History VideoGame / CustomRobo

* RealityEnsues: Robos aren't solely for children's competitions. As early as the first game, one kid points out that they and Holosseums both have numerous practical uses in a variety of business, medical, construction and even peacekeeping fields. ''Arena'' negatively notes that Robos make for disturbingly effective tools for terrorist organizations, and one post-game NPC makes a comment about them that wouldn't sound out of place in an argument concerning gun control. ''Battle Revolution'' highlights that the heroes especially use them, as they're quite effective in non-lethally taking down targets compared to the risks with real firearms. Further, even with their diminutive size, Robos are capable of massive property damage and serious harm to humans. Small or no, they’re still metal humanoids firing very real ballistic, energy, and explosive weapons at high speeds. Size is about all that keeps them from being fatal. [[spoiler:When a human-sized Robo appears and acts outside of legal boundaries with a KillEmAll mentality, people end up ''dead.'']]

* ContemplateOurNavels: The gargantuan {{Infodump}} near the end of the Gamecube game. It's so long that the game offers ''two'' different save points in the middle of it just so that you can take a break and not have to sit through all of it again.

* WhamLine: About two-thirds of the way into ''Battle Revolution'', leading into TheReveal, the player is asked what they know about the world. The two options they're presented with are [[spoiler:"The world is round," and "The world is flat."]] The player, upon their first time playing the game, will more than likely choose the former answer. They're then treated to this exchange:

** CharacterCustomization: You can continuously customize your robot, to get a full perspective on all compatible parts as they become available, to be optimally ready for any encounter, or just to abate repetition.

** Greybaum's illegal robos are also an example: Snipe, Freya, Violent Boar, Katana, Hadron and ''Jameson''. It's the one with the odd name out you [[ThatOneBoss have to be wary of]].

* FlashStep: The Strike Vanishers and (bizarrely) Burning Beasts can perform a 'Stealth Dash', which differs from the standard Air Dash in that they briefly become invisible and immune to gunfire,[[note]]Not bombs and pods though[[/note]] effectively behaving like short-range teleporting, allowing for dazzling, flashy air manoevres that can confuse opponents.
** TeleportSpam: Quite a useful application of this ability.

* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: In Arena, your first experience with a [[ThatOneBoss Jameson]] is in a dream sequence at the start, but it's merely a glorified, and very powerful, pair of gatekeepers in the end-game.
* GlassCannon: The A.I.R.S. in ''Arena''. It augments the damage output of any weapon to ludicrous levels, has extremely good control and aerial mobility, and can air dash ''twice'';[[note]]The standard Lightning Sky models' unique 'Sky Dash' enables them to effectively ''fly'', but can only do it once in succession.[[/note]] however, it takes high damage due to its low defense and gets knocked down quickly due to its low endurance
** In ''GX'', however, it is an outright GameBreaker.

** BraggingRightsReward: Getting a high win streak with the Chick in ''Arena's'' online mode earns you the title of "The Peerless Master"

* {{Mons}} [[JustForFun/XmeetsY meets]] RobotBuddy, just like ''VideoGame/{{Medabots}}'', ''VideoGame/MetalWalker'', ''Animation/CubixRobotsForEveryone'', and ''VideoGame/{{Robopon}}''.

** The Dragon Gun, formerly a GameBreaker in ''Battle Revolution'', but deprived of it's awesome accuracy.

* DifficultySpike: When it is revealed that [[spoiler:the world you know is a lie and the "real" world was destroyed generations ago]] the difficulty takes a noticeable increase from the rest of the game.

* YourCheatingHeart: Subverted. One of Steel Hearts' missions involves trying to break up a fighting couple, eventually having to fight each one and defeat them in order to calm them down. The reason why they were fighting is because when the wife found a phone number sheet in her husband's clothes, she called and discovered it was a woman on the other line. She assumed that her husband was having an affair, and was upset. Turns out that not only was the dad not guilty of having an affair, but the phone number was actually the same one Harry got from the woman at the testing hall. It fell out of his pocket as he rushed off to call her the previous evening, thus indirectly, and unintentionally starting that mess.

* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: The entire point of Illegal Parts, which allows Robos to circumvent the usual balance limitations to do obscene things and be ''ridiculously'' overpowered in a competent Commander's hands. Usually you'll see them in the hands of criminals intentionally cheating to get a leg up on you, but occasionally even allies and the police use them, and they almost always create a DifficultySpike whenever they show up. In an unusual twist, you can unlock and use them depending on the game as well, albeit with penalties in post-game tournaments.

* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: The entire point of Illegal Parts, which allows Robos to circumvent the usual balance limitations to do obscene things and be ''ridiculously'' overpowered in a competent Commander's hands. Usually you'll see them in the hands of criminals intentionally cheating to get a leg up on you, but occasionally even allies and the police use them, and they almost always create a DifficultySpike whenever they show up. In an unusual twist, you can unlock and use them depending on the game as well, albeit with penalties in cases like ''Battle Revolution'''s post-game tournaments.
** Notably, [[BigBad Rahu]] in ''Battle Revolution'' isn't just entirely composed of Illegal Parts, but they get ''stronger'' with the story. This is a boss who flagrantly cheats almost all of the game mechanics and can K.O. you within seconds if you're not careful, and all of this overpowered cheapness is entirely in-universe as a reason why everyone dreads battling it.

* MyRulesAreNotYourRules: The entire point of Illegal Parts, which allows Robos to circumvent the usual balance limitations to do obscene things and be ''ridiculously'' overpowered in a competent Commander's hands. Usually you'll see them in the hands of criminals intentionally cheating to get a leg up on yo, but occasionally even allies and the police use them, and they almost always create a DifficultySpike whenever they show up. In an unusual twist, you can unlock and use them depending on the game as well, albeit with penalties in cases like ''Battle Revolution'''s post-game tournaments.
** Notably, [[BigBad Rahu]] in ''Battle Revolution'' isn't just entirely composed of Illegal Parts, but they get ''stronger'' with the story. This is a boss who flagrantly cheats all the game mechanics and can K.O. you within seconds if you're not careful, and all of this cheatiness is entirely in-universe.

** The Rayfall Gun, Sword Storm, and Crystal Strike Laser also like to do this. Though, the Crystal Strike Laser can turn into DeathFromBelow, if you use it to juggle an enemy to death.

** MakeGamesNotWar: ''Everything.'' Though in ''Battle Revolution'''s case, there's a good reason for this.

*** [[BoobsOfSteel Sassy]] [[MsFanservice Stunner]][[labelnote:JP]]Sexy Stunner[[/labelnote]]: Western female names.

*** [[BadassGrandpa Old]] [[RetiredBadass Timer]][[labelnote:JP]]Funny Old Man[[/labelnote]]: Also LostInTranslation - in the Japanese names, their names are all written in Kanji (Chinese letters).

* DualBoss: ''Averted'' in ''Battle Revolution'' where the protagonist and Marcia fight Sergei and Oboro, when suddenly [[spoiler:Sergei pulls a HeelFaceTurn and turns on Oboro, making it a 3-on-1 fight]]. Played straight when the protagonist and Harry fight Eliza and Isabella.

* RealityEnsues: Robos aren't solely for children's competitions. As early as the first game, one kid points out that they and Holosseums both have numerous practical uses in a variety of business, medical, construction and even peacekeeping fields. ''Arena'' negatively notes that Robos make for disturbingly effective tools for terrorist organizations, and one post-game NPC makes a comment about them that wouldn't sound out of place in an argument concerning gun control. ''Battle Revolution'' highlights that the heroes especially use them, as they're quite effective in non-lethally taking down targets compared to the risks with real firearms. [[spoiler: Further, even with (and possibly because of) their diminutive size, Robos are capable of massive property damage and serious harm to humans. Small or no, they’re still metal humanoids firing ballistic, energy, and explosive weapons at high speeds, size is about all that keeps them from being fatal. When a ‘’human’’-sized Robo acts outside of legal boundaries with a KillEmAll mentality, people ''die.'']]

* RealityEnsues: Robos aren't solely for children's competitions. As early as the first game, one kid points out that they and Holosseums both have numerous practical uses in a variety of business, medical, construction and even peacekeeping fields. ''Arena'' negatively notes that Robos make for disturbingly effective tools for terrorist organizations, and one post-game NPC makes a comment about them that wouldn't sound out of place in an argument concerning gun control. ''Battle Revolution'' highlights that the heroes especially use them, as they're quite effective in non-lethally taking down targets compared to the risks with real firearms. [[spoiler: And when a human-sized Robo acts outside of legal boundaries with a KillEmAll mentality, people ''get murdered.'']]

* RealityEnsues: Robos aren't solely for children's competitions. As early as the first game, one kid points out that they and Holosseums both have numerous practical uses in a variety of business, medical, construction and even peacekeeping fields. ''Battle Revolution'' highlights that the heroes especially use them, as they're quite effective in non-lethally taking down targets compared to the risks with real firearms. [[spoiler: And when a human-sized Robo acts outside of legal boundaries with a KillEmAll mentality, people ''get murdered.'']]

* WhatAnIdiot: The Z-Syndicate manage to capture [[BigBad Rahu]] with intent on controlling and upgrading it into a means to control the world with. You know, the same Rahu [[spoiler: that destroyed the world in the first place.]] This not only ends which even the heroes see coming from a mile away, but [[FromBadToWorse makes Rahu MUCH stronger.]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The only game you couldn't change your Body Part was in the very first title. As soon as ''V2'', you can ditch the Ray and radically change your playstyle thanks to the different bodies having significant shifts in abilities and Special Attacks. This stuck for the rest of the series.

* DuelsDecideEverything: School kids will battle with robos in between classes, criminals will attack you with robos, there are parties which involve robo duels even
** MakeGamesNotWar: everything

* SeriesMascot: The Ray series; every game begins by receiving a Ray model.

* {{Deconstruction}}: Most of the franchise follows a mostly light-hearted [[ShonenDemographic Shonen style]] what with standard competitions, tournaments and occasional dirty play among kids and teens with criminals causing trouble, usually only getting tense later in the stories. ''Battle Revolution'' dissects this formula thoroughly with a generally older cast than the rest of the series with mostly young to older adults, a far more serious tone with our main heroes being bounty hunters fighting a criminal organization that genuinely threatens people's lives, becoming [[ToBeAMaster the very best]] is mostly just getting more efficient at your job and the traditional idea of it kept for the post-game, and comes up with a justification for why just about ''everyone'' in the entire city uses the Robos beyond just being a common hobby: [[spoiler: it's a secret government-directed effort to prepare counter-measures and have the populace trained for if [[BigBad Rahu]] was ever unsealed again.]]

* ToBeTheVeryBest: A common goal throughout the franchise is that just about every Robo Commander that isn't a criminal probably wants to be the best Commander around, and this becomes the central goal of most of the player characters. The only exception is ''Battle Revolution'', where it's almost entirely incidental and not really the focus at all. At least, not until the post-game where everyone basically pushes the hero into it anyway.

* SeriousBusiness: And how.