As a kid I’m sure you played or at least were envious of someone who had the Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. Now what if that toy was a real life concept where real, dangerous metal robots were put into rings to fight to the death? Well, that is exactly the premise behind Real Steel World Robot Boxing which is the sequel to Reliance Entertainment’s original game Real Steel. So now you get to live out your dream of controlling robots to beat the crap out of each other in what can only be described as everyone’s dream as a child.
Non Futuristic Controls
Since Real Steel Robot Boxing is a sequel you would expect some pretty vast improvements over its predecessor. For the most part, Real Steel Robot Boxing did improve, however it did not on the actual controls. Having a good control scheme that responds well is a necessity in any game no matter the genre. Unfortunately for Real Steel Robot Boxing I found the controls to be borderline terrible. First off, the controls take the form of the typical buttons overlayed on the touchscreen device. So to move you need to tap the corresponding D-pad on the left side of your device and to punch/block/special attack you tap the buttons on the right side. While this form is seemingly standard for fighting games on touchscreen devices and other genres, I think it is incredibly outdated and would prefer a system intune with touchscreen devices such as how Combo Crew tackled this issue. Physical button placement aside, the controls for Real Steel Robot Boxing were also sluggish and not as responsive as you’d think or want. This led to a lot of frustration and match losses just on the basis that my robot fighter seemed to lag about. Lag is another issue that I had problems with although after reading user comments it seem it could be my device (Nexus 7 2012).
Olympic Sport 2020
One aspect that Real Steel Robot Boxing did improve greatly over the original Real Steel is in the graphics and robot designs. The graphics are gorgeous 3D rendered and really make it so you could physically imagine these robots fighting before your eyes. The robot designs themselves are pretty unique and varied. I played mostly with Biowar which had hazmat symbols over him and his special power would corrode your opponent’s armor. Other robots you could choose from included Atom, Touchdown, HollowJack, Blockbuster and more. Each of these has their own unique look and unique special skills which make everything more realistic. I also quite liked the different short cutscenes that would occur when fighting. For instance, your finishing moves would show a cutscene of your robot doing some crazy move on your opponent and introductions also are accompanied by cutscenes. These really just add to the realism and level of detail in the game and are very impressive.
Variety in Everything
Another great thing about Real Steel Robot Boxing is that there is a lot of content overall. In terms of robots that you can use there are 24, of which you can upgrade them multiple times. This upgrade system also takes into account different robotic pieces. So you upgrade your head separately from your arm which is separate than your power core and so on. I think there are around five or so different aspects in upgrading for each robot. On top of the content for the robot there are tons of stages to battle on. These range from underground “secretive” looking arenas to ones in the middle of a field with cars all around. This goes with my point in the last paragraph, but they are done very well and really make it so I wish robot boxing was real.
In-app Purchases Cause a KO
I suppose you should have seen this coming… Unfortunately, the trend of in-app purchases and the general model behind it has been the bane of mobile gaming since it started and has made many a decent game bad. Real Steel Robot Boxing has this curse as well. The usual issue is that extra robots cost money as do upgrades and powerups which are priced so high that you’re forced to purchase iaps. This already is an issue as it kind of makes a pay to win scenario that is not customer friendly. Yet, Real Steel Robot Boxing took it a step further and implemented an energy system which is the worst feature you could add. So if you really like Real Steel Robot Boxing, be prepared to only play five matches at a time and be ready to fork over some cash. This is a shame because overall, Real Steel Robot Boxing had a lot of potential. The graphics were amazing and the amount of content you get was pretty staggering. However, combine the issues with the controls since found them archaic with the aggressive in-app purchasing system and you have a game that could be top shelf going to the bottom.
