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So I got Robo Pit for the Sega Saturn for Christmas, and I completed it yesterday, and thought I’d give my thoughts on it.
For some reason, this is one of the few multiplatform games that is cheaper on the Sega Saturn compared to the Playstation, in all regions. In fact the only game I can recall that costs more on Playstation is hi-Octane, but that was because that version was far better.
Robo Pit looks the same on both, except for totally different menus, and some even say the Saturn version is the better of the two! So why it costs less is beyond me.
Anyway, onto the game. What attracted me to it was it’s resemblance to Robot Wars and the like. You build robots, which can have wheels or tracks for locomotion, and you attach weapons to the robot to damage your opponent with.
That’s where the similarities really end, the game is a 3D beat em up with tank controls. Doesn’t sound like the recipe for a good fighting game but surprisingly, it works well. Whenever I sat down to play a game, that one game turns to like 8, and I have to force myself to stop playing.
If you win a match, you win the opponents weapons (or by the looks of it, one of them in the Playstation version), and if you lose, they get yours. Naturally, you don’t want to lose, and whenever I did, I reset the game and loaded my progress.
That’s my main complaint of the game, you lose your good weapons, it’s all over. Especially if you are a beginner. Your fists are more or less useless compared to the weapons you unlock thoughout the game.
Speaking of, the weapons to fall into 4 (maybe 5) categories.
You have your close range weapons, like fists, hammers and axes.
You have your long range weapons, that shoot out, but get pulled back to you. Like the mace.
You have guns, some with ammo, and some that are unlimited as they bounce back to you.
Lastly, you have the shields, which increase your defence.
You fight your way up the ranks, starting at rank 101, and you work towards getting the top spot, which is easier said than done.
Throughout the game, you come across bosses who have no data and you only see their silhouettes in the menu. You fight them in special arenas and are harder than the other robots. Obviously.
When you reach the top rank, a rank 0 is revealed. This is the final boss. This guy is the most bullshit hard boss I’ve ever faced! One hit takes a 5th of your health away! I had to constantly circle strafe them and hit them when it looked like they had an opening. Even this took a dozen tries!
After this, you get a credit sequence, showing what I think are replays of past victories.
The music and sound effects are for the most part, forgettable, except the robot building music, which is the kind of abstract robot music you hear in the 90s, complete with sounds heard from devices at the time, and the line “Sorry, the number you have dialled is not available!”
The graphics are about average, too. They do look a little better on the PS1, as expected, but even then, nothing much to them.
You get these cute eyes, faces and head shapes to put onto your robot, they’re purely aesthetic, but they do give the game a bit of personality!
All in all, for the price it fetches, it’s definitely worth the money, in my opinion! As someone whose entire childhood was consumed by Robot Wars and Battlebots, I was satisfied, and if I had this as a kid, I’d have absolutely loved it!
I might even get the Playstation version and compare the two.
There is also a sequel exclusive to the PS1, but this one doesn’t come by often, and when it does, it’s £20 for a loose disc…