I, Robot

I, Robot Arcade Game

I,Robot was an Atari arcade game released in 1984.  It was the first game that had fully shaded 3D polygons and an adjustable camera viewpoint option.  The game was not a success when it was released, and a limited number of units were produced.  However, the game was available in our neck of the woods, and we did enjoy playing it.  In the game, the player controlled a servant robot called “Unhappy Interface Robot #1984”, which has become self-aware and decides to rebel against “big brother”.  The robot must wear down a shield and destroy the blinking eye of Big Brother at the top of the screen in order to advance to the next level.  This was accomplished by moving over red blocks, which fired an energy pulse at the shield and eventually wore it down, exposing the eye.  The player could jump the robot across platform gaps, but if the eye was open when a jump was made, Big Brother would destroy #1984.  Other obstacles included birds, bombs, and flying sharks.

I, Robot Arcade Game Cabinet

Once the eye was destroyed, the player would blast off into space for a bonus level, where the player would navigate through meteors, tetrahedrons, and a floating head that would shoot nails.  There were 26 unique level designs, with color variations that added up to 126 distinct levels.  The player would continue to play indefinitely until all lives were lost.  Some of you may even remember there was a 3 minute game option called Doodle City that a person could play.  There was also an Atari 2600 version of the game.