I, Robot

As an owner of an original [i]I, Robot[/i] machine, and the author of the first [i]I, Robot[/i] emulator, I feel qualified to give my 2 cents on what works and doesn't work here. First off let me say I absolutely love the original title. So I was excited to be able to play an updated version, especially one by Jeff Minter. I love his updates to other games ([i]Tempest 2000[/i], etc). That said, I'm disappointed overall. The game doesn't play, look, sound, or feel much like the original [i]I, Robot[/i]. Feels more like another Jeff Minter game re-skinned as [i]I, Robot[/i]. If you're familiar with his work, you've played much of this game before. [h3]Things that just don't work:[/h3] [list] [*]Controls are floaty and unresponsive -- when I died I felt it was the games fault not mine -- you expect better controls in twitch based gameplay [*]Gameplay seems slower in a lot of ways. The original plays much faster [*]Larger levels are an interesting idea but ultimately add tedium. Plus the grid tiles are a lot smaller on screen, which is part of the reason the Robot is harder to control. Reminds me of why the multi-screen maze in [i]Jr. Pac Man[/i] was a bad idea, takes away from gameplay and enjoyment. It's a bit boring. [*]Original game sounds, blaster, jumping, end of level, etc are gone and replaced with other generic 80's arcade sounds. I think I heard a telephone tone in there... Just doesn't sound right. At least the "landing on a new level" sound was preserved from the original machine! [*]Minter's signature psychedelic visuals don't improve/enhance the gameplay the way they do on Minter's other titles. They largely get in the way of being able to tell what is exactly going on... which is important in a game that requires you to stay aligned on grids, tell the color of the eye, and tell what's coming your way. Visual overload doesn't work here.I highly recommend setting background visual to "starfield" from the settings screen. [*]Graphic style doesn't lean into the "geometric/cubist" style of the first game. The primary colors and incorporation of various platonic solids in the original game gave it such a unique look and feel which was part of the appeal. This remake seems rather bland by comparison. [*]I found it harder to tell when the evil eye was about to turn to red... I blame the psychedelic visuals and overemphasis on rainbow effects. Plus the design/presentation of the Evil Eye just seems a bit off... It's not as menacing as the original. [*]Using "multi level terrain height" as part of the gameplay makes it difficult to predict where bridges can and can not be built -- many times I would move to an area expecting to build a bridge where only to find out that I couldn't.. leading to a lot of backtracking and trial and error. [*]Original game character turned into a minotaur for no good reason. The game does not benefit by adding a llama/yak theme. [*]View up/down feature absent, as well as "viewer killer" enemy which targets you on the other side of the monitor. There is lean left/right feature on the view, but it's basically useless. [*]Many of the original enemies are nowhere to be seen.. No sharks, huge beach balls, etc. [*]No bonus pyramid levels! [*]No big brother levels! I've played till the end, he's not here folks :( [*]Space levels feel very [i]Tempest[/i] like... you've seen this before. Visual overload made it impossible to clear tetras in most cases. [/list] Honestly the lack of pyramid levels and big brother levels really disappointed me. They were not only exciting and surprising to uncover in the original game, but added more gameplay variation, plus a bit of a story and a goal. There's no story here, little character continuity... The eye doesn't even look like the original at all... Little tying this game to the original title other than the gameplay idea. [h3]Things I liked:[/h3] [list] [*]The new enemies on the levels bring interesting variation to gameplay. Things like bumpers to reflect shots are an interesting idea and have some legs. [*]Various new enemies in the space levels add variety to gameplay and strategy. Good ideas in here. [*]The "power up" tiles with various effects help level design, giving you safe zones, etc. [*]Addition of the new "arena" levels is somewhat interesting, multi-directional firing like [i]Robotron[/i], etc. [*]Was nice to hear the "level landing" sound from the original game. [*]Ability to replace psychedelic background with starfield helps a little [*]The fact I get to say I played a new version of [i]I, Robot[/i] in 2025. Keep 'em coming Atari. [/list] [h3]Summary[/h3] Altogether, this game doesn't do justice to the original [i]I, Robot[/i]... It feels like a "clean room" version of the game, one where the developer had never actually seen or played the original game, but coded it from a design document explaining what the gameplay should be like. It doesn't give you much in the way of fan-service to those nostalgic for the original. It's not that fun, and there's little charm. I found the addition of arena levels and new enemies somewhat interesting, but altogether there weren't enough new ideas to make this worthwhile to me. Don't recommend this game to anyone other than die-hard enthusiasts who really want to give Atari their money (myself included).