Player 1

This week: Custom Robo

PJ HRUSCHAK | CIN WEEKLY CONTRIBUTOR

Custom Robo.

JUST THE FACTS

TITLE: Custom Robo

RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2004

SYSTEM: GameCube

NUMBER OF PLAYERS: 1-4

PUBLISHER: Nintendo of America, Inc.

GENRES: Action, arena battle

ESRB RATING: "T" for Teen (comic mischief)

WEB SITE: www.customrobo.com/

PJ'S LAST WORD: A great idea bogged down by a tedious Story Mode and mediocre controls. Either prepare to dedicate lots of time to unlock everything, or don't bother.

VIDEO GAME REVIEWS
• Visit Cincinnati.Com's video game section
• Player 1 archive

I wish I had my own remote-controlled robot.

Not only would I clean my gutters without a ladder, but I would also use it to return video rentals or even to pick up Chinese food ... heck, food right from China.

Nintendo had a good idea in Custom Robo by allowing gamers to customize components of a robot and duke it out on a virtual battle field. But then the company had to go and make it suck.

A 'BOT NAMED BUCK

In the game's main Story Mode, you play as a young man working to fulfill his missing father's last wishes - become a custom-robo commander and always wear a watch. Yeah, a watch.

The battle 'bots you control in Custom Robo reside in a small, glowy cube, reminiscent of the Pokémon Pokéball, that also includes virtual battle arenas called Holosseums. When you are challenged by an opponent, you are sucked into the miniature holographic world where you can customize and, as a commander, remotely control your fighting machine.

You begin your robo career as a bounty hunter employed by Steel Hearts, taking cases around town with annoying lederhosen-clad coworker Harry and blue-haired Marcia, who nearly faints at the slightest sign of trouble.

The main baddies are pointy-haired members of the Z Syndicate, a secret squad of bad robo commanders causing troubles across the land. Wait, how can robos that only work inside holographic cubes be a threat to anyone? Oh no. The nasty villains are causing havoc with robots made of light. Will the cruelty ever cease?!!

So then you fight, uncover a secret, sleep, fight, unlock a part, sleep, fight, and so on. Between each battle, you press a button for what feels like a hundred times to toggle through all the story screens.

GET IT ON

The reason you have to endure this torture is to unlock the 200 robo parts and, once you complete the story, a single-player Arcade Mode and a Grand Battle Story Mode that will allow you to choose individual battles against the computer.

You pick your favorite 'bot body, pick a color and then pick a fight. You can also change your main guns, enemy-seeking explosive pods, bombs and legs. By mixing the parts, you can create a pretty wide range of 'bots, from speedy but weak little guys to bulky, slow moving tanks for hard-slamming attacks.

Most of the Holosseums are cramped with obstacles, making it difficult to master anything more than simple button mashing, also causing the screen to fill with a mess of explosions. Luckily, many of the projectiles are well-rendered, and the explosions are packed with nice particle effects.

THINKING INSIDE THE CUBE

Customizing your own killer robot is a great video game idea, but Nintendo missed many opportunities to make Custom Robo fun.

Both the Arcade Mode and the first-person view option should be available from the initial game boot. That would give gamers something to do besides watch an annoying story for several days, though the game's intro video is pretty cool. Watch that instead.

The Story Mode should not be required. The creators could have found another more effective way to let gamers unlock robo parts and used the Story for hiding the more powerful "illegal" robo parts.

I don't recommend it, but if you do decide to get Custom Robo, plan to dedicate a few days to completing the Story Mode so you and your friends can try to enjoy the multiplayer battles.

What are your most- and least-favorite games based on movies? Let PJ Know at player1@cincinnati.com. (Or he'll blast you.)