My OperaCustom Robo Arena Review
By seaempty. Saturday, March 24, 2007 9:12:42 PM
Custom Robo Arena for the DS is a great game. I'm going to get that out of the way at the start of this review. It's one of the most fun games I've played on the DS, and I've found it a very worthwhile addition to my games collection. It's got a decent one player story mode, a great multiplayer mode, Wi-Fi battling with voice chat, and hundreds of collectibles.The premise of the game is simple. You control a battling robot called a Custom Robo. Each Robo has unique handling and combat attributes, and has four different parts that you can customise and tune into a victorious warrior. Once you have equipped your Robo, you enter a virtual arena with another Robo, and you the last Robo standing wins. The controls are simple, but effective. You move with the D-Pad, and jump with the A Button. You have 3 weapons, which are controlled by the B, L, and R buttons, and a charge attack activated by the X button. Your Robo constantly targets the enemy Robo, so victory comes as a result of some frantic button mashing, skillful manoeuvring, and shrewd tactics.
It may surprise you to find that the battles can become quite tactical affairs. You can change Robo parts before each one, so you can make sure you take advantage of your opponent's weaknesses. There are so many variations of weapons; short range, long range, homing, defensive, aerial, ground...the list goes on. If your opponent has leg thrusters, for example, it usually indicates that he is going to be raining aerial assaults down on you. It might be wise to equip yourself with floating mines to negate his attacks.
The combat is broken down into stages. Both robots start the battle with 1000 health points, and this decreases when they get hit. Each Robo also has a endurance gauge. If you take 3 big hits, your Robo will be downed, leaving it vulnerable for an attack. And your opponent will attack, because they know that the more that they can attack you with a combination of weapons they will cause you more damage. The idea is to try and corner your opponent so they can't move, and then launch a salvo of destruction on them.It's good fun, and battles over Wi-Fi have been great (apart from the fact that MK annihilated me). It's a shame that the single player story mode isn't as entertaining. It's not bad, but just lacks that little something. It's similar to Pokemon in that you travel around battling random people, gaining experience points, levelling up, and getting new Robos and parts. The story is just a little...bland. It's not unplayable, and doesn't feel like a chore to play, but it is not memorable in the least. It only gets exciting when you go into a battle. Thankfully this happens regularly!
You can also pose your Robo, and decide how he appears to your opponent before battle. This includes selecting a background, or diorama to display them in. It's a nice little touch, and adds to the list of things that you can collect, as there are many different dioramas to unlock. Not to mention the different arenas available, each with a unique factor to affect the battle, be it hot magma, conveyor belts, or moving platforms.
It's a very enjoyable game, and one that I recommend playing. If any of you have the game, and wish to add anything, please post in the comments. Whilst you're at it, post your friend code in the Custom Robo Arena friend code exchange thread in our forums, and let battle commence!
The N+ Points
N+ Nice graphics, with little slow down
N+ Lots of parts, and dioramas to collect
N+ Simple, fun, and effective battle system
N+ Wi-Fi battles with voice chat!
N+ Due to the amount of parts the options for customisation are plentiful
The N- Points
N- Story mode is mundane
N- The music gets on my nerves a little
(42%)
MK-MK # Monday, March 26, 2007 6:01:27 PM
Unregistered user # Monday, July 9, 2007 5:34:37 PM
Unregistered user # Monday, July 9, 2007 8:50:28 PM
Unregistered user # Tuesday, July 24, 2007 8:54:27 PM
Unregistered user # Tuesday, August 21, 2007 2:10:11 PM
fleia262 # Sunday, May 24, 2009 5:34:48 AM
legs. Begin the battle, keep taping the buttons to stand up quickly, get close to his robo, and
then attack, fire the gun, and then once again, attack. And the rest is just simple, finish him
off. Good luck.
fleia262 # Sunday, May 24, 2009 5:38:51 AM
attack, fire the gun, and then attack again. Then, FINISH HIM OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
fleia262 # Sunday, May 24, 2009 5:40:34 AM