Customer Reviews

Robotron: 2084 [Online Game Code]

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This game is not for the faint of heart!

It was games like these that made the 80s what they were. Split second reaction times and furious forethought all informed by a razor sharp eye are required if you hope to get anywhere in this game. The stages get progressively harder and harder as you seek to rack up compounding point bonuses for every human life that you save from the swarming androids.

Bring over some friends and throw down the gauntlet! You'll find yourselves hopelessly addicted as hour after hour go by, always led on by "just one more try" to see if you can make it just one round further. See who is the sharpest among you, and who is able to work the true "Robotron Magic"!

It's a shame this is no longer available on Xbox Live since it is one of the very best classic videogames ever made. The graphics may be rudimentary by today's standards but the game was truly revolutionary back in the early 80s when it was released. It's a timeless classic and the game play just shines through past the simple iconic images. The objective is simple. Survive successive screens of enemies and save the last human family from the robots whilst staying alive. It's a merciless assault and it's a tough game that will take much practice to master. But when you're on a roll there's nothing else quite like it - the adrenaline, the constant feeling of near death escapes, the risk and reward, the frenetic pace. It's almost a Zen thing. Controls are simple and anyone who's played a few Xbox Live arcade games will recognize the now familiar 'left stick to move, right stick to fire' twin stick mechanics. Without this game there'd be no Geometry Wars or any of its ilk. But none of those arena shooters produced since Robotron 2084 have come close to equaling the feeling of excitement of playing the original twin stick shooter. It's a true classic and the undisputed King of all arena shooters. I pray that one day it will return to consoles once again.

There are a ton of excellent remakes on Xbox Live Arcade of games from the 80s (Pac-Man CE, for instance). Games that add a new layer of graphics, better controls and additional game play options that arguably make them better for today's audiences than the originals.

Robotron is a straight emulation. The graphics and game play is exactly the same as it was three decades ago and it has not aged well. It is essentially the same game as Geometry Wars (in that you move around a single screen avoiding bad guys and collecting artifacts) but the game play is so amazingly bad compared to modern games of the same ilk.

I got this game as a free card insert with a Xbox Live membership. If you get it that way then play the game (and see if I am right). But don't buy the game. Trust me, this is not fun.