The Classic Arcade and Console Era (1972-1989) - Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters
You should really try this odd isometric action shooter with a science fiction B-movie theme.
RELEASE DATE: 1989
DEVELOPER / PUBLISHER: Atari Games
BEST VERSIONS: Arcade
PLAYABILITY TODAY: Fairly playable
I will give Atari Games credit for one thing – they produced some of the strangest and most interesting arcade games of the late 1980s, and I remember seeing Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters in the arcade and being instantly drawn to it. The game’s attract mode has some awesome comic book-style artwork featuring great-looking action scenes and bringing the B-movie science fiction aesthetic of the theming to life.
Back when we saw the machine in our local arcade, my youngest brother plunked the last of his allowance money into the game, died nearly instantly, and left feeling like he’d been ripped off. Years later, we both got a chance to play it through on an emulator, and while my reaction was generally positive, his was one of disgust. “I’d have never had enough money to finish this game,” he complained. And he was probably right. But, then again, so was I. Escape From the Planet of the Robot Monsters is still a pretty decent game, albeit one you’ll definitely want to play with an unlimited supply of virtual quarters.
Sadly, the game’s a lot harder than it should be thanks to controls that aren’t as intuitive as they need to be, a unique Hall effect 16-direction controller and an isometric perspective that can make it tricky to maneuver through tight spots. If you can get used to that awkwardness, Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters is a true underrated gem of an arcade game.
The idea behind the game is that you’re a SWAT agent named either Jake or Duke, and your job is to bust into a facility on Planet X that’s been taken over by the evil alien Repitilons and their endless army of killer robots. You’re armed with a ray gun that can shoot the enemies, but you have to watch out because human slaves are stationed all over the facility, and you’re much better off saving them than killing them. Every now and then, you’ll also face either a canal maze stage that allows you to select your next path forward if you can successfully pilot your cybersled to the end or you’ll have a boss encounter with a Reptilon.
The big draw in Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters is the graphics, which are cartoony but also evoke old movies where human beings are walking around in clunky robot costumes that look like they were made out of spare electronics. The animation and level design are both highly polished and speak to some great art direction. The human slaves are either scruffy non-threatening males or buxom females whose clothes are almost entirely gone and now resemble tiny bikinis. Your ultimate quest is to rescue Dr. Sarah Bellum, a scientist whose greatest assets are clearly not her brains. Jake is a cool guy in sunglasses, while Duke looks like a tough guy who’s not afraid of anything. Between stages, you occasionally get pulp comic book-style graphics telling you what’s ahead, and there’s even a synthesized voice that offers instructions and tips throughout the game.
The action itself is also pretty good. Your character can shoot, run, duck or jump, and since bullets come in high and low angles, it’s a good idea to duck often to avoid the high-firing robots and jump out of the way when cart droids are nearby and start shooting low. You have to keep moving or drones will emerge from the floor and begin chasing you down with both high and low shots. There are power-ups such as food, speed-up terminals and bombs, but you often have to fight your way to them and clear out all the enemy robots before more pop out of a door. Bombs can be useful for buying yourself some space, but they’re particularly useful on the Reptilons and are thus worth saving up.
This all sounds great, and it is… until you realize that Escape From the Planet of the Robot Monsters doesn’t have much more to offer than that. Every stage eventually starts to look the same, and the challenge is less about navigating maze-like levels than it is surviving endless waves of same-old bad guys and trying not to fall off the sides of the levels, which becomes rather easy to do due to the game’s isometric perspective. It’s also way too hard to keep your ray gun powered up since power-ups vanish quickly and the game’s constantly putting you in situations where you don’t quite have the range to hit far-off enemies, but might want to try. The game feels like it should finish in 15-20 minutes, but it goes on for far longer, and the only big surprise comes in the final battle when a new enemy is finally introduced as the final boss.
Even so, the game’s plenty of fun and at least looks and tries to do something different, which is more than I can say for many shooters from the late 1980s. It may be a little more about style than substance, but it’s also beatable in under an hour, and it includes a cooperative mode as well.
Sadly, Escape From the Planet of the Robot Monsters has never been included in any of the Midway Arcade Treasures compilations with other Atari Games titles and can only be experienced in its original arcade form through emulation unless you’re lucky enough to find an old cabinet. The game was ported to many PC platforms in 1990 (including the SAM Coupé, making it one of the few games on that short-lived PC), and while the Amiga version is probably the best of the bunch, none of them play particularly well due to their simplified controls butting up against the perspective.
As Our Series Continues…
It’s time to move on to console and arcade gaming in the 1970s and 80s, and we’re going to cover it all with an exploration into hundreds more games you’ve probably never played but definitely ought to check out. Come for amazingly great early 1980s games like Warlords, Super Locomotive, Shark! Shark!, Acrobatic Dog-Fight, Mysterious Stones: Dr. John’s Adventure and Intrepid and stick around for mid-to-late 1980s greats like Peter Pack-Rat, Penguin-kun Wars, Momoko 120%, UFO Robot Dangar, Wonder Momo, Raimais, Last Alert, The Legend of Valkyrie and the arcade version of Twin Eagle: Revenge Joe’s Brother, complete with a rockin’ soundtrack with wonderfully inscrutable lyrics.
If you’ve never heard of any of those games, you’re in for a treat as we explore them one by one. And If those games are all old hat to you, don’t worry; they’re just the tip of the iceberg for what we’ll be discussing!
If you missed my series on the hundreds of 1980s PC games you probably never played, you can find the entire archive at https://greatestgames.substack.com.
Anything I don’t share here will be in my upcoming book, tentatively titled The Greatest Games You (Probably) Never Played Vol. 2. Subscribe to this newsletter so you won’t miss it!