Custom Robo: Battle Revolution

Customize your ultimate robo in this action RPG for 1-4 players!

JP release: 4th March 2004
NA release: 10th May 2004
EU release: N/A
Developer: Noise
Publisher: Nintendo
NGC Magazine: 82%
Mods Used: Widescreen Code

I’ve played two Custom Robo games on N64, but had to rely on translation patches for both of them. While Custom Robo: Battle Revolution still didn’t make its way over to Europe, it was still at least released in North America with the subtitle removed, it’s the same kind of intense Robo on Robo action in small arenas, but this time targeting a slightly more mature audience.

Which is more of a way to say that this has a less Chibi art style, with more detail. While it certainly looks nice, it is a bit easier to lose where you are in some of the more frantic battles as the graphics aren’t quite as clear. It’s only a minor problem, but I do think I preferred the original style.

The world itself feels a lot more artificial, which does actually make sense. There are only a handful of locations to visit, and not many that consist of more than one room. The story is certainly intriguing and, while the themes don’t feel quite as deep as the earlier games, the overall story is much more epic in scope with some much greater twists and revelations. It does all come together to create a concise package.

With the core gameplay and battles, it’s very much a case of “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it”, which means the battles are an immense amount of fun. You face your opponents at all times, moving and dashing around them while firing bombs, pods and your main weapon while using the arena to your advantage. Each opponent will have different tactics and it’s all about reading them and responding in a way to counter.

The different parts of the Robs are what makes everything work. There’s a host of different weapons that fire in different ways, some arc upwards so you can hide behind walls, some are short range but powerful, some home in and others cover a wide area. These weapons aren’t just better or stronger (with a few understandable exceptions), they just offer different ways of playing.

The pods and bombs are similar. Pods are little explosive drones that can move around the arena in various ways. These can just cause damage, blast your opponent in the air or hold them in place. These are all about trying to force your opponent into an ideal position to hit them. Bombs are also similar, firing either directly at your opponent (or just next to them, depending on choice) although you can adjust this if you hold down the bomb button. I do think they could have let you use the c-stick to adjusted it quicker before pressing the button, but that’s a very minor quibble.

The big new addition to this game in terms of battles are 2v2 battles. These are utterly chaotic but an immense amount of fun. The Y button changes who you’re targeting and everyone has an arrow above their heads to make it clear who is targeting who. There can be some confusion still, but the enjoyment by far overrules it. The campaign will also mess with this a few times such as some 2v1 or 3v1 battles; while you can have more options in the vs mode including a free for all for complete and utter insanity.

Once you finish the main campaign, there’s an additional campaign. Like the second campaign of Custom Robo V2, this is heavily tournament-based with your performance graded. It’s here where you can get the ultra powerful parts, but you do lose points for using them. This campaign is set after the main one, so you can see how all the characters react to the events in the main story.

Battle Revolution is still a wonderful game and it’s a shame that Nintendo still didn’t give Custom Robo the attention it deserves by releasing it everywhere. Only one game would follow this, on the DS, and it would finally get a release in Europe.

Fave

It’s one of those games that feels exactly right, from the simplicity of the controls to the satisfaction of seeing your enemy blasted high into the air via a succession of well-placed bombs.
Martin Kitts, NGC Magazine #93

Remake or remaster?

A complete collection of the five Custom Robo games – with widescreen support – would be amazing.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to get Custom Robo: Battle Revolution