Robobombo

The rich history of the arcade shoot-'em-up has meant that every possibility involving sending a single ship to take down an enemy empire has been played out, with some impressive concepts and technological breakthroughs leading the pack.

Because of this, gamers' expectations of what they can look forward to from their mobiles games have skyrocketed, and simple, old skool arcade games that would have delighted a short while ago now seem crude and disposable.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly the predicament Robobombo finds itself in. This is a hearty enough shmup, with enough action to keep things flowing, but it doesn’t quite represent the staple diet of the pocket gamer as much as it once would have done.

Of course, there’s another niche market for a back-to-basics-shooter, in the shape of the stalwart retro head, and that particular breed of gamer will find Robobombo passes more than a few minutes in classically-styled mayhem.

You’re given the choice between two ships to take into battle, though other than their styling it’s difficult to notice much of a difference between them. As is commonplace with mobile shooters these days, the developer has rightly assumed that you’re not going to take your thumb off the fire button for more than a microsecond, so the ships simply blast away automatically.

This helps immensely with the controls, and allows you to concentrate on avoiding collisions and enemy fire. That said, there aren’t as many enemies or bullets flying around the place as perhaps we’d like. It’s not a sparse game by any means, but neither is the gameplay what you’d call chaotic, which is a shame for a couple of different reasons.

Firstly, it makes the game a little too easy, though there seems to be enough of it to support the fact that you’re going to fly deep into enemy territory on your first attempt. Moreover, it’s a shame that the developer didn’t take the opportunity to expand Robobombo into a full-on bullet hell style shooter, as brief moments during the gameplay hint very strongly at that J-pop shoot-‘em-up subgenre having provided a lot of inspiration.

The overall game speed is just a little too slow, and it seems as though it’s a missed opportunity not to have taken the production a little further, ramped up the graphics and the action, and gone for an explosion of a shooter rather than a quiet pop.

Graphically Robobombo seems to go through peaks and troughs. One moment the landscape is lush and feature-packed, then the next you’re flying over a plain blue background for extended periods of time. Again, this gives the game something of a stilted atmosphere when it hints at its own possibilities but ultimately fails to deliver.

Which pretty much sums Robobombo up. It’s by no means a bad shooter, and fans of the classic, old skool vertical scroller will find quite a bit to enjoy. But it seems as though the effort was cut short, and what could have been a rollercoaster ride of a bullet hell shmup peters out into a casual, effortless, quietly enjoyable amble through very familiar shoot-‘em-up countryside.