Deviation Actions
I’m finally reviewing a game that isn’t on the Nintendo Switch. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten myself to do so, and I’m sure my Vita needed the exercise after being left hanging for so long. That’s not to say Twin Robots was worth getting into. In fact, I would say the opposite; this game is bad.
Graphics
What a dull-looking setting. All of the levels in Twin Robots look the same, and there’s nothing to distinguish each of them from a visual standpoint. Could the floors and walls be any darker? Actually, they can; there’s a switch one of the robots can press that cuts off the power to the door holding the other robot hostage. From that point on, it gets so dark I could just barely distinguish important hazards like spikes apart from the terrain.
The only really interesting thing I could point out is that the framerate dips to a crawl whenever a robot is crushed. It almost feels like my PS Vita is about to collapse from the intensity of those little explosions.
Audio
Repetitive stock rock doesn’t help liven the scene, either. It only gets my ears to be bored alongside my eyes. Could there at least have been a bigger music selection? As far as I know, there are only two tracks throughout the game. Sound effects are fairly far and few between, too. Certain ones are missing while others are underwhelming to listen to.
Gameplay
Twin Robots is a basic 2.5D platformer where the player controls one of two robots. On paper, he or she is supposed to switch back and forth between the two robots in order to get them both to the end goal. When I played a few levels, though, I noticed the designs not really needing the second robot in practice. I was also able to kill the leftover robot by having its health drained (which is meant to be used to share health between robots). I thought to myself “What is stopping me from beating levels with just one robot?”
Turns out I was able to use one robot to beat most of the game. What’s the point of the very premise of the game if the second robot isn’t even necessary until the 21st level (of 28)? The reason why it’s so downplayed is because the levels are extremely simple platforming obstacles that have nothing clever or interesting to offer. It takes no advantage of the two-robot mechanic, save for some times later in the game where one robot would need to be held down on a switch as another goes through the door it unlocks. Otherwise, the second robot is only there to pad out the game time – unless you kill it, I may add – since it travels through the same exact path as the first.
Suddenly, the difficulty goes from stupidly easy to stupidly unfair. Level 22. This freaking level is the epitome of the problem. The bots have health bars, but I doubt anyone would actually die from running out of health. Instant-death hazards and narrow leaps are commonplace, and if you lose one of the two robots, you’ll be unable to do any of the couple tasks that require them both to be alive and therefore restart the stage.
Verdict
In short, this game sucks. This isn’t even the first time Twin Robots got released (It was released on Wii U and Steam prior to this Vita version). What compelled anyone to re-release this? Ratalaika Games, I love ya guys, but I think some titles are best left behind. I did not have fun with this one, and I sure as heck can’t recommend it much. The only praise I can really give it is that it’s not as bad as Vaccine.
