Following on from Akka Arrh, Jeff Minter is continuing their partnership with Atari, revealed today to be working on a reimagining of the early 3D shooter I, Robot. So early, in fact, that the 1984 arcade original was the first ever game to feature flat-shaded 3D polygons.
Despite being the first of its kind, I, Robot was quite advanced for the era, involving platform jumping and shooting while avoiding the glare of a colossal robotic eye that overshadows the playing area. Jumping while the eye is open results in searing laser death. It also included an art package as a bonus game, costing three minutes per credit. It has been said that ‘Doodle City’ – as it was known – lead to much confusion, with many players accidentally selecting the wrong game from the menu, not knowing that the cabinet featured two wildly different games.
Minter’s I, Robot reimaging is set within kaleidoscopic visualiser and puts you in control of an ox-headed authority-crunching robot who’s trying to outsmart the all-seeing eye. 55 levels will feature along with tube-shooter bonus stages, procedural music, and online leaderboards. Oh, and a whole lot of llamas.
I, Robot will casting its critical eye on all formats (PC, PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and VCS) soon.