This is the review for the Wii U version of the popular indie title from Swing Swing Submarine, Tetrobot and Co. The game is is a pure puzzle game, created for players looking to give their mind a workout. Players guide a microscopic robot named Psychobot through Tetrobot’s cogs and circuits. Psy, by swallowing blocks of matter and spitting them out, can repair anything. The workings of various pipes, lasers, fans and other electronic devices, plus how to alter the chemical properties of slime, must be learned in order to repair Tetrobot and collect all the memory blocks that can be found on the way. Due to its accessible nature Tetrobot and Co. is a game for all to play. But players need to keep their mind sharp if they want to complete its most advanced puzzles.
Graphics
One of Tetrobot and Co.’s strongest features are the graphics. The backgrounds of each stage are dynamic, moving around while you control Psychobot. The textures of the blocks are detailed, making it easy to determine what type of block you are manipulating. There is an almost hand-drawn like influence on the graphics that further connects the player to the game. The character designs are complex as well. For example if the player doesn’t do anything for one minute, the bot will pretend to go to sleep. The movements of the bots are smooth, and with the large array of colors present in each stage, we gave the graphics a 5 / 5.
Sound
Tetrobot and Co. constantly has futuristic-like background music playing throughout each level. Each action has a unique sound, such as swallowing blocks, moving, hitting lasers, and going through tubes. The various sounds and music that’s being played matches the overall robotic-like theme of the game, so we gave the sound a 4.5 / 5.
Gameplay
The gameplay of Tetrobot and Co. is what really makes the game enjoyable. Players will have the gears in their brain rotating after only the second level. The main gameplay mechanic of this game is sucking in different types of blocks (wood, sand, stone) and strategically placing them throughout levels in order to progress. However in order to unlock new characters and new levels, players must go above and beyond that, solving extra challenges within the levels to collect gold blocks (there are three of them in each level). The different types of blocks will stick to each other, so players must think strategically when placing them, especially when multiple types of blocks are used together. However the game does not have a tutorial level, so players are thrown right into the gameplay. With little to no explanations of what to do or how the game works, it took about ten minutes until we fully understood how to play the game. Because of this we gave the gameplay a 4 / 5.
Controls
Tetrobot and Co. is a stylus based game. Players move the bot by tapping the point where they want the bot to move. However if players do not wish to use the stylus they can simply press the start button, putting a cursor on the screen which the player can manipulate with the control stick. This does not feel as intuitive as using the stylus however. The only downside is that there were no instructions saying how to move, so as mentioned in the gameplay section above, figuring out how to move and control blocks took some time. We gave the controls a 4 / 5.
Overall
Swing Swing Submarine‘s game Tetrobot and Co. is a very enjoyable experience that will be sure to give players a challenge. The only downside to the game is the learning curve that players have to go through in the beginning due to there being no instructions. Other than that, the large amount of levels within this game will have players thoroughly enjoying (and getting mad from their own stupidity) this game.
4.5 / 5
I have always enjoyed playing video games and am a programming team lead for a video game company. I co-founded Gaming Cypher because I enjoy the gaming community and would like to provide the best news service around. Feel free to ask me any questions and I will make sure to get back to you quickly.
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