Customer Reviews

Star Wars Interactive R2D2 Astromech Droid Robot

5 star:		(51)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(10)

 

 

Santa brought R2 to my 6 year old son this Christmas. My son takes this robot with him everywhere. I was concerned that he would lose interest after a few days, but he spends the majority of his day playing with R2. The entire family has enjoyed giving him various commands and in addition to the commands listed in the Command Guide, R2 has some advanced commands (sometimes known as Easter Eggs) built in that we found on the HASBRO website. Here they are:

Advanced Command #1 - Follow Me

In Companion Mode, if you say "Follow Me," R2 will turn to find you and then attempt to follow you around. Go slowly though, or R2 will lose you and turn the other direction.

Advanced Command #2 - Come Here

Also in Companion Mode, if you say "Come Here," R2 will attempt to find you and come to you. Since this feature relies on R2's heat sensing technology, kneel down in front of R2. R2 may not come directly to you, but R2 will try and find you.

Advanced Command #3 - Imperial March Song

R2 plays up to 5 songs, but only the Cantina song is expressly mentioned in the Command Guide.

To play the Imperial March, go to Character Mode by asking "Do You Remember." Ask R2 about Darth Vader and Anakin (in any order) and R2 will play the song.

Advanced Command #4 - Sad Cantina Song

Another song that R2 plays is actually a different version of the song he sings if you command him to do the dance program (in game mode). When R2 is in a sad mood, he will play a sad version of the Cantina song. There are many ways to put R2 into a sad mood. The easiest is in 'Do You Remember'. If you ask about Darth Vader, R2 will go into a sad mood. You can tell, because his mood status indicator will be red instead of blue.

Advanced Command #5 - Celebration Song

The Celebration Song is another one of the 5 songs that R2 plays and is not expressly mentioned in the Command Guide.

To play the Celebration song, go to Character Mode by asking "Do You Remember." Ask R2 about Chewbacca, Han Solo, and Luke Skywalker (in any order), and R2 will play the celebration song.

Advanced Command #6 - A "Special Surprise"

The final hidden gem for R2 really takes a little work, as well as really knowing your droid.

First, have R2 turn on his light beam by saying "light beam." With his light beam on, tap R2 three times on the head, and then place him into Game Mode by telling R2 "Game Mode" and then "Dance program." R2 will have a special dance, just for you.

Overall, I am happy with our R2. I hope you find the commands useful for your little droid. :)

Temperamental, disobedient and he gets into a lot of trouble. I'm not talking about a pet or your average little kid, I'm talking about the Star Wars Interactive R2D2 Robot (2005 edition).
All of 18 inches tall, this diminutive little toy gets around well on most surfaces (hardwood or linoleum floors are best) and is a lot of fun. But he's not your daddy's Radio-Controlled R2D2. This Artoo unit doesn't automatically do what you say, or even what you want or expect. Although, on most occasions, you wont' have a problem with Artoo, the one I bought has shown flashes of temper and streak of stubbornness that would try even the most patient parent.
Despite this (or maybe because of this) Artoo is a riot! I took him over to my friend's place for Christmas and, at first, everyone in the room was amazed at how well he followed orders. Whether it was to turn left, turn right, go forward or turn around, Artoo seemed pleased as punch to follow directions. Then his temper flared and he, quite pointedly, refused to obey me; shaking his head and making noises in apparent disdain at my pleas.
That reaction brought the house down, as everyone laughed at his refusal to follow his "master's commands." When I ordered him to "re set system" and he refused again, that created still more chuckles. Finally he got over his little "snit" and behaved normally...until he seemed to change his mind decided to act up all over again.
Then my friend, who has three children of his own, got into the act. Pleading with Artoo in his best "daddy voice" he finally got the robot to obey him where my pleas failed. Then, like a stubborn child, Artoo had another tantrum and stopped listening to him too. That invoked a surprising response from me, anger. But, instead of spanking him like any other misbehaving child, I manually shut him off via the power switch on his behind so he could "calm down" (I would have spanked him, too, but Hasbro, the manufacturer, has not seen fit to include a pain function on him...yet!).
Needless to say, all this only helped to further endear Artoo to everyone around him, although this behavior can get annoying when you want him to do something simple, like bring you a beverage. That said, after a while it became hard to see him as simply another "toy," which is probably what Hasbro had in mind all along.
Instead of a mere "toy," they created a "personality," one that can interact, and react, with both people and the environment around him. Had Artoo simply followed directions, he would have got "old" real fast; becoming nothing more than another cleverly designed (but boring) set of circuits and switches run by batteries. But, by giving him what appears to be a random and unpredictable nature, Hasbro has made Artoo appear to be as realistic, and "alive," as the one in the movies we all love.
That said, Artoo is also a very clever robot, packed with sonar and voice recognition capabilities that are very functional. Although he cannot "see" things below his domed head, he is not stupid and not only found his way out of my bedroom but proceed to bound his way down the hallway.
Artoo's dance function is hilarious and he patrols a floor better than the average mutt, without fear of "accidents." Although the beverage container is problematic (the grip is not very strong), he does manage to find his way around a house fairly well and will probably get into all kinds of mischief unless monitored carefully (like any toddler). Be careful, though, of stairs, as Artoo does not have a floor-sensor and would go over and down them, with catastrophic results.
Combined with a very affordable price tag, the Star Wars Interactive R2D2 Robot (2005 edition) is a terrific toy and well worth the money. If anyone reading this article knows of any "secret" or hidden commands, please e-mail me and let me know.

I bought R2-D2 for my daughter's birthday. It was pricey, so I was hesitant, but she seemed to really want it. Boy, I'm glad that I did as it is a very well made, sophisticated toy. I find myself playing with it and treating it almost as a pet. You talk to it, and it responds to you, it plays games and can be mischievous. We like "light tag", and "spin the droid". If you tell him to go on a "Time out", he shakes his head "no" like a disobedient child. If you tell him to "Behave himself" and give him a "Time out" again, he obeys. Sometimes, we have a hard time getting him out of "Game Mode" to "Companion Mode" (He doesn't seem to understand the "Re-set command" always), so you just turn him off and then turn him back on. Thanks to the reviewer giving the "Easter Eggs". They were fun to do. Overall, the voice recognition is good, but it definitely takes practice to learn the nuances of his programming. A fun toy and a "must" for any Star Wars fan.

I've had this toy for years and it is great to see it finally back on the shelves. Voice activated R2 obeys over 40 commands. R2 dances, plays hide-n-seek. You hide, it seeks and can somehow distinguish between you and a lamp. There are even unexpected responses that will suprize you. Question him three times about heroes or villians and he'll play a marching theme song. I had him deliver candy to Trick or Treaters on halloween. So much smarter than the RC robots, I can only compare him to the Sony AIBO that costs 10 or 20 times as much. If I had a wish list...it would to be able to add more programming with memory sticks like AIBO and then it would have some educational value to go along with all that play value.

I was given this as a Christmas present, and for a few brief moments I was in a blissful future world where robots wait on my beck and call. Then my fantasy crashed around me as R2, like NS-5 from "I Robot" refused to respond to my commands and fulfilled his true metaphysical purpose. In R2's case, this meant shaking his head and wandering about until he got stuck.

R2 resembles his Kenny Baker-driven counterpart down to each blip and responds exactly as he does in the movies--that is, if you're C3PO. From the moment you turn him on, you become R2's very own golden, mobility-challenged whipping boy. Make no mistake, R2D2 is in charge here, not you.

Where R2 represents the pinnacle of budget-priced AI is with his attitude. I don't know if my deep voice triggers a frequency monitor or if it's random, but R2 regularly goes into "bad mood" mode and refuses to accept commands with a sassy shake of the head. According to the manual, a command of "behave yourself" will put him back into normal mode, but that only works if R2 thinks you're Luke, which he doesn't. Now, call me a pessimst, but when my car refuses to start, I don't chuckle at its attitude. When my shower drain clogs, it's not endearing. What sort of sadistic person designs a product that is specifically meant to quit working periodically? If the manufacturers would have called it Windows R2, at least they would have given us some kind of warning.

I have given R2D2 an educational value of 5 stars because R2 teaches us to enunciate distinctly, hones our punting skills, and shows us the error of making robots in our own image.

R2 also receives 5 stars in durability, as he still works as poorly as ever after innumerable kicks, slaps, and body slams.

This little R2 unit is quite a toy! Due to his excellent voice recognition capabilities he understands loads of phrases, and the visual sensors are surprisingly refined, enabling him to not only navigate around a room without hitting anything, he can also "see" people when he plays light tag!

The wheels he is equipped with enable him to roll around on thin carpet, but he works best on hard floors. Also, he may not be the best choice for really young children because you have to speak very clearly for him to understand your commands. I have had mine for nearly 2 years now and he is still lots of fun. Try setting up obstacle courses and then programming him to complete them - it is hard to do!

Overall, you can't get a more sophisticated toy for this much money anywhere else, and it's R2-D2!

After seeing positive reviews online I was very exited about this toy. I purchased through Amazon and it arrived in about 4 days via standard shipping. I was highly impressed at all his features and was having fun until I began to notice a problem. My R2 kept running into walls and he would keep on trying to run through them until the load sensor on the wheels would trigger him to turn away and try a different direction. At first I thought that this must of been how he was designed to work. But then after doing more research I discovered that R2's sonar navigation system should have been detecting solid walls and objects. So, I called Amazon and had them send me a second R2 unit. The 2nd unit did not have this problem. It was successfully able to navigate through my home without bumping into anything. However, I have noticed that the infrared sensor for detecting humans doesn't work on the 2nd R2 unit. The 1st R2 did a really good job following me and locating me in its different modes thanks to the infrared heat sensors. The new one can't seem to do this. However, I think I'm going to go ahead and keep the 2nd R2 unit in spite of its bad infrared sensor since the only command that really relies on the infrared is the "follow me" command. Everthying else seems to work ok.

Bottom line is that I believe Hasbro had some quality issues with these toys since the two that I've bought through Amazon both had defective systems. The first had no sonar and the second has no infrared. I did call Hasbro and they said that they don't make these toys anymore so they couldn't offer any technical support. These R2 units were made back in 2002 but repackaged for sale in 2008. Hasbro's best advice was to keep exchanging until I found one that worked. So, I imagine that if you have one with all systems working then you've got a pretty incredible toy. As for me I think I'll hang on to this little guy that lacks his infrared. He's still a lot of fun and can do just about everything that he's supposed to. Best of all he doesn't keep running into the walls like the first one did.

This truly advanced robot doesn't even come with a remote control. We've had ours for 3 years now and it amazes everyone from 3 years old to 90. It has a personality that responds to questions and commands, based on R2's mood at the time. R2 plays games, goes on patrol, answers questions and even follows complicated directional voice commands. Sometimes R2 misbehaves and and you must reprimand him in a stern voice, or, give him time out, or, even tap on his head to get his attention. Works on carpet or hard floors. There's no buttons to push, just a switch to turn him on. You only tell him what you want him to do, or, have conversations with him. Truly remarkable and way beyond other toy robots. A stunning value at under $200.

I picked up the Hasbro Interactive R2-D2 for the kids for Christmas. It's not a new toy; it has been around since 2002 at least but has been repackaged over time. We've had a solid month to put him through the paces so I feel ready to review him and not just give an "off the cuff" reaction. A toy like this takes time to see if it has staying power. Similar to my review of the Clone Wars Ultimate Light Saber Kit, I'll do this one as a Pros and Cons format.

Pros:
Voice Activated - That's right a remote control robot with no remote control. With a fairly impressive list of verbal commands I can make R2 go where I want, dance, play games and scream like a sissy over Jabba the Hutt. While many newer robotic toys feature the IR remote they just seem clunky to me now that I know that in 2002 verbal recognition controls worked as well as they do in R2 here. Hey, more voice command robots 2009!

Commands - And as stated R2 does have an impressive set of recognized commands. You can order him to patrol around your house, follow you around and remember several different Star Wars characters with specific reactions to each and including some "Easter egg" songs and dances if you ask about certain characters in the correct order. He has a game mode in which he can cantina dance, play light tag and guard a room. And he has a robust command mode that allows you to tell him to move and turn in specific unit amounts (1 - 5 units) including the ability to plot a course up to 20 commands and have him execute it all at once. These are only some of the functions he can perform on command.

Durability and power - R2 has impressed me with his durability. He is sturdy and short of dropping him down the stairs he should last a long time. Power wise he is quite strong and you will have no trouble operating him on floor or carpet (unless you have some kind of super shag). He has surprised me several times by how strong his drive wheels are, at one point actually pushing a full sized bike out of his way (before post Christmas clean up). Also, he takes 4 AA and 4 D batteries and I've been impressed, considering what all he can do, at how long the batteries last.

Believability and sensors - Part of what makes it all so fun is the feeling that you have a "real" R2 hanging out with you. When on patrol he whistles and beeps and spins his dome and does not run into anything unless it is below his line of sight. Thanks to an impressive array of sensors he is very believable as an autonomous robot. He has sonar sensors to keep from bumping into things or to back away if something it coming toward him, a heat sensor he can use to find you or follow you, directional sound sensors so he can hear you, respond and turn his head in your direction, a main voice command microphone in his chest and wheel load sensors so if he does bump into something he'll realize it after a moment and reverse direction.

Cons:
Voice commands with background noise and youngsters - Yes the voice commands are impressive but he is a toy and lots of background noise will make it more difficult for him to understand your commands. Also, you must speak clearly. Unfortunately this will exclude some youngsters from playing to the full extent. My 5 year old, for example, speaks clearly enough but her little voice is a bit out of range for R2 to understand (on the up side she has plenty of fun without having to be the one to issue commands). This is to be expected though as the box does say 8 and up. R2 can understand my 8 year old and me just fine and I'm sure as she gets older he'll listen to the younger one too.

Cup holder and sensor - Not much to say here; yes, they are a bit chintzy. I don't use them. At least they are a bit of something extra. On the up side the little storage compartment he has is a great place to store the quick guide command sheet.

Personality - I don't consider it a con really but from reading around some people do. Yes R2 does have some personality and yes he can get testy at times and may not listen to you. He may wander off if you ignore him as well. Some of this is just getting used to him though. For starters (as stated in the manual) he cannot hear if he is moving or beeping (think one track mind) so standing there and yelling at him while he is roaming about will only annoy you. A simple tap on the head and he'll stop and be ready for your commands. He also has a "wheel lock" button (smart feature) that can be pressed at any time to stop him from moving. There are also "reset system" and "behave yourself" commands to put him back on track if you feel he is being too independent. You'll learn over time that certain things do put him in a bad mood and certain things cheer him up. And worse case you can always switch him off and back on for a total reset.

A note I'd like to make also is that when he wanders off on his own some people may think he is malfunctioning because he'll move slowly and his motors make a humming noise which is different from patrol mode where he moves full speed at all times. Don't worry, he's not broken. He is in "follow me" mode (a hidden command) where he uses his sonar and heat sensors to follow a heat source around. But if he gets close to something he slows down and looks at it to see if he can follow it. If you walk around him slowly you'll see that he follows you and if you move toward him he'll back up. I wanted to add this because I think it may be another source of confusion in people thinking he's not working as he should. Just tap the head to snap him out of it.

Over all I say it has been a positive experience but do understand some folk's frustration. I do think some of this can be attributed to not taking the time to get to know R2. I too got frustrated at first but with a little patience I quickly became very happy with the little guy.

This droid toy is way cool. It dances, plays games , and even brings you sodas! I got one for my 13th b-day and i love it. Do not get it on amazon though, You can det it fo $64.00+tax at your nearest costco.$65 cool... not $300 cool.:)