Custom Robo is sort of a sci-fi action take on Nintendo's own collect-and-battle style Pokemon titles. In the game's story mode, you slip into the role of a young boy who has just built his very own toy robot who goes by the name of Lei. Together with your cousin, you head down towards Robo Station to take part in a giant Custom Robo battle championship that takes place in the local Holosseum. The ultimate goal is to improve your skills so that you can defeat the champion Custom Robo builder of them all, Mamoru. Gameplay involves robo customization and frantic action battles in confined 3D arenas. Followed by a sequel.
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Custom Robo is a pretty good 3D arena fighter, there is some nuance with the customisation and the control scheme really makes use of everything the N64 controller has to offer.
While playing through the campaign and battle modes, I generally came to the conclusion that this and V2 should have come to the West.
It is an RPG with fighting, a vague comparison would be Pokemon meets Smash Bros. This has a Vs. mode built in, and I hear V2 has 4-player (albeit tag team) which seems perfect for a party set up once you’ve exhausted Mario Kart, Smash and Goldeneye.
The solo story campaign is a lot of fun and familiarises yourself with the different load-outs that can be used.
The plot is familiar to fans of Shonen manga/anime. You start with school rivalries that slowly grow to taking down an evil organisation and the Custom Robo Champion. It’s all fairly linear, using an English language guide is advised, however you could power through relatively easily if you speak with every non-genetic character.
I find the Pokémon comparison sort of reductive, a collectathon this ain’t. Parts are acquired throughout the solo campaign. The RPG traversal is at an isometric angle, which looks cool on the N64 hardware.
This is easily an A to B tier N64 title, I think it is worthwhile for the battle system alone.
While playing through the campaign and battle modes, I generally came to the conclusion that this and V2 should have come to the West.
It is an RPG with fighting, a vague comparison would be Pokemon meets Smash Bros. This has a Vs. mode built in, and I hear V2 has 4-player (albeit tag team) which seems perfect for a party set up once you’ve exhausted Mario Kart, Smash and Goldeneye.
The solo story campaign is a lot of fun and familiarises yourself with the different load-outs that can be used.
The plot is familiar to fans of Shonen manga/anime. You start with school rivalries that slowly grow to taking down an evil organisation and the Custom Robo Champion. It’s all fairly linear, using an English language guide is advised, however you could power through relatively easily if you speak with every non-genetic character.
I find the Pokémon comparison sort of reductive, a collectathon this ain’t. Parts are acquired throughout the solo campaign. The RPG traversal is at an isometric angle, which looks cool on the N64 hardware.
This is easily an A to B tier N64 title, I think it is worthwhile for the battle system alone.
I borrowed the GameCube Custom Robo from a friend as a kid and really enjoyed it, but I'd only ever heard about the N64 game. This Japan-exclusive first entry in the series is one that I scored ages ago, but only got to playing recently as something I did on Twitch. I was super out of practice and had forgotten most about the GameCube game, but things slowly came back to me as I went through it. It's definitely a first step rather than some inspired peak of the series, but I had a good bit of fun with it~. It took me around 8 hours to beat it over the course of two streams.
Custom Robo tells the story of you, the main character, who has just moved into a new town. Your cousin happens to live here, and he's a big fan of this new toy craze of Custom Robo. A "Commander" pilots the robos by "diving" their consciousness into the toy and battling other their opponents robot for who can KO their opponent's robot first. Lucky for you, your parents have gotten you your very own Custom Robo toy as a present for the move, and you get right to work as your cousin teaches you how to play. You turn out to be a prodigy as you go basically undefeated through every opponent you come across, winning every tournament their is and even saving the world from a Team Rocket-like evil.
It's a story that's very typically anime for the time, and it gave me very Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh vibes between the relationship the main character has with his family, friends, and even the villains. It's got some really weird pacing and twists at times, and it's hardly gonna set your world on fire, but it's mostly here to give a set dressing for the robot fighting, and it does a more than good enough job at that. At the very least, you'll probably get some giggles from just how campy and expressive the characters' expressions can be when they're emoting their dialogue X3
The gameplay is very much like a prototype for what would eventually be the English-released GameCube game. The two robos launch into different directions from the center of the map, and then your cubes morph into the robots who then begin to fight. You fire your main weapon with A, fire your bomb with B, launch pods with Z, and can jump and boost with R. You can even use a C button to dash towards your opponent eliminating their normal fire coming towards you. There are all sorts of different main guns, bombs, and pod types you can get as you play through the story, and even different legs for your unit to affect things like how long it takes you to start moving again once you hit the ground and how fast your acceleration is. You can tweak your build a ton in the story mode, and there's a ton of skill present in how you can play.
The only major complaint I'd have is that the action feels a bit too clunky/slow at times compared to how the GC version can feel. While that isn't a death sentence, it does mean that you can get punished REALLY hard if you happen to misstep, and the harder battles in the game can very quickly turn against you if you make a couple mistakes. While the game isn't really super hard and the AI is far from the best, the last fights of the penultimate and final in-game days are both super tough, and really drive home just how hard you can punish an unready opponent. I found the challenge quite nice, overall, at least for someone like me who is quite unaccustomed to fighting games, let alone in a 3D fighting genre like this ^^;
Other more minor complaints are things like how you can't change the build of your robot in the story mode. There is an arcade mode you can basically play however you want in, but you're stuck using the all-around fine Ray model in the story mode. Different Custom Robo models have different recovery times, can get knocked down easier or harder, and even have higher defense values and different base speeds. You end up fighting a ton of opponents (there are like ten or so different models in the game), and it becomes a little bit of a bummer that your robo is always just plain ol' Ray (unlike how you can change that in later games).
My only other significant complaint is that a fair few of the weapons in the game aren't just tactical decisions, but are clearly better than others. While that power creep does favor the story mode well (especially for a game this old with no online play and a fully functional arcade mode), it's still a little bit of a bummer for how the fighting itself is designed. It makes it feel like more of an RPG and less like a fighting game, which isn't a fault, per se (it honestly probably made me like it more), but it's definitely something worth mentioning here.
The presentation is about what you'd expect for a Nintendo-published game on the N64 in 1999. Colors and models are really colorful and vibrant, and the game runs really well. The music is also quite good, although there's nothing particularly MP3 player-worthy in my book. Just how cool so many of the other robo models can look made me even more bummed that you're stuck playing as Ray all the time. I wanted to look a that cool too! X3
Verdict: Recommended. This is a pretty darn good game on the N64, especially for a system that is so barren of any competent fighting games (save for a few exceptions). While it's certainly an untraditional fighting game, taking more from something like Virtual On rather than Street Fighter, it's a very competent one. While the sheer amount of text will likely keep any non-Japanese speaker thoroughly confused and unable to play the story mode, the arcade mode can still be enjoyed to a point even if you don't know Japanese. It's certainly navigable with the use of a guide, and it's a cheap import worth checking out if you're a fan of fighting games and neat N64 stuff.
Custom Robo tells the story of you, the main character, who has just moved into a new town. Your cousin happens to live here, and he's a big fan of this new toy craze of Custom Robo. A "Commander" pilots the robos by "diving" their consciousness into the toy and battling other their opponents robot for who can KO their opponent's robot first. Lucky for you, your parents have gotten you your very own Custom Robo toy as a present for the move, and you get right to work as your cousin teaches you how to play. You turn out to be a prodigy as you go basically undefeated through every opponent you come across, winning every tournament their is and even saving the world from a Team Rocket-like evil.
It's a story that's very typically anime for the time, and it gave me very Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh vibes between the relationship the main character has with his family, friends, and even the villains. It's got some really weird pacing and twists at times, and it's hardly gonna set your world on fire, but it's mostly here to give a set dressing for the robot fighting, and it does a more than good enough job at that. At the very least, you'll probably get some giggles from just how campy and expressive the characters' expressions can be when they're emoting their dialogue X3
The gameplay is very much like a prototype for what would eventually be the English-released GameCube game. The two robos launch into different directions from the center of the map, and then your cubes morph into the robots who then begin to fight. You fire your main weapon with A, fire your bomb with B, launch pods with Z, and can jump and boost with R. You can even use a C button to dash towards your opponent eliminating their normal fire coming towards you. There are all sorts of different main guns, bombs, and pod types you can get as you play through the story, and even different legs for your unit to affect things like how long it takes you to start moving again once you hit the ground and how fast your acceleration is. You can tweak your build a ton in the story mode, and there's a ton of skill present in how you can play.
The only major complaint I'd have is that the action feels a bit too clunky/slow at times compared to how the GC version can feel. While that isn't a death sentence, it does mean that you can get punished REALLY hard if you happen to misstep, and the harder battles in the game can very quickly turn against you if you make a couple mistakes. While the game isn't really super hard and the AI is far from the best, the last fights of the penultimate and final in-game days are both super tough, and really drive home just how hard you can punish an unready opponent. I found the challenge quite nice, overall, at least for someone like me who is quite unaccustomed to fighting games, let alone in a 3D fighting genre like this ^^;
Other more minor complaints are things like how you can't change the build of your robot in the story mode. There is an arcade mode you can basically play however you want in, but you're stuck using the all-around fine Ray model in the story mode. Different Custom Robo models have different recovery times, can get knocked down easier or harder, and even have higher defense values and different base speeds. You end up fighting a ton of opponents (there are like ten or so different models in the game), and it becomes a little bit of a bummer that your robo is always just plain ol' Ray (unlike how you can change that in later games).
My only other significant complaint is that a fair few of the weapons in the game aren't just tactical decisions, but are clearly better than others. While that power creep does favor the story mode well (especially for a game this old with no online play and a fully functional arcade mode), it's still a little bit of a bummer for how the fighting itself is designed. It makes it feel like more of an RPG and less like a fighting game, which isn't a fault, per se (it honestly probably made me like it more), but it's definitely something worth mentioning here.
The presentation is about what you'd expect for a Nintendo-published game on the N64 in 1999. Colors and models are really colorful and vibrant, and the game runs really well. The music is also quite good, although there's nothing particularly MP3 player-worthy in my book. Just how cool so many of the other robo models can look made me even more bummed that you're stuck playing as Ray all the time. I wanted to look a that cool too! X3
Verdict: Recommended. This is a pretty darn good game on the N64, especially for a system that is so barren of any competent fighting games (save for a few exceptions). While it's certainly an untraditional fighting game, taking more from something like Virtual On rather than Street Fighter, it's a very competent one. While the sheer amount of text will likely keep any non-Japanese speaker thoroughly confused and unable to play the story mode, the arcade mode can still be enjoyed to a point even if you don't know Japanese. It's certainly navigable with the use of a guide, and it's a cheap import worth checking out if you're a fan of fighting games and neat N64 stuff.
peças ilegais deveriam ser ilegais
hell yea, i finally got around to playing this
it's a short and sweet lil robo-battlin part-swappin action game. It certainly has those monster collecting genre vibes as it stars a cast of plucky elementary schoolers with their cool robots that they duel for sport; there are tournaments to compete in and a shady underground gang to mess things up. Definitely standard stuff, but comfy nonetheless. The game also runs really damn smoothly on the ol' N64. It ain't the smooth consistent 60 FPS of something like F-zero X or whatever, but it's usually in the 30 and above zone which is honestly an accomplishment on that hardware.
The actual mech combat is pretty cool too! It's like a 3D arena fighter where you got 4 different methods of attack as well as a jump and airdash. The game likes to constantly hammer into you that the ideal playstyle is to use all 4 attacks in conjunction with one another to box in your opponents movement and take them out that way, but I found there's definitely enough variety in parts and customization to suit all sorts of playstyles. The game also has a knockdown mechanic where mechs go into a downed state after taking a large enough hit depending on the mech, and when they get up they have a period of invincibility to back away from. It pretty much exists as a way to prevent infinites as the combo potential this game has is really busted. It do make battles have a more stop-and-go pace because of it, but what can ya do i guess. You can also obviously duel a friend in multiplayer with each player making a custom mech, and I'd imagine theres a solid amount of depth to be had against another human, though also I feel like there would definitely be a "best" combination if you were to develop an actual meta.
It's just an honest fun game from that experimental 5th generation of systems. I'm honestly surprised that it never got an official localization given how strapped for games the N64 library was and its popularity in the west. Especially given how it was at the peak of pokemania, I feel like this game could have been a huge cult classic of the N64 library had they brought it overseas. What is it with mech collecting/customizing games that always makes them remain obscure? Every time I play something like this, gotcha force, LBX, etc, I always think to myself "how didn't this catch on?" There is a fan translation which I used and the translation quality was okay. Sometimes the text would corrupt and be unreadable though so it's certainly not the BEST way to play the game, but it's better than nothing for all you english-only gamers out there. Definitely a fun time and I'd recommend checking it out if you can do so.
it's a short and sweet lil robo-battlin part-swappin action game. It certainly has those monster collecting genre vibes as it stars a cast of plucky elementary schoolers with their cool robots that they duel for sport; there are tournaments to compete in and a shady underground gang to mess things up. Definitely standard stuff, but comfy nonetheless. The game also runs really damn smoothly on the ol' N64. It ain't the smooth consistent 60 FPS of something like F-zero X or whatever, but it's usually in the 30 and above zone which is honestly an accomplishment on that hardware.
The actual mech combat is pretty cool too! It's like a 3D arena fighter where you got 4 different methods of attack as well as a jump and airdash. The game likes to constantly hammer into you that the ideal playstyle is to use all 4 attacks in conjunction with one another to box in your opponents movement and take them out that way, but I found there's definitely enough variety in parts and customization to suit all sorts of playstyles. The game also has a knockdown mechanic where mechs go into a downed state after taking a large enough hit depending on the mech, and when they get up they have a period of invincibility to back away from. It pretty much exists as a way to prevent infinites as the combo potential this game has is really busted. It do make battles have a more stop-and-go pace because of it, but what can ya do i guess. You can also obviously duel a friend in multiplayer with each player making a custom mech, and I'd imagine theres a solid amount of depth to be had against another human, though also I feel like there would definitely be a "best" combination if you were to develop an actual meta.
It's just an honest fun game from that experimental 5th generation of systems. I'm honestly surprised that it never got an official localization given how strapped for games the N64 library was and its popularity in the west. Especially given how it was at the peak of pokemania, I feel like this game could have been a huge cult classic of the N64 library had they brought it overseas. What is it with mech collecting/customizing games that always makes them remain obscure? Every time I play something like this, gotcha force, LBX, etc, I always think to myself "how didn't this catch on?" There is a fan translation which I used and the translation quality was okay. Sometimes the text would corrupt and be unreadable though so it's certainly not the BEST way to play the game, but it's better than nothing for all you english-only gamers out there. Definitely a fun time and I'd recommend checking it out if you can do so.
Jogado com o patch inglês, então tive alguns bugs no final do jogo mas nada que afetasse muito. Bem facinho, nada no jogo deu muita dificuldade mas eu gosto muito de jogo com customização então foi divertido. Os 2 chefes "finais" são as únicas coisas dificeis, mas nada que um bom macete não resolva.
This is a game I'm surprised Nintendo hasn't rereleased until the Switch Online. Granted I'm not familiar with V2 so maybe that's just this but better but what is here is a really fun time. It's a cool arena mech fighting game.
There's also a story mode here but sadly I had to use a guide to know where to go because it's all in japanese. I know there's a fan translation but I don't even know if this game is emulated good and I don't have a way to play it on real hardware. It does seem fun though from what I read on the guide that kind of gives a shorten version of what's going on.
There's also an arcade mode where I learned how fun it is to just camp the opponents. So if you ever face me assuming this has multiplayer, you will get camped. I will never approach you. Yes I know I'm lame.
The game hasn't aged graphically at all especially the overworld stuff, it's very ugly but it's not a deal breaker. The music however is some good stuff and while it's not amazing, it's still enjoyable.
If you have the overpriced switch online then give it a try because it's a very fun game. Shame we never got this one, I'm hoping V2 is fun as it seems to have a 2 v 2 mode according to one review on this site. I'll probably play it next year. Seriously though why was this not brought here? Would people not find this appealing here?
There's also a story mode here but sadly I had to use a guide to know where to go because it's all in japanese. I know there's a fan translation but I don't even know if this game is emulated good and I don't have a way to play it on real hardware. It does seem fun though from what I read on the guide that kind of gives a shorten version of what's going on.
There's also an arcade mode where I learned how fun it is to just camp the opponents. So if you ever face me assuming this has multiplayer, you will get camped. I will never approach you. Yes I know I'm lame.
The game hasn't aged graphically at all especially the overworld stuff, it's very ugly but it's not a deal breaker. The music however is some good stuff and while it's not amazing, it's still enjoyable.
If you have the overpriced switch online then give it a try because it's a very fun game. Shame we never got this one, I'm hoping V2 is fun as it seems to have a 2 v 2 mode according to one review on this site. I'll probably play it next year. Seriously though why was this not brought here? Would people not find this appealing here?