| Introduction
The Robot Wars TV series has enjoyed a very happy
relationship with the GameBoy, with two previous games
receiving positive reviews, and this being the third
game out in only three years. Industry veterans Warthog,
who are no strangers to quality GBA titles, having most
recently produced the excellent 'Pinky and the Brain'
for SWING, developed 'Robot Wars - Extreme Destruction'
(RW: ED). Sequels allow both improvements and modifications
to gameplay, and while there was an obvious leap from
the GBC to the GBA, it will be interesting to see what
the second Advance version delivers.
GamePlay
Your first stop in RW: ED is to select your Robot,
either from a bank of prefabricated models, or you may
wish to take a little time and create your own. After
this, you can choose to enter one of the many gaming
modes offered, and there are plenty in this latest version.
Most people will head for 'Quick start', as this
allows you to battle it out with a random Robot in a
fixed time period, and is just plain old destructive
fun. 'Bash n' Dash' and 'Mayhem' place you against three
other Robots, with the winner being the last one intact
at the end of the various bouts and can be played in
various difficulty settings. 'Tournament' is for serious
battlers, and is played over a series of progressively
more difficult rounds in order to win medals and ultimately
become the Champion Robot.
The 'Gauntlet' section is excellent; here you can
take one of your own creations through its paces, and
not only will you be rewarded with bronze, silver or
gold medals and unlocked extras, but will also get a
rundown of your Robot's strengths and weaknesses via
a statistics screen. There are six events here in all,
with each one against a timer.
First off is the 'Slalom', which is self-explanatory.
You may then fancy a game of 'Skittles', which challenges
you to knock down an allotted number of objects randomly
scattered around the arena. 'Long Jump' involves you
hitting ramps at full speed before flying across the
arena, and 'Sumo-Bash' is quite literally a game of
Robot Sumo. 'Dump' involves you pushing a series of
objects into an incinerator (which can be surprisingly
difficult) and finally, 'Drop Zone' challenges you to
smash color-coded barrels that appear from above.
The thing that keeps you coming back to RW: ED is
the fact that almost every bout you win opens up yet
another bonus, which could be new Robots, parts, arenas
or even the wonderful Arena Editor. This is incredibly
simple to use, and works on a grid system allowing you
to place various terrain and hazards exactly where you
want them.
Finally there's the Multiplayer option, which allows
up to four players to battle it out in any of the arenas.
Unfortunately, this requires a copy of the game for
each player, and while I'm usually very critical of
this, the level of technology on display here really
is so outstanding that I'm not entirely sure how they'd
implement a single cartridge multiplayer option anyway.
Controls
Considering this is on the GBA, the amount of control
options at your disposal is simply quite remarkable.
For a start, you have the ability to change the control
layout, not just to pre-defined sets, but also exactly
how you want it. This really is something all games
should offer at this stage in the GBA's lifecycle, and
I'm sure I don't need to convince any gamer that it
helps to make RW: ED more enjoyable.
You can also choose which type of camera mode you
wish to view the game--Rigid, Overview, or Fixed, which
goes a long way in addressing many of the complaints
that are leveled against 3D games. The control itself
is very responsive, and you'll find that attacking or
retreating from other Robots is swift and painless,
unless of course you're being attacked by the rather
vicious House Robots.
Graphics
Each incarnation of Robot Wars has featured vast
visual improvements, but this is undoubtedly the best
looking one, with respect to appearance and technology.
Warthog employed a clever mix of graphical routines
to give the whole game a really solid 3D appearance,
which helps to fully immerse you in the Robot Wars universe.
It also features the slickest overall design of the
three games, with the various menu systems remarkably
intuitive to navigate and also wonderful to look at.
Sound & Music
The audio aspects of RW: ED are excellent, and possess
a level of clarity that we should expect from all GBA
titles. It starts off with an excellent sample of the
TV series' theme with some additional industrial sound
effects. The developers have also captured some incredibly
clear voice samples and as a result, there's a commentary
during every battle. Sound effects have also been well
implemented and everyone should try a robot armed with
a chainsaw at least once, just so you can hear the incredible
noise as it slices an opponent in two.
Final Comments
The huge improvements that the developers made in
both gameplay and overall appearance are instantly visible
and distinct from the other Robot Wars games. You also
get a whole lot of gameplay for your money, as after
you've exhausted the single and multiplayer games there's
still the Arena Editor, which actually makes RW: ED
infinite in its gaming possibilities. It's refreshing
to see a product that contains everything a gamer would
want from a GBA title, and it really is difficult to
find anything negative to say about Warthog's take on
this Robot battling TV series. Undoubtedly the best
Robot Wars game so far, and if you're a fan of the series,
or own a previous version, get this now.
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