LYNX: Robotron: 2084










From: Robert Jung (ap803@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)

Date: 11/11/91-01:08:52 PM Z









From: ap803@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Robert Jung)
Subject: LYNX: Robotron: 2084
Date: Mon Nov 11 13:08:52 1991


  Sheesh, if you don't write a review the instant a game comes out, people
accuse you of slacking...

============================================================================
ROBOTRON: 2084
1 player, horizontal game
Shadowsoft Inc.
$34.95
Stereo? Yes


OVERVIEW:
    Shadowsoft, a newcomer to the Lynx development scene, takes video gamers
back in time with their first release. The destination is 1984, where Williams
Electronics' ROBOTRON: 2084 is taking arcades by storm. In a plot reminescent
of the movie Terminator, you play a laser-firing mutant who must save the last
humans of Earth from extermination by the mechanical Robotrons. Destroy all
the Robotrons, and you travel to the next stage, with even more dangers.

GAMEPLAY:
    Williams' video games were respected as true challenges, with no mercy
for the weak, and Shadowsoft's version is no exception. ROBOTRON on the Lynx
is just as fast and tough, with absolutely nothing missing nor abridged. The
action is viewed from overhead, and you must navagate around each level,
saving humans while keeping yourself alive. The difficulty can be set to one
of five levels, though even the easiest is a challenge.

    Anyone familliar with the original ROBOTRON will know that the controls
will present a problem. In the arcade, two joysticks were used, allowing you
to move and fire independently. In response, Shadowsoft has provided three
different control schemes, using different methods of aiming and firing. This
is an acceptable substitute, and each player will find a setting that works
for himself.

GRAPHICS/SOUND:
    ROBOTRON's faithfulness goes down to the smallest detail, as the sights
and sounds of the arcade machine are duplicated exactly. Game elements are
distinctive enough, though their may be some confusion in the heat of the
battle. All other visuals are copied as well, right down to the storytelling
attract mode. Similarly, the sounds of the original have been rendered
exactly, down to the last zap and explosion. Most of the game is played in
mono, though the moody title tune and the effect when you die are done in a
subtle stereo.

SUMMARY:
    ROBOTRON on the Lynx loses none of the intensity of the classic title.
Though the controls are a minor sticking point, they can be worked with,
leaving this a game of intense non-stop shooting action. If Shadowsoft's
future works are as good as this, Lynx owners are in for a lot of fun.

                GAMEPLAY:        8.5
                GRAPHICS:        8
                SOUND:           8.5
                OVERALL:         8.5

  Rating values  10 - 8   Great! This game can't get much better.
                  7 - 5   Good. Average game, could be improved.
                  4 - 2   Poor. For devotees only.
                      1   Ick. Shoot it.

============================================================================

  "Guided by their infallible logic, the Robotrons conclude: the human race
is inefficient, and must therefore be eliminated". Gee, guys, I could'a told
you that.

                                                --R.J.
                                                B-)

//////////////////////////////////////|\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
   Send whatevers to rjung@usc.edu    |    If it has pixels, I'm for it.
--------------------------------------+------------------------------Lynx up!
       "If it moves, shoot it. If it doesn't move, shoot it anyway."









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