Robox is a gorgeous looking game that fails to fully capitalize on the potential of its interesting features.
Robox is a simple game that has you assume the role of a probe sent down to an alien planet to investigate the strange life forms and ecosystem of this otherworld. There's no immediate disclosure or exposition. You're literally plummeting down to the planet's terrain from the moment you start a new file. You'll have brief and limited control of the probe during its descent, using the motion of the Wii Remote held horizontally to alter its trajectory. As you come in for a crash landing, the game will put the probe back on a linear path before once again turning control over to the player after a momentary tutorial.
There isn't much more to the concept of this humble game. You'll explore a handful of different environments, each with a healthy amount of stages to scavenge through. As an overall package, Robox seems to evoke a feeling of early Metroid games with its imposing emphasis on non-linear exploration and discovery of new abilities. Manic completionists who feel no pain in scouring every square inch of a game's world will likely find the most enjoyment in this five to ten hour adventure, but even so, beyond the initial perception, there are some rather large hurdles to vault over.
A Little Rust In The Gears
During the initial opening sequence as you control the probe's free-fall to the surface of the planet, you'll notice an immediately dissatisfying response time between the probe's motions and the movement of the Wii Remote. As you shift either to the left or right, the probe crawls in the corresponding direction, almost as if you'd made no attempt to move it at all. The entire sequence feels quite awkward especially when this isn't even the primary method with which you'll use to control the probe's movement. Even still, once you're firmly planted on the ground and have sat through the short tutorial, movement remains sluggish. The d-pad will move the probe across the game's 2D plane while the 2 button controls his jumping and the 1 button his intermittent laser attack, both of which are not available right away but rather unlocked shortly into the first stage.
All of this sounds well and good on paper, but in practice, it seems the game actually conspires to work against you at any chance it gets. Because movement is very sluggish, the game's pace suffers from moving a bit too slowly. Exploration is about the discovery of new areas, items, enemies, etc. Inhibiting your ability to do so is not a good thing. Furthermore, your only means of attack - the laser - only fires horizontally, either left or right depending on the direction you're facing. Not only does this make fighting enemies on slopes a considerably greater challenge than it should be, but even one of the game's earliest enemies, a flying insect of sorts, provides unnecessary frustration. These kamikaze divers will swoop down toward you, regularly at angles or sometimes just straight down from completely off screen, leaving you helplessly defenseless. Had you been able to move or evade much more quickly, this issue might not have been so severe. But the fact that you are also so restricted in your ability to defend yourself does not create a proper challenge, only a forced one.
The game does boast some interesting mechanics, but like much of the overall package, it never fully realizes its potential. Again similar to the Metroid franchise, when the probe crash landed on the planet, much of its inner workings were destroyed. As you quickly discover during the tutorial, you'll frequently gain access to tiny little creatures that have taken up residence within the probe's steel frame courtesy of first-contact with the planet's surface. You'll take control of some of these creatures and manipulate them in various ways within the actual body of the probe, either repairing parts of his system or flipping levers to unlock repressed abilities. You'll also sometimes discover hidden texts that reveal a bit more about the game's story, though much of it never evolves beyond the game's initial simplistic premise. As a presentation, this compliments the game's quirky sentiment well and varies up the traditional gameplay experience with something truly original. But often times the behavior of these creatures is not as responsive as you'd like, particularly in the way they're handled. During these segments you'll have to aim the Wii Remote at the screen and select whichever particular creature you want to use with the A button. To maneuver it, you'll again use the D-pad, which feels much more awkward than it sounds.
There are a few breaks in the traditional progression of the game in the form of minor set pieces. Some of the earliest you'll encounter are a vertically-ascending elevator whereupon you must avoid enemies that are falling down from above, and one that feels vaguely reminiscent of an arcade shoot-em-'up. While the latter of those two feels fine and was actually quite enjoyable, the first suffers from the same problems as the primary gameplay, and collectively, all of these set pieces feel like they drag on a few minutes too long. When trying to avoid the falling enemies, it would be nice if your character moved at a pace that seemed more appropriate. Trying to dodge a screen-full of enemies while navigating to the only narrow opening that will prevent me from getting hit is a challenge not because of the task I am given, but because of the character's inability to move quickly enough.
A Bright Star in a Dark World
The artists employed by DreamBox possess a real talent for crafting a remarkably endearing and creative world. The planet successfully evokes a foreign sense of danger and mystery, and the enemies are equally exotic for the most part. The game displays a wonderful blend of colors to create the background scenery, which quite often caused me to just stare longingly at it. Perhaps the one major fault in the game's unique style is that the background blends in too well with the foreground upon which you traverse, which may sometimes inadvertently fool you into thinking you can jump on top of something, or vice versa, convince you that you can't jump on something when you can, and should.
Similarly, there are particular traps scattered across the world that will damage you if you come in contact with one of them. These, too, can blend in unintentionally well with the background, creating some unforeseen frustration. Each world contains its own individual theme song which, like the level designs, satisfyingly represent the feeling of existence on an alien planet. Sound effects are charming and sometimes humorous, as in the case of some of the screeching death wails of the various indigenous life forms.
Summary
With Robox as the inaugural release of newcomers DreamBox Games, it shows that the team is serious about creating a unique experience. Though the game borrows lovingly from 2D platformers of the past, particularly the Metroid series, it is enough its own unique creation to not be considered shameless. It's unfortunate, then, that such an endearing game could not satisfyingly compliment its impressive visual style with tight and precise gameplay. The features are there, and they can only be improved upon. What exists is an exciting blueprint for a future endeavor, but as it stands, Robox may only be a game for those who are in dire necessity of an old school 2D platformer. If that's you, then the game's $10 price tag is quite fair.
Graphics 90
The style is outstanding and the game's world is well-realized in its charming, exotic appearance, but the distinction between background and foreground can cause some confusion.
Gameplay: 50
The concepts alone are interesting, but the transference into actual gameplay seems to abandon most of the of fun.
Production: 70
As simple as it should be, and with a quirky sentiment, the game's major downfall is that few of its big ambitions come to successful fruition.
Sound: 86
Like the art design, the soundtrack perfectly represents the planet's foreign mystique and the effects emphasize the game's big heart.
Lasting Appeal: 75
A surprisingly lengthy adventure for such a classically-designed game, but extended playtime beyond a first run-through may be hindered by the game's needlessly frustrating mechanics.
Overall Score: 74
Robox is a gorgeous looking game that fails to fully capitalize on the potential of its interesting features.