Reminiscent of the old Metroid games for handheld systems, A Robot Named Fight borrows that classic style of gameplay but infuses it with the added excitement of permadeath and roguelike elements, resulting in an immensely replayable and overall fun experience.
Challenging, addicting and nostalgic, A Robot Named Fight reminds one of the glory days of the hand-held game systems like the Gameboy and the hand-held Sega. When some of the best games to come out were basic side-scrolling adventure games that kept us entertained for hours on end. With what seems like a few nods to a couple of the classics A Robot Named Fight (ARNF) delivers an original story in a very classic way. Staying true to the style of graphics and the coarse audio I almost felt like I booted this game up from a cartridge rather than a gaming rig. However there are a few things that I feel could use a little bit of improvement.
Storyline
In what I assume is a distant future or alternate reality, robots have run the planet during a millennia of peace after the ‘mechanical gods’ ascended, leaving the lower class robots behind to develop the planet. Until a grotesque monstrosity of flesh climbs down from the stars threatening their way of life and spewing its spawn everywhere consuming the planet.
ARNF follows an anonymous robot as he fights his way below earths crust to collect relics of an ancient time of war that will help him become powerful enough to fight the Megabeast, and avoid being added to the pile of scrap metal that is robot carcasses. Admittedly somewhat cheesy, this game is quite original as far as story goes. I mean, I at least can’t remember a game where I’m fighting grotesque bags of meat and eyes to save a robot population. The setup of the gameplay however does seem slightly… recycled.
Gameplay
Like I said the gameplay in A Robot Named Fight is a little bit recycled being almost identical to the classic Metroid games on the Gameboy. Between the arm-cannon and the different kinds of ammo you can collect, I sometimes forget that I’m NOT playing Metroid. I suppose it helps though that the developer does give props to our favorite space pirate for inspiration. Unlike Metroid though, A Robot Named Fight has a more classic arcade twist to it with how punishing it is when you die. There are no checkpoints or saves in this game, you die and you go right back to the beginning and try again. This can be somewhat irritating after you’ve made it on a 30 minute run and taken down a few bosses and you are forced to go back to beginning because of some lowly creature in a cave. It does add a little bit of extra spice to the appeal of this game though always making you always want to do better than the last time.
Don’t think that you can just learn the game well enough to make it through though. There are thousands of different layouts that gets cycled through each time you die. So right when you think you have it down you are thrown into a new environment and are fighting different bosses.
The bosses that you encounter in my experience is limited to a selection of five, each with their own special set of skills requiring different approaches. After your first boss fight is when things get really interesting, opening up a maze of caves and countless items to collect and forge into new items. The enemies get interesting to say the least and more difficult the lower you delve into the caves.
Graphics/Sound
Not 8-bit but damn close. ARNF gives just enough detail to be a step-up from the classic NES but not by much. It holds the classic look that at one time was top-of-the-line graphics but is now looked down upon by many. I, for one love the way Matt Bitner Games have put this together, it is easy on the eyes but very colorful which doesn’t allow for the headaches that sometimes come from long gaming binges.
Suspenseful music and super sci-fi blaster noises, the voices and sound effects that accompany these wonderful old school graphics is equally and nostalgia inducing. This game sounds like it was recorded directly from the poor quality speaker of the hottest handheld device of the 90’s. I can’t seem to get enough of the sound of squishing and crunching meat sacks when I make them evaporate with my arm cannon, that is fun for the whole family.
Difficulty
A Robot Named Fight is not a game for the type of people who like to save every five minutes so they don’t lose their precious progress. In fact, I have only seen one save location on a seeded run, which I assume is built specifically for saving. With the threat of permadeath looming over your head (no literally, things fall out of nowhere) it is a challenge to just stay calm enough to react properly.
Death doesn’t just wait from above though, the floor you walk on might be out to get you as well, so always tread carefully. The biggest challenge I would have to say lies in the caves though, where all you get is a little orb of light to see your way though, perhaps there is an artifact to help illuminate it, but I haven’t t found it anywhere. Ultimately I would have to say chance is just as important as skill in ARNF, but that doesn’t make it any less deliciously addictive.
Controls
At first the controls were awkward and a little choppy, but it was just a learning curve. Well more of a refresher course since it’s the basic controls of most side scrolling games. With a few added combinations of course to fit the modern times. I do have to say the game recommends a controller but it is not necessary, im not entirely sure how well that would really work but I am used to PC controls. I did have to re map the aiming keys from “U, H, J, K” to the regular arrow keys to give my hands a little more room to move around. I haven’t experienced any keys not engaging properly either, everything is incredibly smooth. There isn’t 360 degree aiming though you are restricted to tight angle shots which can be a bit of a speed bump when first starting, but is pretty easily mastered.
Replayability
Due to the fact that it is so hard to make any real progress and the addicting nature of the game I would say A Robot Named Fight is going to earn a lot of logged hours. I mean I personally can’t turn away from a game when I haven’t even been able to experience at least most of what it has to offer, it might have a basic simple feel at first glance but when you start to understand that the game changes subtly sometimes drastically you realize it is a very thought out piece of art. A Robot Named Fight will offer you so many different ways to play it will make your head spin.
Hell, even as I write this I am wanting to go back and play it just so I can see where else I can go and what I will find there. It’s also great as a way to just kill a few minutes since you probably wont last long anyway you can do a couple runs while you wait for the bus, or on for a few hours on a road trip if you have a Nintendo Switch. This game is fantastic for casual gaming and lengthy binges.
Written by Kevin Varner
Kevin is a 20-year-old gaming enthusiast who has always enjoyed a wide array of games from shooters to platforming. some of his favorite games include Halo and Rainbow Six Siege though not the most talented player can still log countless hours into them. He enjoys reading classic literature and more modern journalism.
His two favorite authors are Hunter S. Thompson and George Orwell, and also his inspiration to want to be a writer. He always enjoyed the way that words can paint such a vivid picture in the reader’s mind and wanted to be able to do that himself. He also enjoys Hip-Hop, long boarding and working on computers.
