Developer: UPL Publisher: UPL Release: 01/19/90 Genre: Shooter
In the early years of the Sega Genesis I played almost everything. You were not exactly spoiled for choice pre-Sonic but there were definitely some interesting titles released, especially the arcade conversions. Atomic Robo Kid stood out among a crowded shooter lineup thanks to its mechanics. But its arcade design left it a frustrating experience that did not hold up against the superior exclusive titles. In Japan the game was also on the PC Engine as Atomic Robo Kid Special. This version makes a number of significant changes that alleviate most of my issues with the original making it a solid game overall.
Atomic Robo-Kid Special is almost a remix of the arcade game due to its many additions. The biggest new feature is a life bar. Those familiar with the arcade game will remember the frustration of dying in a single hit. Initially in this version you can sustain a few hits. You can replenish health by destroying the many larger enemies at the end of each level and by winning the duel fights. In addition after every boss battle your life bar will increase. By the end of the game you can sustain more than ten hits before death. This makes the game far more accessible than its brutal arcade counterpart and more fun in my opinion.
The weapons have also received a slight upgrade as well. The four primary weapons remain. The missiles, 3-way shot, and 5-way shot are identical. The fission gun no longer pierces bosses and most walls which lessens its effectiveness. Now though you can power up each weapon five times by collecting successive capsules. The game conveniently shows you the current level of each weapon you possess so you can prioritize if need be. You should as some like the missiles are near game breaking at full power. Item drops are frequent enough that you can easily max out your weapons within two or three levels. It also allows you to get back up to speed quickly after death.
The controls are awkward and take some adjustment. With only so few buttons the developers shoehorn a lot of functions on two buttons. Button II fires while Button I switches weapons. You can only switch weapons while in flight; if you try while walking you will jump instead. It is silly and leads to many mistakes. They should have used select to switch weapons while button I locks your firing direction. While the setup is less than ideal it works but it could have been better.
There is no time limit in this version and so there is no need to rush. In the early levels it makes little difference as the levels are straight corridors. But as you progress they become progressively larger with some exploration but not as much as the arcade original. The level order has been switched around but it makes little difference as the end level cutscenes that served as connective tissue between stages were removed. That is not the only graphical cut. While the sprites and color palette match the arcade pretty well the backgrounds are either simpler or have been removed. There is also no parallax scrolling. It’s a damn shame too; if the graphics were better this would have been the definitive version of the game.
Atomic Robo-Kid was a brutally difficult experience thanks to its arcade design. The various changes in this version make it significantly easier and enjoyable. Without a time limit you can take your time and deal with the dense enemy waves at your leisure. Many of the levels are shorter and straightforward with fewer stages that offer alternate routes or exploration. It still has its moments of course; the boss battles are still just as frustrating as before. Your life bar makes little difference when they back you in to a corner and some of the later mayors are ridiculous bullet sponges. But as a whole I have little to complain about. This is what a special edition of a game should be, one that adds more content while smoothing out the rough edges.
In Closing
Atomic Robo-Kid Special is a great game and what the arcade game should have been. It is accessible while still being challenging and has unique mechanics for its time. This is a solid B-tier title worth your time but only after exhausting the legendary shooter lineup on the platform. There is nothing wrong with being a solid effort but when the competition is this fierce sometimes you become a second class citizen in this case.
