In this video I discuss the curious case of R.O.B., a.k.a. the "Robotic Operating Buddy," and how he was adapted from a slow NES peripheral to be a fighting game character.
To clarify my point regarding R.O.B. series music, the so-called "Stack-Up/Gyromite remix" contains only one musical piece from Gyromite, being a brief melody from its "Test" mode. However, this melody is also included in Stack-Up's "Test" mode, so it is not exclusive to Gyromite. What is more, since "Robot Block" was released a few weeks before "Robot Gyro" in Japan, the "Test" melody definitely comes from Stack-Up, not Gyromite. TL;DR - The only melody in "Stack-Up/Gyromite Remix" that is in Gyromite actually originated in Stack-Up.
Very Good video. I found it weird how frequently ROB was represented in other games before Smash, but suddenly he got no other representation after it besides Wario Ware minigames. One would think he would get more presence after it. Well, there's still a chance we can get him in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe as DLC since he was in DS already and Link and AC characters are in it now.
that to think that R.O.B. (something first party) has less representation then Cloud's Final Fantasy (a third party) 1 stage vs 0 stages 4 music tracks vs 1 music track
I hate R.O.B. as a fighter because he's one of many characters that just feel super boring to me (like Pokémon Trainer/Charizard and like 50% of Smash 4's newcomers) but seeing how much detail was put into his design while keeping it close to the original is really cool, I've literally never seen anyone point these things out like how he has those rocket fin things. One thing I thought was really silly is that you showed his throw where he flies up with the opponent and slams them down, when talking about raising and lowering things, but later in the video you showed his other throw where he turns them upside down and... raises them up and down really fast! Plus his down-smash lowers his arms too.
I’m really happy to hear that I was able to slightly change your opinion on R.O.B.! I personally really enjoy his playstyle in Ultimate because of his poking tools, recovery mixups, near-limitless gyro tricks, and satisfying side-B, but he’s not for everyone. As for your point about the throw, the “flying reverse pike driver” IS R.O.B.’s up throw. I just show it twice in the video, once to show how he “raises and lowers objects” and later point out how crazy that move is. As for down Smash, yes, ROB lowers his arms for it. He actually lowers his arms in several moves, but his up throw is the only move he has that perfectly fits the description of “raises and lowers objects” in his original manual. Fun fact: there’s no way that R.O.B. can simply “lower” his enemies for his down throw since they’re already at ground level when he grabs them, so he actually beats them into the ground like he’s making bread. Another thing is that R.O.B.’s original pummel in Brawl was just to “squeeze” his enemies which matched up perfectly with his original CLOSE command. However this was later changed so that he also headbutts them since it’s a more visually clear animation, and I decided not to mention it in the video since I don’t own Brawl or a Wii U.
The comment about the down smash was just cuz you said something like "moving his arms up and down isn't helpful in combat" so I just wanted to point that out but I didn't mention *what* I was pointing out.
Ganon Tice I might! I made this video because I enjoy this sort of thing and I really wanted someone to make a video exploring ROB’s moveset origins. After about a year of waiting, I decided that I was going to have be the one to make it! This was a lot of work (about three months of research before I even started writing the script), but if there’s another character I feel strongly about who isn’t getting enough love, I can see myself making a video for them, too.
I freaking love Duck Hunt Duo, but I feel as though it's a much more obvious character and that I couldn't add much more to the discussion. Sakurai took a bouncing can minigame, a frisbee, and the handful of elements that appear in Duck Hunt, and built a patchwork character around them with the idea of an unseen light gun also participating. The dog and duck have tons of cute little details and animations, but almost none of them are really "based" on anything as far as I know. RelaxAlax's video already explains the character's origins really well. If I were going to do another character, it would probably be someone whose Smash design has never been over-examined to death, like Mario or Luigi.
TectonicImprov Thanks! The track is Crysta from Terranigma, which was an action JRPG for the SNES. The game was never officially released in North America, though it was in Europe and Australia.
