I really like the development process behind Legend of Robot. Under the Gamocracy initiative, PlayStation Community members designed the game through a series of weekly challenges, each covering a different facet of the game.

[boxout] Starting with “Who is our hero?” and “Where does he go?”, gamers designed the look and actions of the characters; levels; bosses; name of the game; even the penultimate PSN sales pitch.

Ideas were submitted through the EU PlayStation Forums, with the top contenders being put to a vote on The Bearded Ladies’ official Facebook page. The winning entries were then developed into the game and the winning participants earned a place on the credit reel. It’s certainly a unique way of doing things.

The resulting game is a 2D score-based platformer where you take on the role of “H7″, an alien-robot drone originally created to enslave mankind. Unfortunately for his creators, H7 suffers from a (literal) bug in his anti-empathy circuits, driving him to escape his alien masters.

For the main hook of the game, H7 has a rather interesting in-built feature, and it’s certainly something Mario et al wouldn’t be able to replicate. He uses his head…literally. A press of a button sees H7 throw his head, which makes a rather effective weapon. Furthermore, if you press the button again whilst the head is in the air it will freeze in place, creating a platform to jump or bounce on.

It’s a fantastic idea, as there are hidden objects scattered throughout levels that you’ll only find if you create your own platform using your head. The level design is really well done, taking advantage of the range of skills on offer.

[drop2] Defeating enemies and collecting orbs will fill a small slither of your energy bar, which you need when you manage to get hold of a pistol. Whilst the pistol is more accurate than your head, each shot depletes your energy bar so you really need to be careful not to fire off too many shots in quick succession.

Despite giant magnets royally screwing up the circuitry of Bender from Futurama, H7 has no such issues and actually uses them to reach metal platforms, which are normally moving to another part of the level. Attaching yourself to platforms can also be used to dodge oncoming vehicles. Chalk up another clever feature for Legend of Robot.

As well as energy powering your gun, it’s also used to survive. Accrue enough of it and the energy bar will fill to 100% and you will be given an extra life, which is useful because the game can be pretty unforgiving and you can’t take too much damage before you die.

It’s here where the main problem with Legend of Robot surfaces. It’s a tough game, but the second you run out of lives the game deletes all your progress. At first I thought I had found a bug, but no, you really do have to start from the beginning every single time. This is infinitely irksome, and in my opinion not a good design choice.

Graphically the game is simplistic, but not in a negative way. Characters are bright, bold and very similiar to a flash game, with no clutter to get in the way of the old school platforming.

Pros

• Looks nice.
• Solid platforming mechanics.
• Good level design.
• Some nice ideas.

Cons

• Deleting your save data is not the best idea.

This is a tough one to score. The amount you enjoy Legend of Robot will come down to how old school you like your gaming. If the thought of having to start afresh every time floats your boat, you’ll really have a blast. For everyone else there is plenty of enjoyment to be had, right up until you run out of lives and have start the whole process again, cutscenes and all. You’ve been warned.

Score: 8/10