Two years after we'd bought this system, my brother had purchased a copy of what would soon replace Mega Man X: Command Mission as my favorite game for the system. He popped it into our cubic-machine, pressed that white button, and started playing it:
This game has something that no other game to this day can match for me, and that is the sound-track. The electro-beats that the music brought, along with it's ambient tone and atmospheric effects makes it one of the most mind-numbing, foot-tapping things that you will ever listen to. I wish I could say that this was my favorite thing about the game, but there is so much more to cover here, that it'd almost seem impossible to label it as the best thing about this game. I'll leave you with one of my personal favorite tracks before I get to the bones.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuN5D6DsUgg&feature=g-hist&context=G2744939AHTwlEeAABAA
To begin with (for real this time), the game is essentially a story-driven brawler, pushed by a cast of lovable, spikey haired wea-boos that overcome a few twists and turns in a town that's about the equivalent of a piece of paper being compared to New York; as far as size goes, at least. Being an 8 year old, all of this games story seemed fascinating to me, and to be honest, I still find the overall perspective of it quite interesting. This is a small game, but what's packed in the confines of it is a unique universe, full of many places to explore, and many people to talk to. Obviously my interests in the story as of today aren't even able to poke my older thoughts about it with a 100-meter stick, but that could be said about pretty much every other game ever made. It works for it's intended audience, which is little kids.
This whole game is based off of the concept of people battling robots through these cubes. They'd enter these arenas with their robot and try their best to lobotomize the other robot before A. The timer runs out, or B. The other robot shoves a dildo up your bum first. Simple, compelling, everything that you actually need to formulate an okay story. This game is actually pretty long; which I suppose is a way to invest as many parts in the story as possible, and it works well. The game is structured so that you get a steady stream of new parts to try out with what seems like every battle that you win. So being in the lobotomizing business in this game definitely has it's perks when it comes to cracking your opponents head open; it's just a ton of fun.
Throughout the exterior that is known as the simplistic, Japanese fueled story, we're given the expectations of over 100 parts for you to customize your robot with. Robots have always seemed fascinating to me, and the fact that this game encouraged my little rabid mind to experiment the hell out of every possibility exhausted me to the point where playing this game felt like drinking water: it was vital to my life, and if I went a few days without it, my lips would be dry of robot-logic. Retarded-ass analogies aside, over 100-fucking parts! By god, that's just unreal! Granted, with games like Chrome-Hound (might touch up on that later) being released these days, with 100's upon 100's of different parts, Custom Robo would seem like a lost cause in today's standards. But, there is a huge difference between these large amounts of parts.
Custom Robo is a game of strategy. I'm not saying that Chrome-Hounds isn't based off strategy, it is, but these are two different types of strategy. Chrome-Hounds is meant to be a boring-ass simulator, with latitude and distance being real big factors when firing weapons. It was a game of patience, and while I do appreciate it, god-damn, was it boring. Custom Robo is the exact opposite. It cuts the patience, and replaces it with strategic timing and thinking. When playing the game, you are given multiple ways to attack (those hundred parts that I mentioned), and it's important to utilize everything in your arsenal for full control of your robot.
These parts are split up into four, equally important parts, which believe it or not, all act in completely different ways. Firstly, you have your main gun. It's pretty simple in concept: you shoot bullets out of it, and they go to who ever you're pointing them at, and stab that person. Next, you got your bombs, which act in multiple ways. They can be on-the-spot bombs, land mines, moving timed bombs, bouncing bombs... Imagine an egotistical Dr. Suess, with the knowledge of how to make guns that shoot bombs; that's essentially how diverse these weapons are. After that, you got your pods. To be honest, I never used these as a kid; I usually put them on my robot to make it look it had wings (which was the shit, mind you), but after playing it a few years later, I found them to be especially useful. They're a lot like bombs, in that they are used in multiple ways. But instead of usually just one bomb, pods shoot out of your back and track the area in multiple ways. Last, but not least, you have leg parts. These are surgically placed on your legs to have you move in different ways; some make you jump higher, some make you move faster, etc. All of these combined enforced multiple strategies in your head, and with more parts stocking up in your inventory, the more you wanted to experiment and see what you loved most.
It makes sense that a lot of this games appeal comes from it's parts, and it's utilized to the point where the driving force actually fucking drives! It's a lenghty robot-ordeal, coupled with what seems like endless (over 200, thank you awesome box art) parts. Which makes me wonder; why was this game so averagely rated? Talking about it like this makes it seem like I'm making it out to be the best god-damned game in the world, but what exactly is wrong with this game? I'm not sure, but one thing is for certain to me; this game deserves a hell of a lot more attention than it's been getting.
That's the whole point of why I'm starting this. I'm going to cut it short right here, and maybe get back to it later. I want to start a trend of talking about games that we actually like, instead of games that you hate. We play games for enjoyment, not so we can endlessly bash a game just because it hurt our pansy-ass feelings. I want to live in a world where more gamers can just appreciate. Let's make it happen!
-Cal
