Some fires take longer to light than others. Way back in the thematically-appropriate year of 1984 an arcade game in an incredibly cool cabinet was released in tiny numbers, and hardly anyone recognized it as the future. I, Robot was the public’s first look at real-time polygon graphics, and was a commercial failure despite being a great game. Speaking as someone old enough to have played it when it was new (Aladdin’s Castle was just an all-around awesome arcade and one of my first stops when I get that time machine) it’s hard to express how incredible I, Robot looked at the time, obviously far less detailed than the sprite-work in standard games but how on earth did it change perspective like that?
In I, Robot you hopped through a maze of disconnected platforms with each jump creating a path between, but the all-seeing authoritative eye had a strict no-jumping policy and would instantly laser the poor ‘bot into polygonal scrap when caught. The object was to get to the platform at the base of the eye’s pyramid, at which point it would blast the eye, take its spot at the top, and fly through a brief shooter section on the way to the next arena. Each level was its own design and there were a decent number of secrets and shortcuts to chase after, but for some reason the game just fizzled out at the time. The years have been very kind to I, Robot, though, and now it’s regarded as an arcade classic.
Review: Akka Arrh
Akka Arrh reveals itself as an absolutely fantastic shooter that plays like nothing else out there.
It’s over forty years later somehow and in 2025 the need to scream at authority with the face-melting power of the ark of the covenant is just as strong as its ever been, so it’s a perfect time to be bot, do crime. I, Robot has been announced today as the next Atari game getting a revival, with Llamasoft doing the honors after its last deep dive into the library with Akka Arrh. The video reveal today shows an I, Robot that anyone with experience with the original arcade game will instantly be able to pick up and play, but with the full visual overload, verbal madness, and sheepie baas that it just wouldn’t be a Llamasoft game without. It even includes a new version of the arcade game’s Doodle City, which let people chill out drawing with polygons, in the form of Ungame, where you’re able to use the controller’s twin-sticks to play with the backgrounds.
I, Robot doesn’t have a specific release date yet but will be out in Spring of this year for PC, PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and X|S, the Atari VCS, and even PSVR2. Sadly there’s no PC VR version scheduled, so like Akka Arrh before it that will be a PS5-only mode. For I, Robot that would be more a bonus feature, though, so the next big question is how to get it set up on themost 80s arcade cabinetever designed.
