I, Robot
Developer Llamasoft Publisher Atari Format PC (version tested), PS4, PS5, PSVR2, Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series Release Out now
Despite being the first arcade game to offer realtime flat-shaded polygon graphics, and despite coming from Tempest creator Dave Theurer, I, Robot was a flop when it was released in 1984. Now, with a new version created by Jeff Minter available, it’s not hard to see why. I, Robot’s blend of maze-running and blasting makes for a game that’s fiddly to get to grips with and slow to ingratiate itself, and that’s before you get to the fact that if your character jumps while the giant glowing eye in the background of each level is wide open, you’ll be destroyed instantly. But as ‘maze-running and blasting’ and ‘giant glowing eye’ might suggest, with Minter in control, I, Robot is a delight on a PC or a console, where you don’t have to pay for each brutal lesson with a 10p piece. What emerges after a muddled first few minutes is actually a brisk and dynamic affair. Your job in each level is to flip the colours of a series of tiles by passing over them. Navigate the tiled paths before you, jump between lanes when that eye isn’t watching, and you’ll soon be engaging with the game’s combo system and tweaks such as terrain deformation.