suffered due to missing important aspects that the original had.{{cite book | title = Handbook of Computer Animation | first = John | last = Vince | publisher = Springer Science+Business Media | pages = 19–20 | isbn = 1-85233-564-5 | year = 2002}} Rollings and Adams instead attribute the late 1990s fad involving classic video game remakes in part to the release of Robotron X, though at the time of that release it was believed this fad was already in place.
Next Generation reviewed the PlayStation version of the game, rating it three stars out of five.
Aaron Curtiss for the Los Angeles Times recommended the game for fans of the original, but thought that others would decry it as "mindless".{{Cite web |last=Curtiss |first=Aaron |date=1997-05-01 |title=Blast Chamber Explodes Without Impact |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-05-01-ca-54448-story.html |access-date=2023-03-16 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
Bro' Buzz for GamePro was complimentary to its gameplay and graphics.{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/GamePro_Issue_091_February_1997/page/n73/mode/2up | title=GamePro Issue 091 February 1997}}
Malcolm Mayhew for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram gave the game 2 1/2 stars, saying that the game had good idea, but bad execution.{{cite news | url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/fort-worth-star-telegram/123987537/ | title=Article clipped from Fort Worth Star-Telegram | newspaper=Fort Worth Star-Telegram | date=25 January 1997 | page=65}}
Reviews
- GameFan #49 (Vol 5, Issue 1) - January 1997
- NowGamer - Mar 01, 1997{{cite web | url=http://www.nowgamer.com/reviews/playstation/7557/robotron-x | title=GamesRadar+ | date=22 June 2023}}
- PC Zone - Aug 13, 2001{{cite web |url=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=3373|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061203031735/http://www.computerandvideogames.com/article.php?id=3373|url-status=dead|archive-date=December 3, 2006|title=PC Zone|website=computerandvideogames.com}}
- GameSpot - Dec 01, 1996{{cite web | url=http://www.gamespot.com/ps/puzzle/robotron10/review.html | title=Robotron 64 Review}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.tripoint.org/robo/robo64/robo64.html Review at Tripoint]
- [http://www.gamespot.com/ps/puzzle/robotron10/index.html Review at GameSpot]
{{Robotron: 2084}}
Category:PlayStation (console) games
Category:Video games developed in the United States