I, Robot

As an owner of an original [i]I, Robot[/i] machine, and the author of the first [i]I, Robot[/i] emulator, I feel qualified to give my 2 cents on what works and doesn't work here. First off let me say I absolutely love the original title. So I was excited to be able to play an updated version, especially one by Jeff Minter. I love his updates to other games ([i]Tempest 2000[/i], etc). That said, I'm disappointed overall. The game doesn't play, look, sound, or feel much like the original [i]I, Robot[/i]. Feels more like another Jeff Minter game re-skinned as [i]I, Robot[/i]. If you're familiar with his work, you've played much of this game before. [h3]Things that just don't work:[/h3] [list] [*]Controls are floaty and unresponsive -- when I died I felt it was the games fault not mine -- you expect better controls in twitch based gameplay [*]Gameplay seems slower in a lot of ways. The original plays much faster [*]Larger levels are an interesting idea but ultimately add tedium. Plus the grid tiles are a lot smaller on screen, which is part of the reason the Robot is harder to control. Reminds me of why the multi-screen maze in [i]Jr. Pac Man[/i] was a bad idea, takes away from gameplay and enjoyment. It's a bit boring. [*]Original game sounds, blaster, jumping, end of level, etc are gone and replaced with other generic 80's arcade sounds. I think I heard a telephone tone in there... Just doesn't sound right. At least the "landing on a new level" sound was preserved from the original machine! [*]Minter's signature psychedelic visuals don't improve/enhance the gameplay the way they do on Minter's other titles. They largely get in the way of being able to tell what is exactly going on... which is important in a game that requires you to stay aligned on grids, tell the color of the eye, and tell what's coming your way. Visual overload doesn't work here.I highly recommend setting background visual to "starfield" from the settings screen. [*]Graphic style doesn't lean into the "geometric/cubist" style of the first game. The primary colors and incorporation of various platonic solids in the original game gave it such a unique look and feel which was part of the appeal. This remake seems rather bland by comparison. [*]I found it harder to tell when the evil eye was about to turn to red... I blame the psychedelic visuals and overemphasis on rainbow effects. Plus the design/presentation of the Evil Eye just seems a bit off... It's not as menacing as the original. [*]Using "multi level terrain height" as part of the gameplay makes it difficult to predict where bridges can and can not be built -- many times I would move to an area expecting to build a bridge where only to find out that I couldn't.. leading to a lot of backtracking and trial and error. [*]Original game character turned into a minotaur for no good reason. The game does not benefit by adding a llama/yak theme. [*]View up/down feature absent, as well as "viewer killer" enemy which targets you on the other side of the monitor. There is lean left/right feature on the view, but it's basically useless. [*]Many of the original enemies are nowhere to be seen.. No sharks, huge beach balls, etc. [*]No bonus pyramid levels! [*]No big brother levels! I've played till the end, he's not here folks :( [*]Space levels feel very [i]Tempest[/i] like... you've seen this before. Visual overload made it impossible to clear tetras in most cases. [/list] Honestly the lack of pyramid levels and big brother levels really disappointed me. They were not only exciting and surprising to uncover in the original game, but added more gameplay variation, plus a bit of a story and a goal. There's no story here, little character continuity... The eye doesn't even look like the original at all... Little tying this game to the original title other than the gameplay idea. [h3]Things I liked:[/h3] [list] [*]The new enemies on the levels bring interesting variation to gameplay. Things like bumpers to reflect shots are an interesting idea and have some legs. [*]Various new enemies in the space levels add variety to gameplay and strategy. Good ideas in here. [*]The "power up" tiles with various effects help level design, giving you safe zones, etc. [*]Addition of the new "arena" levels is somewhat interesting, multi-directional firing like [i]Robotron[/i], etc. [*]Was nice to hear the "level landing" sound from the original game. [*]Ability to replace psychedelic background with starfield helps a little [*]The fact I get to say I played a new version of [i]I, Robot[/i] in 2025. Keep 'em coming Atari. [/list] [h3]Summary[/h3] Altogether, this game doesn't do justice to the original [i]I, Robot[/i]... It feels like a "clean room" version of the game, one where the developer had never actually seen or played the original game, but coded it from a design document explaining what the gameplay should be like. It doesn't give you much in the way of fan-service to those nostalgic for the original. It's not that fun, and there's little charm. I found the addition of arena levels and new enemies somewhat interesting, but altogether there weren't enough new ideas to make this worthwhile to me. Don't recommend this game to anyone other than die-hard enthusiasts who really want to give Atari their money (myself included).

This is a very nice game and is quite similar to the original Atari I Robot arcade machine that I played on in Bridlington back in 85' it's colourful and lots of decent sound fx and robo speech! Also I have bought it for My PS5 and PS4 too help Jeff and Ivan keep up with the rest of England!!!!! yes it's a fun and enjoyable game to play!

Jeff and Giles have made another insane pull from the Atari archives, this time remaking I, Robot. A game, which I wasn't familiar with but now I have the pleasure to know thanks to the Llamasoft treatment. The original was a 3D maze puzzle AND shooter at the same time, and in retrospective it's criminally underlooked considering how genre bending it is. However, this new version right here takes the original's core concept and mechanics and uses them more as a blank canvas. As not only this gets progressively more and more intense, reaching new levels of catharsis that the original didn't get near to, but it also decides to throw new stuff into the mix pretty often. Each new stage might bring a new type of layout, enemy, stage hazard, or just downright change player mechanics in in certain occasions. Sometimes it's in service of making a homage to other arcade classics or Llamasoft itself. Sometimes it's just to see how much can they push the concept. The end result is a game that's constantly changing things up, never static (the Tempest-like bonus stages also help), yet it's so consistent in how it works, you can go from a later stage back to the first level and it's still the same game at its core. It's just very, very good at iterating on the same idea. If you're at all interested into oldschool games, I Robot is a must play. But you probably already knew: it's Llamasoft! -- Some notes: sometimes I'm so into what's happening in the layouts, I forget that the Eye is there in the background or I don't pay attention to the sound cues, so maybe there could be an option to make the eye bigger. Also, the game has an adaptative soundtrack that gets better are as you have more score, however I feel like it struggles a bit to get off the ground (or maybe I just need to git gud :'D). However, both things are very minor annoyances.

Excellent game!!! Jeff and Giles have done it again. Runs great on Steamdeck., as well as PC.

A llamasoft take on a relatively obscure Atari arcade classic. That either immediately speaks to you or you're left scratching your head. Modern Atari is doing weird things with its catalog these days, and if you're an old like me it's wild to see some of the stuff they're pulling out and dusting off. Worth getting for the spectacle alone, but there's some meat on the bones in re gameplay.

What a wonder to be able to immerse yourself in a new game like this, an authentic challenge of pure gameplay that allows us to forget the recent frustrations of the industry: Nintendo's insane prices or Ubisoft's titles infused with woke ideology. This is yet another extraordinary tribute by Jeff Minter to the true essence of video game culture, the genuine and uncompromising one, destined to remain etched in the history of the medium. Nominated for the Steam Awards!

Another classic by Llamasoft. Since it's a remake of the classic arcade game, it's very different from previous games they've made and yet feels like something only they could do

Jeff Minter literally doesn't miss. Still worth playing the original though, as this is more of a Minter game than a straight remake.

Another fantastic game by Minter!

This is a Jeff Minter title, so you generally can expect heavy doses of colors, particles, retro sound fx, and other Llamasoft-isms. If you like Jeff Minter's work, you'll be happy with this one. The general spirit of the original I Robot is still preserved with the main level being to take down the eye followed by blowing up tetrads in between levels. The game does challenge you with mini-goals and rewards you accordingly (like time, no dying, etc). The game rewards you for tetrad kill streaks as well as tile streaks. Your score can really ramp up if you max out either one. One thing added was the concept of arena levels where you have to kill enemies in some fashion to increase the coverage in the arena. I Robot almost behaves more like a puzzle game on some levels than its arcade counterpart, which requires you to figure out how get at certain sections of each level or how to work around some enemies while keeping in track of what the eye is doing (thankfully, the Sound FX give you great indicators of when it's red). This is one of those games where it's definitely easier to play with the sound as those sound cues can be life savers. Pluses: + easy pick up and play + works great on a Steam Deck + preserves general spirit of I Robot + gives you ability to change the synthwave backgrounds to star fields if that is your desire Minus - On the SteamDeck some text is clipped off the sides of the screen. Doesn't seem to affect game play in a material way though - No Big Brother - No ability to shift the view - No bonus screen with clearing the jewels inside the pyramid On balance, I'll give this game a recommend based on the fact that at its core...it's still I, Robot in terms of the game play loop and I find myself going back to it. I can pick it up, play it 15 minutes and put it back down and be happy until I do it later on.