Custom Robo

Call it Robomon or Pokebot I do. Custom Robo is similar to Nintendo's monster-training game, except you've got a robot and an ever-growing collection of unique parts instead of a roster of fire-breathing puffballs. The bit where you vanquish evil (bots, in this case) in the name of truth and justice (cue victory pose) is about the same. This simple, no-frills approach to mechanized wrasslin' works: The battles are fast, the action is packed, and there's just the right amount of strategy, thanks to each holosseum's (your virtual battlegrounds) varied terrain. Customizing your bot with new weapons to fit your particular combat style is easily the best part, and the game is balanced well enough so that no one robo is all-powerful. But like Capcom's recent robo-fighter Gotcha Force (GC), Custom Robo is a single-player snooze-fest. The story mode feels like it's just there to keep you busy while you're unlocking new parts-- it is well written and has a few laughs, but it never breaks from its boring, formulaic nature. You'll spot the obvious plot twists a mile away, and it's not even exciting to watch, since the story's told through talking heads and text bubbles. I had hoped Custom Robo would set a high-water mark for robo-combat games, but I hoped for too much. Though the fighting's great (even when it's of the slightly confusing four-player variety), I can't help but be disappointed by the rest.

Nintendo finally brings this Japanese robo-battling series Stateside, and, well, it's pretty much OK. But don't be fooled by the role-playing vibe. Custom Robo follows the same pseudo-RPG archetype seen in Pokemon Colosseum--you explore a limited overworld and talk to townsfolk, but it's all just meaningless window dressing for spacing out the combat. Some of the dialogue is cute and clever, but the plot redefines predictability, and the quest ends far earlier than you'd expect. Thankfully, solid robot-on-robot combat helps redeem the game. As the name implies, it's all about deep customization: Different weapons, bodies, and legs alter your bot's performance tremendously. Even so, battles tend to be extremely intense, short, and easy. Multiplayer delivers the game's fiercest thrills...too bad you have to suffer through the talky RPG to unlock all the goodies.

CJ and Shane can dog Robo all they want on account of its story, but I thought we'd settled this: It's all about the gameplay. Virtual On's frantic robo-combat mixed with two parts Pokemon does it for me. The controls take a little getting used to, but in the long run, they prove to be even better than Virtual On's, and the number of customizable parts available is second only to the amount found in the mechanically fetishistic Armored Core series. The presentation skews a bit young in a schoolbook sort of way, but not nearly so much as Gotcha Force. Robo's an amalgamation of oddly similar themes that, in practice, gels as a fun and unique action-RPG.