Developer(s) Noise, Nintendo Director(s) Keiji Okayasu Series Custom Robo | Publisher(s) Nintendo Composer(s) Takayuki Nakamura | |
Producer(s) Koji Kenjo
Shigeru Miyamoto | ||
Custom Robo, known in Japan as Custom Robo Battle Revolution (カスタムロボ バトルレボリューション, Kasutamu Robo Batoru Reboryūshon), is an action role-playing video game developed by Noise and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube. It is the fourth title of the Custom Robo series, and the first title of the series released outside Japan, which was released in North America.
Contents
Story
In this title of the Custom Robo series, each player is called a "commander", who pilots and customizes a miniature "robo" to battle each other in a virtual arena called a Holosseum; the average robo is 32 centimeters tall. The first half of the story takes place in "A New Journey" mode. After the story mode is completed, the player may choose to go through the story again or enter a series of tournaments called "The Grand Battle".
The main objective of the entire game is to engage in battle with other robos, and finish its plot by collecting every custom robo, battle part, and item that the player wants, while winning every battle that moves you from one part of the storyline to the next. In Custom Robo battles, the objective is to reduce your opponent's hit points from 1000 to 0 by using different custom robos and their dash attacks, guns, bombs, and pods.
Battling
Robos fight on a Holosseum, a battle arena designed for custom robos. Some commanders can make their own Holosseums, or they can use a pre-created Holosseum taken from a Holosseum deck or in the robo itself. Holosseums come in a variety of sizes and layouts, and some feature environmental hazards such as ice or lava.
Before battling begins, players customize their robos from 5 types of parts: the chassis (the robo itself), the gun (right hand), the bomb (left hand), the pod (backpack), and the legs (attachments to your legs and feet). The chassis are arranged in groups that designate the model, which affects its traits. In addition, there are 3 types of the same model.
Battles begin with your robo being launched out of a Robocannon, which is controlled with the Control Stick. Robos are shot from the Cannon in the form of cubes; there are six sides numbered 1 to 6, which designate how long your robo has before transforming. You can speed up the process up by pressing any button repeatedly. The first robo to transform gets to attack first; an attack brings you to transform immediately. There are two views in battle: Normal view is the view that allows the player to see both the Custom Robos in an isometric view. First-person view allows you to see from your robo's point of view. You can change views during a battle by pressing up on the C-stick after "A New Journey" is completed. The endurance bar is located above your hit points. Once it runs out, your robo gets "downed", which means that it stays fallen for a couple seconds. After it gets up, it goes into "rebirth", where it briefly turns invincible for about 3 seconds. If the player repeatedly loses the same battle, the game offers the option of reducing the opponent's initial health. This goes up to the opponent losing 250 HP.
Plot
The story opens with a flashback from the hero's earlier life.
The main character "hero", is a child whose father has disappeared. Before his mysterious departure, Hero's father gave him a watch, telling him to keep it safe. At this point, the game leaps to the present and Hero suddenly receives a letter stating that his father has just died. In honor of his father's wishes for him to become a Robo Commander, Hero sets out to do so - despite knowing nothing about robos. He eventually manages to join up with a group of bounty hunters known as the "Steel Hearts", where he meets Ernest, Harry, and Marcia. A fellow member of the Steel Hearts, Harry, teaches Hero how to command robos and helps him receive his license, which allows Hero to battle with robos legally. After a few minor errands, Hero and company discover the self-guided Robo known as 'Rahu'. Later, after passing a test and obtaining a Class "S" license, Rahu's past is revealed and Hero finds out that Rahu is an invisible organic being who had accidentally been fused with a toy robot.
Before the time of the domed city, the world was attacked by a powerful entity - now known as Rahu. Eventually, Rahu came to possess a child's toy. This toy was very similar to a Robo. By popularizing Robo battling, the government gave the people a way to fight the entity. Rahu was soon damaged enough to be driven into dormancy for a long period of time, but has now awoken. Hero and the rest of the police force leave the safety of the dome to defeat Rahu again, along with the organization known as the Z-Syndicate, who are trying to control the entity for their own ends. After defeating the syndicate, Hero meets an old friend of his father's, and the brother of Marcia of the Steel Hearts,- a spy named Sergei. He originally joined the Z Syndicate to stop Rahu, but was forced to work with Oboro, who wanted to control Rahu for his own means. Eliza and Isabella, two other members of the Z Syndicate, also wanted to control Rahu. Sergei showed Hero an old recording of his father's last message to him. In the recording, Hero's father explains that he left to form the Z-Syndicate in an attempt to inform the people of Rahu's impending attack. The other members soon lost sight of his vision and betrayed him in an attempt to the seize control of the Syndicate and Rahu. Hero eventually defeats Rahu, ensuring the world's safety - for a while.
Characters
Reception
The game received "mixed" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. In Japan, Famitsu gave it a score of two sevens and two eights for a total of 30 out of 40.