He’s simply learning how to rocketboard, and his dream girl unexpectedly blasts off to a whole different galaxy than the one he’s on. What does he do? Go after her of course! That’s the whole story behind Fenix Fire’s new platformer, onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/itunes.apple.com/us/app/roboto/id449384735?mt=8');" target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/roboto/id449384735?mt=8">Roboto which conveniently is also the name of the robot boy you’ll take control of.
The game is a continuation to the many side-scrolling platformers that are currently on the App Store, in that you’ll have to travel from one end of a level to another while navigating past obstacles and enemies. Tons of different enemies will be introduced throughout the span of the game, as will a whole variety of obstacles and platforms.
You’ll start off with easy levels, which will slowly increase in difficulty ultimately becoming a combination of havoc and fun. Enemies can be shot with energy collected along course of a level, which can also be used for other things such as prolonged jumping (in other words: hovering in the air). Though the energy is not essential for a good score on a level, it is essential for making it past a level. You only have a limited amount of energy, and if it is depleted completely, you will die.href="http://www.iphonealley.com/application_reviews/roboto-app-review-a-beautiful-platformer-for-ios/attachment/roboto-2011-07-07-00-04-37-80" rel="attachment wp-att-21345">src="http://www.iphonealley.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Roboto-2011-07-07-00-04-37-80-300x168.png" alt="" title="Roboto 2011-07-07 00-04-37-80" width="300" height="168" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-21345" /> There are also three gears located in tough places, usually off of the normal route you’d be taking, which will get you a better score on the level for comparison on Game Center leaderboards and a better result for the game’s level-rating system.
The control scheme is what you would normally see, but rather than two directional arrows on the left side of the screen, you’ve got a joystick. Additionally, two buttons are displayed on the right that control your jumps and shoot your energy gun at enemies. It takes some prodding, but thanks to the control’s adjustable option accessible from the game’s main menu, you can easily set the joystick to be a bit more tight to your liking. Save for the controls and gameplay, Roboto isn’t much like your traditional “run and jump” platformer. Instead, it requires you to master a technique for flying your hoverboard successfully through the hoards of obstacles. Different platforms will require more difficult jumps to land and maneuvering through the levels without falling off (or above, because of challenging gravity changes) can sometimes be hard to accomplish unless you’ve gotten used to the controls.
I don’t know why little Roboto doesn’t just hope on a rocket himself, instead of hover-boarding through 30 levels of in-explainable hazards to supposedly, ultimately get on one, because the trailer (below) shows a line of similar rockets right in front of him. Check out the teaser trailer to become more accustomed to the whole storyline:
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Regardless, this all makes up the story and keeps you determined to locate Roboto’s dream girl.
As mentioned above, the game comes fully loaded with a total of 30 levels. These levels are split up into increments of ten, with full-featured boss battles at the last, tenth level. Each of the 3 (10) levels have different environmental themes, made evident by the interactive level-select screen and 3D, moving backgrounds whilst playing. Better yet, the game’s best highlight, it’s colorful, cute artwork, makes playing through these levels much more enjoyable.
I just have the congratulate Fenix Fire’s two man/woman team who have accomplished the impossible for some developers: creating a successful platformer that has potential and is loads of fun to play. Despite its relative shortness, the game is definitely great while it lasts. An absolute worthy purchase for $2.99 (intro price). It literally blows the pants off of other similar games.
