Atari Coin Connection, Summer 1984

From Atari Coin Connection, Volume 8 Number 3, Summer 1984 edition

Every third terrain, the Robot must enter a red pyramid in order to eliminate the Evil Eye. Inside the pyramid jewels are scattered about. The Robot has just one chance to collect the jewels before he is thrust into the next space wave.

In between each terrain the Robot must travel through space, once again avoiding or destroying as many objects as possible. If all the tetrahedrons are destroyed, the player will achieve a special bonus. An extra life is awarded if the player spells out "I, ROBOT" by shooting the individual letters as they appear sequentially in various space waves.

To increase challenge at higher levels, an awesome Viewer Killer appears after completion of Level 26 to chase the player (not the Robot). The player can avoid the Viewer Killer by changing the playfield perspective. If the Viewer Killer is not avoided, the player will be "destroyed."

The player controls the Robot by moving the analog Hall-effect joystick. Fire buttons are used to shoot obstacles. Once game play begin, start buttons are used to change playfield viewing angle.

A high score table records the top ten game scores. Plus, the game automatically keeps track of the highest score achieved in the space wave, and also keeps track of the shortest time taken to get through each terrain. If the player beats the high score in the space wave or completes a terrain in a shorter time, he is awarded bonus points.

I, ROBOT is a first - an engineering and entertainment breakthrough.

The new model is unique and challenging in many ways. For example, “Doodle City” is a first-time interactive entertainment feature in which the player can choose to enter a world of unlimited creativity where the I, Robot graphics can be manipulated in an infinite variety of colors, shapes and patterns.

Also for the first time, players can change their viewpoint on the playfield to an overhead view of the entire terrain or to a ground-level view where shooting enemy objects is worth more points. A “Transporter” feature allows players to select higher starting levels and game play hints are given at the beginning and end of each game.

Game play begins with these challenging instructions: “You are an unhappy Interface Robot in rebellion against ‘Big Brother’ and his ‘Evil Eyes’. The Evil Eye dictates the ‘law’ and the Evil Eye will kill you if it sees you breaking the law. Your mission is to destroy the Evil Eye.”

The “Law” is simple but deadly - “no jumping;” the objective being to jump only when the Eye is not looking, because if the Eye is red it “sees” the Robot jumping and will destroy it.

With this in mind the player controls a Robot in a battle against the Evil Eye. The player must advance toward the Eye by “collecting” all the red areas on the playfield by jumping to each one. Each jump to a red area weakens the Eye’s protective shield. After all the reds are collected the Robot can destroy the Eye and reach the secret Pyramid.

After reaching the Pyramid, the Robot travels through a space wave where he must either shoot or avoid the objects flying at him. At the completion of each space wave, the Robot lands on another geometric terrain where, once again, another Evil Eye must be destroyed.

There are over 100 different waves featuring 22 unique playfield terrains with space waves and bonus pyramid waves in between. To add to the challenge the player is faced with ranks of enemy objects that defend the Eye in each playfield terrain and must be dodged or destroyed.

Operator options include selectable number of player lives, adjustable coinage and adjustable bonus intervals.

Play Meter, August 1984

Play Meter magazine, August 1, 1984, page 60

Play Meter, December 1984

Play Meter magazine, December1, 1984

ANALYSIS: I, Robot isn't dramatically different compared to many of the other space adventures. But the integration of the basic elements strengthens the potential following of the game. Given the expanse of screens and even the ability of players to sometimes skip ahead, the machine breaks the predictability pattern associated with so many other video games.

And, in today’s strange market, I, Robot isn't so difficult that the sometime player can’t feel comfortable after a few plays, while the skilled individual looking for a challenge should have his hands full for at least a few weeks.

One final point to make here is that I, Robot is really two games in one. The folks at Atari liked their graphics so much that they started doodling around in the lab. “Doodle City’ was born and appears at the beginning of play as an alternative for the curious videophile.

GRAPHICS: If you go back to the early days of raster graphics, you probably can appreciate the evolutionary changes which have provided this format with more detail, richer textures, and the methodical advancement to dimensionalized screen images. Atari has taken a next step in refining the art.

PROS & CONS: When someone takes the time and energy to get into I, Robot, the ingredients of play become readily apparent. Just dodge, shoot, and move around a structure until you've traveled its width and length and then travel on to another challenge of basic slide and shoot.

This should be enough to entice an ample portion of the playing public; however, the game doesn’t totally succeed in conveying this measure of familiarity due to its graphics treatments which tend to overwhelm and steal attention away from what this machine wants to deliver to players. This can pose a considerable problem for I, Robot as it tries to get that initial rush of players. Instead, the game's success will be fairly dependent upon its potential for attracting a limited audience in the beginning, who will serve as the demonstrators of the machine's basic play action. Others will watch and observe, then decide if its worth the investment. But I, Robot looks more inviting and less intimidating when it is being played than when it’s in instruction set and attract mode.

RATING: I like the intent, and even the execution of I, Robot but fear that today’s diversified playing public may pass it by. In many ways, it’s the same type of dilemma that kept Crystal Castles from getting its fair due as an original and sophisticated video game. I, Robot won't be a sure-fire sensation, but it does exhibit ‘sleeper’ qualities. We'll go with a ★★★.

Its second — and far more serious — difficulty is ironic. Because for all its high-tech, geometric graphics, the game is actually a fairly simple shootout. So even the more sophisticated arcaders, who would at least confer cult status on a game that looked and played equally hot, are likely to become bored with I, Robot long before the graphic delights wane.

I, Robot actually consists of two games — or, rather, a "game" and an "ungame," to use Atari's terminology. The "ungame" is an extraordinary graphics program and quite a good idea — just so long as the player knows he is choosing a drawing program, something the documentation leaves a trifle cloudy.

The actual contest casts the player as a robot standing in a 3-D landscape, straddled by a pair of triangular-shaped boundaries on the left and right borders of a platform. The robot must immediately pass over all red areas on the platform, while occasionally zipping to the triangle's peak and blasting away at the bird-droids that jet by overhead. When all the red terrain has been claimed, the robot must leap over the void into a nearby platform holding a cube inscribed with a massive eye. When the eye is red, the robot cannot jump, but when clear, the leap completes the round and leads into the second scenario: a jaunt through space at warp speed, blasting away at geometric ballistics.

There are also transporters which enable the player to beam up into yet another wildly configured platform. Hitting the start button alters the angle, and the game itself periodically swoops in on a breathtaking zoom angle right in the middle of a shoot-out between robot and birdbot.

Make no mistake, I, Robot is a marvel, a game that must be experienced. If nothing else, you'll be able to say you saw the very latest in computer supergraphics. If only you could say you'd played a great game, too.

Computer And Videogames Magazine, April 1985

From Computer And Videogames magazine, Issue 42, April 1985, page 92

By Clare Edgeley