Game Review: Soul of a Robot (MSX, Mastertronic)

Soul of a Robot is the sequel to Nonterraqueous, a game that did not receive a release on the MSX. In fact, this MSX conversion was released a year and three months after the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC releases, and was a short-lived period where Mastertronic had the MSX format as red text on black (rather than black on white that they previously used for the format.) Only this game, Terminus, and Las Vegas Video Poker used that, before reverting back later.  The game loads without any loading screen, which is a shame, as it would have been nice to be able to see a recreation of the ZX Spectrum one at least during loading.

Control Conundrums

When the game has loaded, you can select 1 for keyboard or 2 for joystick. However, on some MSX machines, the joystick will fail to operate correctly. This is due to the way that the controls are called, according to the MSX Wiki blog entry, and that potentially means some joystick ports may not work correctly, or are unusable. In addition, the keyboard controls have been ported from the ZX Spectrum version without due consideration for the fact the MSX has perfectly fine cursor keys which could have been used instead. As it is, you will need to use O and P for left and right, Q for jump, A to pick up, and then in addition W to change the leap strength for your jump, space to fire a weapon and Enter to fly – it is actually repeated tapping too, holding the key down does not work and this is not mentioned in the MSX instructions. This makes the controls somewhat awkward and even if you do have a working joystick option, you still then need the W and Enter keys in addition.

We Are the Robots

The plot follows on from Nonterraqueous, in the fact that the citizens had tried to destroy the evil dictator with their robot seeker, but the attempt had failed. The computer in charge is now threatening to destroy itself and the planet, and have created the robot with the mind of a man. Only through the tortured soul of the robot can it find death and peace, and the programming only allows it to pass away when it reaches the computer’s lair. The maze is effectively 16 screens by 16 screens, and subdivided into three sections, and you need to find the computer in the final section. You’ll need to overcome obstacles and watch out for other robots and deadly fungus. All sounds promising and a large map layout certainly is the case.

At the start, you will note at the bottom of the screen the leap strength meter. This affects how high the robot can jump, and so you may need smaller jumps to get through small gaps, and larger ones as needed. Although a nice idea, surely holding jump for the amount of time needed for the leap strength would have made more sense to have as an option. Inevitably and through some trial and error, you will find certain gaps need certain jumps, and you will also note that some of the horizontal lines that flash on and off are actually not lasers, but platforms that are active when lit, so you can use them to progress right instead of jumping.

Arm the Laser

To the right and then down from your start position, two screens away, is the laser, which you can use to shoot other robots. You can use the pick-up key (or down if using the standard joystick controls) and as long as the object is on screen, you collect it. Here also lies one of the most annoying things about the game – if you happen to leap up from here, and get hit by a laser in the screen above, you can fall down one of two gaps. If you do that, you cannot jump back out as the robot just shows the hit animation instead whatever you do to leap, although flying can sometimes work to get you out at the expense of your psyche energy. With no quit key, if you cannot get out, you have to reset and reload the game again. This is a poor feature in this version and does mean you may face a number of re-loads when it is not your fault.

Another issue happens in the game which means you need to use your energy, or psyche, a lot more than planned. There is a pyramid object that, if you touch it, you die and it is game over. On the ZX Spectrum original, you can safely leap over the object (which also flashes with a square around it so you can see if you have leapt over it successfully. Here, you actually need to use the fly option instead, fly up to near the top of the screen, then fly right, and gradually head back down. This uses your psyche up considerably. Attempting to jump even at the highest leap height possible, fails and you collide into the object no matter what. It is something to bear in mind when attempting to get through some screens.

Northern Soul

As you progress through the game, some of the objects themselves can be trial and error as to what they would do for you. Some are less beneficial than others, and so as such you will need to work out and map the game as you go so that you know what works and what does not. Once you get the hang of when to use the leap and when in fact a flying option may get you where you need to go, the game can open up a fair bit, and you will progress over time. However, when there is a lot of action on screen, this can slow the game down, especially say if there are three robots which you can shoot with your laser. Once a couple have been shot, you will notice a considerable speed increase, so despatching them early can be a good move to progress onwards as quickly as possible.

You do start with four lives and the psyche energy can run out on you, in which case, a loss of life, or you can run into a deadly object and that is game over. The game can prove to be quite unforgiving, so it is definitely well worth working out a sensible route to take and try to stick to that once you have mastered the controls. I found that for the horizontal flashing platforms there was a pattern of repeating which meant I knew which leap strength to use and to be able to jump, land, and then jump again to get across. Mastering more of those techniques will get you further, but it is a shame that it feels a bit of a let-down.

Graphics and Sound

The graphics in Soul of a Robot are well defined, even if they are a port of the ZX Spectrum version. There is even some colour clash when the robot walks over the horizontal flashing platforms, something which could have been resolved by using proper hardware sprites. All the objects and screen layouts do look bright and full of colour, and the feel and look of the game does come across well. There is no soundtrack to speak of, just some sound effects for when you fire the laser and hit an enemy robot, but apart from that the game is relatively silent. More could have been done.

Final Thoughts

Soul of a Robot proved to be a good title on both the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC, where its large arcade adventure exploration, platforms, and shooting, was good fun on a budget. Unfortunately, the MSX conversion does fall down. The control method has no consideration for the MSX hardware, especially with the fact it can actually damage the machine, and no remapping to use the cursor keys does seem a bad decision. Add to that the fact that the action can slow down when there is too much on screen, and you can get occasionally stuck in between platforms with no way out, and with no means of escape, ultimately means it is a conversion which does not hit the mark. With the right programming team, this could and should have been a much better game on this machine and the size and scale would have been a good challenge.

If you want to play the game with the control method fixed and a much better use of the keyboard, the download from the MSX Wiki Blog post for this game is recommended – it loads as MSX cartridge ROM so you can use it on an emulator easily enough, and the keys all work as intended and map a whole lot better. You will most likely find that moving and flying works better with the key combinations too.

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