A Robot Named Fight

Genre: Metroidvania / Roguelike

Players: 1-4 Co-Op (Local)

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Review:

A Robot Named Fight is a game that takes a very Metroid-esque Metroidvania-style game and blends it with a traditional Roguelike to make for a game that has its own very unique feel to it.

On the surface, the game looks very much like a carbon copy of Metroid, with very similar gameplay, similar level design and map design, even down to the way that upgrades are displayed on the map and your character does a spinning flip if you jump while moving in a direction. However, you’ll notice one thing missing from a typical Metroidvania: the ability to save.

While there are sorta’-kinda’ save points at rare intervals throughout the game, these are one-use rooms that break when you die and respawn here. Die without one of these backups, and you’ll lose all your gear, be booted to the beginning, and start over again with a completely new, randomized map, something that Roguelike fans will be very familiar with.

In each run you make, you’ll unlock new upgrades that will appear in future runs, enabling you to become better-equipped to take on the challenges in future play-throughs. Ultimately though, in the end, to beat the game you’ll have to make it through the entire thing in one go.

It may sound like a restrictive formula, but it’s actually pretty refreshing. It’s really cool to see an obstacle and know what you need to get past it, but not be sure where it is on this play-through. It also does this surprising thing of getting you thinking “oh, on this play-through I see I’ll be using the charge beam” or “oh, I’m going to be getting the flamethrower at some point”.

As far as the gameplay goes… well, it’s a lot like Super Metroid, which is clearly intentional. You look and move a lot like Samus, and the grotesque enemies you fight could fit right in with some of the baddies Samus fights. The gameplay here doesn’t have the same level of nuance as a typical Metroid game, but it manages to cover the basics pretty well.

As for the Roguelike elements, I’m of a bit of a mixed opinion. One of the issues that many Roguelikes suffer, in my opinion, is a very samey feel from one area to another – because the maps are procedurally-generated, you’ll frequently recognize individual rooms, and areas often don’t have the same “flow” to them that they would if intentionally designed. Also, if they really wanted to push the Roguelike elements of the game, it would have been nice if locales had more variety instead of having me always feel like I’m seeing the same sequence of areas repeated, but with the parts of each shuffled around a bit.

Also, just as a personal preference, I do wish that more of your stuff carried over after death beyond just “what you unlock”. In particular, the resources you come across for trading or donating to the game’s various “altars” always seem to go to waste because I never seem to come across all of the specific items any given merchant wants, and I’m given no indication of what the altars want from me or what they’ll give in exchange, so these resources rarely seem all that useful.

Oh, and I suppose I should mention the game’s co-op mode, which… is fine. It’s basically a “girlfriend mode” of sorts where the additional players all fly drones to shoot at enemies. Nothing that really brings the game to another level, but it’s nice to have, regardless.

Graphically, the game also does a good job imitating the style of Super Metroid, albeit without the same level of detail. Or rather, with a different focus. With Super Metroid, different areas had their own little animations, like falling cherry blossoms or pulsating walls. Here, there’s nothing quite like that, beyond occasional setpieces like the giant Cthulhu moon ripping apart the city in the background (oh yeah, there’s a Cthulhu moon… this game is pretty ridiculous), or blood splatters as you take out its meat minions. It’s sufficient, and for a game that sets itself up for comparison to one of the greatest games of all time, it more or less manages to look like a sufficient imitation.

In the end, A Robot Named Fight manages the trick of being a solid Super Metroid clone while also doing something unique and original in its own right, blending together Metroidvania and Roguelike in a way that works pretty well. Fans of either genre should definitely give this game a look.

tl;dr – A Robot Named Fight is a combination of a Metroidvania that is very clearly trying to be like Super Metroid, and a Roguelike with randomized level design, permadeath, and the gradual unlocking of upgrades. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of Super Metroid, but it’s still an engaging experience that fans of the genre should definitely check out.

Grade: A-

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