Robotek is, at first, an insufferably cute — particularly on the iPad’s large screen — turn-based strategic robot fighting game that seems familiar on the surface. But it becomes unique because of its main gameplay mechanic: a slot machine.
What you’ll be doing in Robotek is battling evil robot AIs by spawning oh-so-precious little robots that will attack on their own and by occasionally ordering your robots to use special powers. The hook is the slot machine, which is how you give orders.
The player basically has three options before pulling the lever. You can go with the spawn tool — this will give you new robots, or, if you already have a certain type, it’ll repair or upgrade that type — or you can go with either the attack powers or special powers wheels, which will do things like provide you with a defensive shield or hack enemy robots, bringing them over to your side.
The story framework for Robotek is flimsy, but it’s only there to provide a reason to keep playing the game. You’ll be battling the evil robots because they’ve taken over the world, and you’re taking our planet back, one battle at a time. But that’s not the only thing keeping you going.
It turns out that Robotek also has some RPG stuff going on; winning battles will allow you to upgrade your slot machine abilities, which will then allow you to take on tougher baddies.
It works, and it’s just so sexy on the iPad, far more so than it is on your phone. The traditional (and flawed) line of thinking is that games are better on iPad (or other tablets if they’re optimized for them) because of the big ole screen, and this does seem to one of those occasions where that wisdom rings true.
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