Gyromite and R.O.B. retrospective: Your plastic pal who's fun to be with | NES Works

Skipping a bit out of sequence for this one, as we jump ahead in the NES chronology to perhaps the most fascinating game to arrive in the U.S. in October 1985. Gyromite may not have been influential the way Super Mario Bros. would be, but it played an essential cornerstone role in Nintendo's eventual conquest of the U.S. And, believe it or not, when you play the game the way it was designed to be experienced - with a complete R.O.B. setup - it can be surprisingly entertaining.
For more on the history of the NES, check out www.goodnintentions.com. And please consider supporting this series through Patreon to make in-depth analyses like this possible: www.patreon.com/gamespite

[@Dnobagav49]

I remember using R.O.B to play Gyromite... ten minutes later I took off the accessory to control the gates and used my feet to play the game without R.O.B. Best idea ever.

[@rickdavis32]

It was a game to time the robot to work right or timely plus the batteries lasted 20 minutes.

[@nitrocode5966]

AVGN moment

[@NoctemOUT]

The pieces of "fruit" are actually supposed to be turnips. Yes, I was an obnoxious manual-reader.

[@nickadaniel]

I never had a ROB but I did have a twin brother. But that didn't make Gyromite easy, the ROB stand in was constantly crushing the professor (and not always by accident).

[@221b]

I wish one of the emulator makers would try to properly emulate R.O.B., possibly by having a 3D-rendered version of the toy running in a second window that would react to what was going on in the main emulation window the same way the original version did. It would have really been awesome if Nintendo did it for a Virtual Console release of Gyromite and/or Stack-up and had the R.O.B. displayed on the Gamepad's screen.

[@TakeMinamoto]

it would be awesome... however, it requires a second emulation window with a few functions and animations, all while reacting real-time with the first window... it's cool, but with only 2 games (and not that popular at that) to use such an addition, it's very unlikely an emulator programmer would take the time for it =(

[@KuraIthys]

@@TakeMinamoto Perhaps not. Though never count out emulator developers, since a fair few of them do it for their own amusement or for the sheer challenge of it. Along those lines someone made an emulator that converts NES games to 3d... Which is a completely ridiculous idea, but someone did it because they had an idea how to make it work, and felt like trying it.

[@TakeMinamoto]

@@KuraIthys you're right!! besides, homebrew and hack developers might find ways to develop new games that use the same principles

[@duffman18]

People have made pinball emulators that literally emulate real life physical machines rather than games, so it's certainly possible. Someone even managed to emulate that Pacman game that had half a maze on a screen and then half an actual pinball table at the bottom, so you can play that game as if you're playing the physical pinball machine too. Emulator makers certainly are ambitious so I wouldn't count them out for doing something like this

[@RICHUNCLEPENNYBAGS77]

Could probably puts around with Lua scripts to get something similar

[@piratetele]

Hitchhiker's Guide reference. Top stuff.

[@ran3030]

Dude, thank you for this. My grandmother used to play Gyromite with me (she bought me the Nintendo) and it's one of my most cherished memories. I haven't really been able to find any real footage any where. This is AWESOME. Thank you.

[@TonyGearSolid]

You failed to mention the joys of playing as the ROB stand-in and trolling the other played by "accidentally" crushing them with one of the doors or trapping them in the same room with one of the monsters. I never had a chance to play the game properly, even tho my oldest brother had a ROB, but I did really enjoy playing Game B as a kid and it can still be a challenging experience on its own.

[@gamesblog8895]

Great work Jeremy. As a kid I always thought R.O.B. looked cool, but I never understood what he actually did. The commercials made it seem like he could be your co-op buddy in any game, but even at 8 years old I knew that couldn't possibly be true. This is the first time I've seen someone explain it in so much detail. It's amazing to me that such a primitive robot was able to handle spinning tops. It would have been so much easier for Nintendo to just use normal weights, but now that I see it in action, it really does add tension. I also love the twist ending that Gyromite turned out to be a decent game.

[@michaelhoule2134]

When I was a kid, I had a friend named Eric Chan. This guy had like everything to do with nintendo and games. We where really good friends from grade 4-7. On my brithdays he would sleep over and the first time he brought R.O.B and all his games (which was around 15-20 at that time) over. We had a blast that night playing Nintendo and I really enjoyed Rob. I would go over to his house after school and we would play games mostly ( also we both collected Transformers and GI Joe stuff) and I used ROB a lot. After a while we both just got sick of the damn thing and decided it was way more fun to make a game out of seeing if we could hit the button (like rolling dice, flipping the top card over on a deck of cards etc) then using the stupid robot. My parents asked me if I wanted it for xmas but I said "no thank you". It was a cheap gimmick and the novelty of it wore off rather quick. Plus it loved to gobble up double A batteries.

[@jasonblalock4429]

4:42 Man, I love this console design aesthetic SO much. It's such a shame retailers didn't like it. If that had hit shelves in 1985, it really would have looked like something from the future.

[@robotlorekeeper9880]

I now want to see a Gyromite speedrun where a second player in a ROB costume works the other controller

[@Tolman18]

My favorite trance song of all time is mode B game. It brings me back to a simpler time in my young childhood. I could listen to that song on loop forever. It's crazy good.

[@Konuvis]

I used to be fascinated by ROB and particularly the way the gyros just keep on spinning without toppling over.

[@bigmog]

Excellent video. Didn't hear it mentioned but R.O.B. is actually an acronym for Robotic Operating Buddy. As a kid, I had the deluxe set but never the patience to play Gyromite properly. Today my R.O.B. enjoys retirement stashed away in a box somewhere. Perhaps I'll use him as home decor as mentioned in the video.

[@BenCol]

Nice ‘Hitchhiker’s Guide’ reference there.

[@stevenqbosell]

Amazing once again. Your presentation and knowledge are 2nd to none.

[@lwvmobile]

I don't think I knew anybody as a kid who had Rob the Robot, Gyromite, or Stack Up. We all had the SMB/Duck Hunt combo cart with the orange zapper, and only one of us had the gray zapper and track pad. Then again, I didn't personally get an NES until Christmas 1990 or 1991 I think, well after it came out but before the top loader came out.

[@kazinwho]

I'm so glad you went through setting this up, because this is the first time I've ever seen ROB actually be used in conjunction with game footage, since I never knew anybody who had ROB when I was a kid. Great stuff, looking forward to Stack Up!

[@LOTRDanTube]

Excellent as always, not to mention the perfect thing to watch while killing time locked out of my apartment.

[@garfieldepicmoments]

I actually used to use a Play-Yan as my MP3 player back in the day with my SP. It actually sounds really good, bypassing the system's horrible sound chip by having the user plug their headphones into the cartridge itself. Of course, it only supports 2 GB of music, so it's not really that practical nowadays. Fun fact: You actually could order an E-Reader off of Nintendo's online store as recently as 2012 or so, but they've stopped selling them.

[@DS-zg3ej]

I loved my ROB, he never messed up on me and I played gyromite often.

[@smiskimins]

Fantastic video, never really understood how R.O.B worked until now!

[@link6616]

When people talk about toys to life and games and toys working together, this is the kind of thing I think of.

[@reeeech9245]

Played this with my brothers. But the key was - one player would control the guy (usually me) and try to get all the bombs, the other player (my brothers) controlled the red/blue pillars but tried to kill the first player! :( evil older brothers!

[@ravikanodia]

@4:52 "ROB was a fascinating piece of work" ROB sure was a piece of work

[@RogueCarrot]

I actually do have a R.O.B. on display. I love him so much. He just looks so cool. He has the two gyros with him and is complete 100%. When I got him he came in a partially crushed used NES boxed set. So part of his attachments were broken. Through a friend on a forum I got a replacement for that piece (The most important piece) so he could be complete. He sits on my shelf and in his hands he holds one of those tin Mushroom shaped candy containers. Yes he even has the Gyromite hand gloves for holding the gyros.

[@ericchristensen5385]

For some reason I have only recently discovered your videos and have thoroughly enjoyed them. As a kid I got the NES at a store called Lechmere (electronic store run by Target). I had the ROB and used it perhaps 10 times total. I recall trading in my NES with about 30 NES games for a Sega Genesis (A decision I highly regret now). I recall them telling me that ROB was worthless so I kept it and it stayed in my old bedroom closet for years. At some point my folks must have threw it out. I still do a pointless search every time I visit my folks just to ensure it can’t be found.

[@keq64]

Never would've thought I'd want ROB, but now, I kinda do.

[@magnus87]

I'm still waiting a R.O.B 2 !

[@active_ate9183]

Thanks for having the patience to make this piece of archival history. :)

[@tossingturnips]

I love that you referred to ROB as an emissary, as he made his reintroduction to modern gaming in SSBB's Subspace Emissary.

[@DIProgan]

I never understood what Rob was for, thanks now I know.

[@brentjamesonparker]

Great content as usual! This channel is definitely in my top 5 gaming channels now, right up there with Chrontendo and the recent documentaries Kim Justice has been putting out.

[@theshellacstation78]

I bought gyromite, I also bought the NES zapper, I don't yet have a crt tv, I don't even have Rob, so yeah, I bought them, just cause I could.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

It still amuses/amazes me that the game with more actual game value is the one that got packed in, and the one that's basically just training for ROB users didn't, thus commanding more money.

[@junethefox5834]

There's something oddly cute about R.O.B

[@bluedistortions]

It may have been easy, but playing gyromite as a kid at my frinds house was a lot of fun. All kinds of goofy antics when cooperation is required. It was aimed at kids, and it was a good, if short and simple game. Waiting for rob does not look like fun, but his job was to sell consoles, and Im sure he did that well enough.

[@RogersBase]

This is so great!

[@StrobeFlashLite]

Does R.O.B. count as the first toy specifically made for a video game, making it the ancestor to Amiibos?

[@MrJWTH]

StrobeFlashLite I wouldn’t say so since ROB did not unlock additional content in game. I consider the ecard Reader for the GameBoy Advance to be the real ancestor. ROB was basically an alternate controller and if anything is closer to an ancestor to the Wii Remote.

[@elvistwatty]

Man I remember having this thing. Used it a few times and just went to using my off hand to play the game haha

[@SendyTheEndless]

Me and my best friend used to play Gyromite without ROB by basically taking turns to control the pillars and trying to squish the other's player with them by opening them to lure them in, then rapidly closing them. We got a lot of mileage out of that little game even though it rapidly degenerated and rarely progressed level-wise.

[@SirJonSoda]

After watching this video I looked for a mod that would let me play Gyromite on an LCD monitor without Rob, and there's one on Romhacking.net. It let's you play with only one controller, removes features that wouldn't make sense without the toy and also lowers the time limit to 250 while making the enemies eat radish faster, in order to rebalance difficulty. I only tested the first stage, but it looks pretty decent.

[@ganon_t99]

All hail the *R.O.B!!*

[@monopolyrubix1875]

That fake out ending, lol

[@dannybergman6311]

Fascinating! Thanks for the in-depth examination (and display) of a pop culture icon I completely missed in my early Nintendo days!

[@giuseppedepascalis7067]

Extremely nice and well made video, if only a little slow, but I think it was due to the reviewed game's nature. Keep it up!

[@JeremyParish]

+Giuseppe De Pascalis Ain't no such thing as a fast-paced R.O.B. game…

[@giuseppedepascalis7067]

I know, and I think that's for the better... R.O.B. already gives me nightmares as slow as it is, if he was faster who knows what he could do!

[@djnekroman]

+Giuseppe De Pascalis Kick-ass in Smash Bros?

[@giuseppedepascalis7067]

+Brett Neckermann well I didn't know but it actually is an unlockable character in brawl and 3ds/wii u. And according to the info I found it is pretty kick ass!

[@CoryTheRaven]

Great video... I had the Deluxe Set when I was a kid and figured out how to play Gyromite the wrong way very quickly :) I still have my ROB though, and he sits beside my original NES, which sits beside my NES Mini Classic, which sits beside my ROB Amiibo :)

[@FancyGeeks]

I've been watching your entire backlog, man I wish I had that voice of yours.

[@lilwyvern4]

ROB: The messiah martyr of video gaming.

[@theologamer]

you got me with the fake out ending. :)

[@destoo0]

07:50 You can now append "Nintendo Labo" with all its cardboard.

[@timf7413]

Gyromite is actually a fun game if you have a 2nd player to opperate what Rob normally would on the 2nd controller.

[@lordofthecats6397]

Hey, many of the things you list @7:38 would go on to live in SMASH BROS forever!

[@Teknoman]

Speaking of the AVS...I wonder if there are any working AVS prototypes in the wild so to speak?

[@supermariofan772003]

I wouldn't say that Gyromite is completely devoid of challenge without R.O.B., but I guess difficulty is subjective. I still had a great time playing the game with two controllers and solving all of the puzzles. In fact, I imagine this would be a fun game to speedrun. R.O.B. just seems way too slow for someone with little patience like myself. But hey, at least Gyromite actually gives you the option to play without him, unlike Stack Up with is pretty much worthless without the robot. And even with R.O.B., I struggle to say that it has any value.

[@doloresdebeauvoir4960]

I didn't get why the title card spells "Nintendo Info" until now... stupid me

[@JeremyParish]

One of my many incredibly dumb little "jokes."

[@JetstreamGW]

Oh, I've tried to use ROB to play Gyromite. It is _alarmingly_ frustrating. I can't imagine having the patience for it. Not when I bought a used one when I was 12-13 in the 90s, and certainly not now. I really doubt baby Jetstream would've been into it either.

[@daverhodus]

Great stuff.

[@RT55J]

Great. Now I want more "Robot Series" games. What have you done?

[@JeremyParish]

Track down a copy of 8-Bit Xmas 2014!

[@rowtow13]

Weird to think that live on-stage demos of video games are a thing of the past already.

[@kevinbowyer7205]

Looking forward to Stack Up!

[@ManicMinorProduction]

Very informative! thanks, sub!

[@MaxW-er1hm]

Gyromite actually looks fairly interesting, and is one of the NES games I haven't got a chance to play...

[@bluedistortions]

It was most fun with a sibling or friend, and them squishing you occasionally. It was the original co-op game with friendly fire trolling. 😂

[@steven.events]

ROB has at least one cameo as a character in a game. I believe he was a spectator in a sports title.

[@civicguy2k]

I remember playing Gyromite as a kid and had never heard of ROB. I quickly figured out about using the second controller for the pipes and just assumed that was the correct way to play, and honestly had fun!

[@jamesmoss3424]

R.O.B the robot was only used for two game this and stack up.

[@ULTD8]

great video

[@OsakaSan]

I didn't watch this one before, and now i see why there was that psychosis with strobe lights on consoles and stuff. I'm epileptic, i have it under control now, but back in the day this game would have caused me a seizure for sure. Those green flashes, holy shit!

[@Trainy2]

Wow. The original NES design looks somewhat similar to a PS4. I guess we've come full circle.

[@matthoward9509]

wait a minute the gamecube adapter can be used with the switch.

[@keldonmcfarland2969]

It's disappointing that they didn't have something like this for the SNES. They could have really had something there

[@DSMTheEditor]

N E G A T I V E M U S T H A V E G Y R O

[@hyper_vyolet]

*cries in new 3DS*

[@malcolmmoore7191]

Cool 😎

[@chad_bro_chill]

12:39 So what happens if you raise the red door with a turnip on top?

[@JeremyParish]

A good start for opening a juice bar?

[@bratticuss]

Gyromite was fun in its day. Though you learned to just avoid using rob and playing two controllers.

[@dislikebutton1799]

I overclocked my ROB so his arms moved faster up and down.

[@TechWithSean]

You don’t use a CRT for retro games? They don’t feel the same on new TVs

[@JeremyParish]

?? This video literally shows ROB synced up with my CRT.

[@zombiegeorge749]

i used my toes to play

[@severeerror52]

Alternatively, give the second controller to another person and turn it into the world's most frustrating co-op game

[@MicBain]

I loved my Deluxe Set. Gyromite was cool, but ROB was pretty crappy, easily replaced by a second player.

[@pilgrabber40]

"and probably the New3DS" I came here looking for a good time and honestly i feel so attacked right now

[@JeremyParish]

You are not the corporate products you purchase.

[@MistyeyedNStarrified]

Where are episodes 10, 11 and 12?

[@LuisDiazArtist]

ROB "Robbed" us all. I used to put a Freddy Krueger mask on Rob and turn Gyromite on so I can have Freddy Krueger's head move left and right. I think I even put some red lights for his eyes. I think I made a hole on top of the mask and put the hat on it with a hole for Rob's "eyes." That was the best use of ROB for me. It was a very disappointing gimmick for a kid. I thought I would be able to "play" with him and he'd help me beat games. I think a decade later I destroyed ROB with my foot.

[@randallross420]

gyro robo?

[@JomasterTheSecond]

...is radish a fruit?

[@JeremyParish]

It is a tuber, so it is a root, not a fruit. Missing that crucial F at the beginning.

[@JomasterTheSecond]

Welp, video ruined! Gotta re-edit the whole video to amend that-- All joking aside, I love how your videos are always high quality, even when I'm binge-watching them from start... and even if you call the radishes or turnips or whatever fruits. :v