Robot Arena
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Robot Arena is a computer game made by Infogrames. It features robotic combat similar to that of Battlebots, Robotica, and Robot Wars. There are a number of different chassis, and on top of that there are numerous attachments. Weapons, accessories, tires and other forms of mobility, batteries, and air tanks are among the customization choices. A sequel, called Robot Arena 2: Design and Destroy was made, which allows for total customization of your robot.
Weapons
There is a limited number of weapons in the game, but they cover the basics of robotic combat. One weapon is mounted to the front of the robot chassis and the back can be fitted with spikes.
- Hammer
- Two-Sided Axe
- Movable Saw blade
- Saw Blade Rack
- Spikes
- Battering Ram
- Piston
- Spike
- Razor Discs
- Kamikaze Bomb
- Switchblade (Only accessible via the 'cheatbot' cheat code.)
- Chainsaw (Patch only)
- Armored Forklift (Only if you mod Robot Arena.)
Batteries
Batteries allow the robot to function. Once the battery runs out, the player's robot is unable to move and is vulnerable to enemy attack. Weapons can still function without battery power. There are two available batteries in the game.
- Hydrogen
- Alkaline (lasts longer)
Cheatbot and $
There are two cheat codes for the game, one of which is reused for the sequel. If the player names their robot 'cheatbot' the game allows them to use all of the normally inaccessible components, such as switchblades and the 'badass tires' used on the 'Urban Menace' and the Skull used on the 'Zombie'. Also, pressing shift+4 ($) in the bot lab automatically sets the player's money to $50,000, even if the current amount is higher than that. Cheatbot returned in RA2, this time as cheatbot2, with a similar effect.
Removed Items
In the folder containing the image files for the game, two items are shown that do not appear in the game: "Wood Armor" and a "Armored Forklift". Additionally, the text file that includes the descriptions for the items mentions these unused items and a "Digital Insignia". It can be assumed that the Forklift was not used in the final game due to the game engine's inability to handle such physics, but why the Wood Armor or Digital Insignia was not used is unknown.
Criticism
Due to the major lack of customization, people were generally turned off by this game. There are a limited amount of chassis designs, and you can not use many of the weapons that you may have wanted. Other complaints include the fact that the game is two-dimensional, and robots can never leave the ground, meaning that popular weapons such as wedges, lifters, and throwers could not be used. The game is also somewhat glitchy, and has a hard time running on most computers, either because they are too slow or too fast. Many robots in the game are unrealistically overpowered (Such as Gammaraze II and Executioner) and would never be possible in real life. All of these problems were addressed in the sequel, making it much more popular.