Robot Wars: Extreme Destruction was the fourth out of five Robot Wars video games to be released. The Game Boy Advance version of the game was created by Warthog Games and released by BBC Multimedia in 2002. Despite having the same name as the PC and Xbox version of the game, the gameplay and available robots are very different from those of the console version of Extreme Destruction.
Arenas
The game features six different arenas, each with a variety of hazards including the Pit, Floor Flipper, Angle Grinders, pressurised Jets set into the floor (which varied between arenas), and the newly-added Drop Zone and Disc of Doom. The arenas are as follows:
- Studio - The Series 6 (and US Season 2) version of the Robot Wars Arena, with the pit of oblivion, disc of doom and flame/CO2 jets set into the floor.
- Melting Pot - A foundry-themed arena with flame/sulphur jets, and a large central pit filled with boiling molten steel acting as the pit plus the Disc of Doom.
- Acid Bath - An arena themed to a chemical plant, with corrosive acid/sulphur jets, as well as a large central pit of toxic acid acting as the pit and the disc of doom.
- Deep Freeze - An arena set in what is presumed to be an Arctic weather station, with the pit of oblivion, the disc of doom, Nitrogen/CO2 jets, and slippery floors.
- Desert Storm - An arena located within an Oil refinery in the middle of the desert, with Sand/Acid jets, the pit and disc of doom.
- Red Planet Rumble - An arena located on the surface of Mars, with sand/flame jets, the disc of doom and pit, and much weaker gravity than the other arenas, allowing flippers to potentially throw opponents extremely high.
Features
Making a Robot
Unlike the console version, there is no money or credits system. Instead, you get an unlimited supply of whatever components are available, but a weight limit of 100kg. Some components start out locked and become unlocked when you win a certain event.
Robot Battles
You fight robots in championships in order to unlock features in the game. Every event has the option of choosing bronze, silver, or gold, depedning on what level of difficulty you prefer. Initally, only the bronze level is available and silver and gold must be unlocked. Specific robots are fought against in each difficulty level. The modes of play are:
- Quick Battle - A one-off battle where you and your opponent are randomly selected; silver and gold are initially unlocked, and no unlockables can be gained from here.
- Tournament- Four one-on-one battles.
- Mayhem - A four-way melee.
- Bash N' Dash - All three oponents are teamed up against you; you only need to survive to the end to win.
The Bash N' Dash and Mayhem can both be played multiplayer with up to four players. There is also a mode called Grudge Match, exclusively for two players, in which each person gets to choose a robot to battle with.
There is also the Gauntlet mode, in which your robot must perform tasks within a time limit. Like the battle mode, each challenge features a bronze, silver, and gold level. The Gauntlet challenges are:
- Slalom- Guide your robot along a slalom. You may not touch the cones or go off the path.
- Skittles- Knock down all the bowling pins within the time limit.
- Long Jump- Drive your robot onto the floor flipper, and land in the end zone to win.
- Sumo Basho- Push Shunt out of the ring or immobilise him. The amount of time you have to do so varies between levels (From 1:30 on Bronze to only 0:30 on Gold), and Shunt is allowed to use his axe on the gold level.
- Dump- Push all the scrap into the pit. You lose if you fall in yourself or run out of time.
- Drop Zone- Four Drop Zones are constantly dropping barrels; you must destroy a specified number to win. Green barrels damage your robot.
Playable Robots and House Robots
There are many playable robots, most of which must be unlocked to use. Also listed are the difficulty levels each robot can be fought against. Note that Stinger can only be played as and is never fought against.
- 101 (Bronze)
- Bigger Brother (Bronze)
- Dominator 2 (Bronze)
- Firestorm 3 (Bronze)
- Thermidor 2 (Bronze/Silver)
- Wheely Big Cheese (Bronze/Silver)
- Tornado (Bronze/Silver)
- Chaos 2 (Silver/Gold)
- Pussycat (Silver/Gold)
- Hypno-Disc (Silver/Gold)
- Destructive Criticism (Gold)
- Panzer Mk 4 (Gold)
- Propeller-Head (Gold)
- Razer (Gold)
- Rosie the Riveter 2 (Gold)
- Tricerabot 3.0 (Gold)
- Stinger
Interestingly, only three of the top four finishers in the second series of Robot Wars: Extreme Warriors (Panzer Mk. 4, Tricerabot and Destructive Criticism) feature in the game, with Falcon not appearing for unknown reasons. Propeller-Head and Rosie the Riveter also appear, despite having made less progress in the competition than Falcon.
Refbot, Mr. Psycho, and Growler do not appear in the game, but Dead Metal, Shunt, Sir Killalot, Matilda and Sergeant Bash do.
Voice Artists
Though there is no commentary in this game, Jonathan Pearce can be heard calling out "3... 2... 1... Activate!" at the beginning of each match and "Cease!" at the end.
Notes
The cartridge with the instruction book and box
- Propeller-Head and Panzer Mk 4 are equipped with srimechs in order balance out the game, since every other robot is either invertible or can self-right. Some robots self-right in a different way than in real life, for example, Hypno-Disc flips itself from front to back rather than lifting itself back over sideways.
- Interestingly, Rosie the Riveter 2, Tricerabot 3.0, Thermidor 2 and Wheely Big Cheese are incapable of running inverted, even though they can in real life.
- Despite the immense power of the robots' flippers, OotAs are not possible because every arena, including the main one, is completely enclosed.
- If you complete a type of battle on a Gold difficulty level and play it again, you will face the house robots instead of normal competitors.
- In a similar fashion to their real life counterparts, Hypno-Disc and Propeller-Head's weapons slow down upon hitting an opponent and armour being ripped away is depicted as small grey chunks flying from the robot. However, Destructive Criticism's disc is instead shown functioning similarly to a saw type weapon, and simply cuts into opponents while continuously spinning.
- All rotating weapons are automatic, and keep spinning during battles, whereas the real life counterparts of robots such as Hypno-Disc have rotating weapons that are activated through pressing a button.
Credits
- With thanks to all at Mentorn and special thanks to Steve Carsey, Tom Gutteridge, Bill Hobbins, Stuart McDonald, Julian Fullalove, Chris Reynolds, Derek Foxwell
- Robot Wars theme tune by Golden Break Music
- Game commentary by Jonathan Pearce
BBC Credits
- Producer: Gigi Misra
- Executive Producer: Dave Anderson
- Head of Rights and Acqusitions: Nick Lowe
- Testing Manager: Adrian Wood-Jones
- Technical Manager: Kish Hirani
- Acting Localisation Manager: Anton Lorton
- Localisation Assistant: Alejandra Jimenez
- Product Development Director: Sarah Hennings
- Director of Multimedia: Dave Lee
Warthog Credits
- Producer: Trevor Jones
- VP Mobile and Handheld: Tim Couple
- Design: Strangely Brown
- Programming: Tim Coupe, John Gibson, Paul A. Hodgson, Dave Mann, Andy Whyte
- Art: Mike Bareham, Brian Flanagan
- Audio: Semi Precious
- QA Manager: Tim Welch
- QA: John Radcliffe, Stuart Cook
- Special thanks to Paul Hughes
- With special thanks to the roboteers as there just would not be a show without them
Robot Team Members
- 101: Mike Franklin (Capt.), Amy Franklin, Steve Bickle
- Dominator 2: Peter Halloway (Capt.), Chris Hall, Elliott Smart
- Firestorm III: Graham Bone (Capt.), Alex Mordue, Hazel Heslop
- Bigger Brother: Joe Watts (Capt.), Ian Watts, Ellie Watts
- Stinger: Kevin Scott (Capt.), Karl Skinner, Tim Mann
- Thermidor II: David Harding (Capt.), Ian Harvey
- Tornado: Andrew Marchant (Capt.), David Gamble, Bryan Moss
- Wheely Big Cheese: Roger Plant (Capt.), John McGugan, Murray Wharf
- Hypno-Disc: Dave Rose (Capt.), Derek Rose, Ken Rose
- Chaos II: George Francis (Capt.), Ian Swann, Richard Swann
- Pussycat: Alan Gribble (Capt.), David Gribble, Robert Bettingdon
- Razer: Simon Scott (Capt.), Ian Lewis, Vincent Blood
- Tricerabot 3.0: Mike Morrow (Capt.), Nicole Morrow, Ron Ender
- Rosie the Riveter II: Chris Gattman (Capt.), Sharon Gattman, Thomas Vaeretti
- Propeller-Head: Mike Konshak (Capt.), Becky Konshak, Jacob Holland
- Destructive Criticism: Randy Eubanks (Capt.), Christian Gomez, Barry Young
- Panzer Mk4: Todd Mendenhall (Capt.), Valerie Mendenhall, Jim Hart
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