Run Robot Run

Robots are not yet advanced enough to pose as humans, even if there are a few convincing versions out there that can already walk or run. Granted, it’s difficult to imagine them doing anything but posing as test subjects at the moment, but the technology is surely going to evolve in the following years. Until then, video games and computer simulations are our only solution.

Run Robot Run is an arcade runner in which you control a robot trying to avoid obstacles and save its friends at the same time. It’s a pretty simple gameplay formula, and it doesn’t get any better along the way, so replayability is not the game’s biggest selling point. However, there are other problems as well, such as the laggy controls and the poorly-designed gameplay.

To begin with, your robot has very slow reaction times, which is annoying in a runner game that should technically reward fast reflexes. You can also fall from the platform if you move too much to one side or the other, which is particularly annoying when you have to negotiate corners. You can also jump, although for some reason you face the game over screen even if you land feet-first on a box.

As mentioned before, the controls are very frustrating because you have to constantly take into account a slight input lag. This is not a very good thing to have in a runner game, especially since the levels are designed to require fast reflexes and good coordination. When you are struggling to understand the controls, on the other hand, the challenge loses its appeal rather quickly.

Not much can be said in regards to the graphics either, even if they are barely important in a game such as this one. They become more obvious when everything else is poorly designed, however, so it’s difficult not to notice them here. The lack of backgrounds and the repetitive textures plastered on the same three or four environmental objects quickly get on your nerves, which is yet another reason to stop playing.

In the end, Run Robot Run could have offered a lot more with the ideas it had to work with, but the terrible level design and annoying controls take their toll. Hence, you can easily find more entertainment in a different runner than ruin your nerves with this one.