Video Game / Robots

Robots is a licensed platforming game based on the 2005 movie of the same name. It was released for Playstation 2, Xbox, Nintendo GameCube, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Windows.

Like the movie, it follows the journey of Rodney Copperbottom as he moves to the big city to pursue his dream as an inventor, find his idol Bigweld, and defeat the villainous Ratchet who wants to melt down all the outmodes and replace them with shiny upgrades. While the GBA and DS versions follow the story fluently, the console versions expand a bit on the storyline, adding new areas and characters not seen in the actual film and expanding on a few details as well.

Robots provides examples of:

• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Jack Hammer is much nicer in the console version than he was in the movie, serving as a guide for Rodney when levels start and end in his shop.
  • Tim the Gate Guard, while still a trolling jerk, is slightly less mean to Rodney in the console version.
• Adaptation Expansion: While the handheld releases follow the plotline from the movie on-the-spot, the console versions add in various new detail not seen in the movie proper:
  • The "Rivet Town" level has Rodney purchasing a train ticket for Robot City, when in the movie, he purchased the ticket offscreen following the incident at Mr. Gunk's diner.
  • Rodney's arrival to Robot City is expanded slightly, such as having to search around the city for parts to build a Wonderbot remote control, fixing the train station clock, and visiting Jack Hammer before going to Bigweld Industries.
  • The "Bigweld's Factory" level is radically different from the movie scene; unlike the movie, Rodney attempts to bribe Tim by assembling his lost toolkit together, he visits an inventor who helps him break into the factory, and the level ends with a sudden whack-a-mole sort of game.
  • The "Outmode Zone" level has Rodney search around the junkyard for Fender's head.
  • Jack Hammer has a much larger role in this version, as a few levels start and end in his shop. Some levels also have Rodney doing a favor for him, such as racing on the transport freeway or traveling into the Robot City sewers to find lost spare parts underground. A sewer maintenance bot made specifically for the game also appears as a boss.
  • Instead of knocking over Bigweld's dominoes in the "Bigweld's Mansion" level, Rodney has to get the machine room working in order to generate a four-color switch code to access Bigweld's door.
  • The "Chop Shop" level is much more expanded upon in the game, as Rodney has to travel through the level to find gold scrap to bribe the guard and gain access to the main dungeon where Ratchet waits.
• Adapted Out:
  • Crank and Diesel are the only Rusties who do not appear in the console versions.
  • Madame Gasket does not appear in the console version, making Ratchet the sole antagonist of said releases.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Herb Copperbottom serves as the game's Narrator for the pre-level cutscenes, and also takes up the role as Rodney's guide for the first level.
  • Jack Hammer has a much bigger role in the game than he was in the movie, providing various new gadgets for Rodney to use, and his store is visited more often.
• Boss-Only Level:
  • "Sewer Showdown" has Rodney go into the city sewers to fight a sewer maintenance bot to get the parts for one last invention.
  • "Ratchet Showdown" has Rodney face an army of bad bots he encountered throughout the whole game and fight against Ratchet and the Sweepers.
• Gotta Catch 'Em All: The various blueprint pieces scattered throughout most levels must be completed so Rodney can invent a new gadget to finish the level. Specific levels also have gold scrap which must be used to pay for something or bribe someone to go on.
• Super Drowning Skills: Falling into any type of liquid or poison results in instant death and warping Rodney back to the nearest checkpoint.
• Timed Mission: Some challenges have these.
  • Three of them appear in "The City" level:
    • Rodney has three minutes to destroy all the newspaper stands before sales begin, because the publisher accidentally added his diary to the printers.
    • When the mailbot loses all his parcels, Rodney has two minutes to find them all before it's time to deliver them.
    • In Aunt Fanny's house, Lug's sidequest is to collect his lost cargo on the transport freeway within one minute.
  • For the "City Raceways" level, Rodney has to collect the blueprints to the Magnagrip within twenty seconds; extra time is added for every blueprint collected.
  • In the "Bigweld's Mansion" level, Rodney has to activate all the tinkerswitches in the engine room within one minute to gain the code to open the door to Bigweld's room.
• Warm-Up Boss: The two dog-bots Rodney faces in the back alley of Mr. Gunk's diner.