LGR - Challenge of the Gobots - C64, Spectrum, CPC Game Review

Transformers? Overrated. Okay, not really, but that's what Tonka wanted you to think! This 1987 shmup is a fine example of the 80's TV show cash-in game. Leader-1 would be proud. And that is sarcasm.
Watch the higher-quality version on Blip:
blip.tv/file/4807006
Download "The Challenge" soundtrack tape:
www.worldofspectrum.org/infose...
"ChallengeOfTheGobots.mp3"
I hope this meets your approval, Vinny :D

[@imbetterthanyouis]

fun fact : in australia the gobots were called machine men , and they even changed the theme song to " mighty machine men , mighty robots " and the tag line was " now you see'em , now you dont "

[@Cr4z3d]

Tbh that's better than the U.S.

[@bruh_oly1370]

Machine men in time wars

[@imbetterthanyouis]

@@bruh_oly1370 was that the movie ? cant remember , im old lol

[@LGR]

@Bakemon13 The audio tape "The Challenge", yes. It's basically a special companion soundtrack to this game. If you were to play the game tape in a Walkman or stereo all you'll hear is the data... which is some of the worst, most grating noise you'll ever hear and you'll possiby go deaf.

[@LGR]

@ImperialProductions Ah, I got confused which video you were referring to, my bad! The music at the end of this video comes from "The Challenge" cassette tape for this game. I'll post a download link to an MP3 in the video description!

[@Torque2100]

"Or hardcore collectors of GO-BOTS merchandise, if such a creature actually exists." They do, man, and they are a weird bunch.

[@Phoenix2312]

+Torque2100 I would love to collect some old Go-Bots but the game? NO FREAKING WAY!!!

[@LGR]

It's actually meant as headwear, so yes!

[@MyNameIsBucket]

"A death worse than fate itself"?

[@planescaped]

Perhaps it is a fate worse than a fate worse than death...

[@my4trackmachine]

this was a good review. very tight and lols. i love that you have a firm grasp of the sound capabilities of the things you review too. it is an under-appreciated aspect that most people just gloss over.

[@LGR]

@R33Racer The 48k is *capable* of music, just not with this game. Gobots was created for the 128 in mind and took advantage of its enhanced sound, same game on the 48k it just didn't have music.

[@LGR]

@ThomasGGebert Correct, no CPC. I was actually forced to use emulation for all of the footage this time. My computer with the video capturing devices is dead, so I couldn't even use my real machines for these!

[@mista1two]

Damn, the music on that cassette tape is all kinds of 80's awesome! Nice find!

[@LEGENDCITYest1963]

My new favorite next gen system.. HEADCRAB with built-in mind reading controller.

[@nicholassvitak8653]

I think I got second hand motion sickness from watching this video

[@LGR]

@rippthepunk It's actually a hat :D You can get them on the Valve online store. At least, you could a couple years ago when I got mine!

[@funkophone]

Man, that challenge track is pretty rad. Very 80's fresh indeed.

[@AmayirotAkago]

Thanks for linking to the tape recording, it's the most gloriously cheesy thing I've heard in a long time xD

[@LGR]

@UKRetroGames It really is impressively lackluster, especially considering the game pedigree of Tony Crowther! I mean, several of his titles are near-legendary yet here comes Gobots. In fact, in some of the lists of his games that I've seen, Gobots is omitted entirely. I just *had* to dig it up from the grave to put its charred remains on display again!

[@njtxus]

a person that loves the gobots does indeed exist.

[@DOSRetroGamer]

But did you also like the StopBots?

[@LGR]

@Fuzzy192006 Heh that's actually what Lazy Game Reviews was originally. See the first LGR vids (Animal Games, Space Invaders Games etc) and that's the idea: a short look at a game and some thoughts on it before moving onto the next. It evolved into what I do now & I enjoy it more. I like showing more history & detail but also remaining rather concise - ie., not a walkthrough. The "X games in X minutes" genre is being done by others & it can be rather enjoyable. Thanks for the input though!

[@hoooooooly]

So what was that song you played ight befoe loading the game? That was cool! I want to get it!

[@Saxonation]

I was wondering if you'd ever do the Turrican series? It's possibly one of the best action platformers for both the C64 and Amiga. The music is pure bliss too.

[@GPVlog]

Love the headcrab

[@chriswinkler284]

Thanks for the nostalgia! The Guardians vs. The Renegades. Good stuff and upload.

[@DeyvsonMoutinhoCaliman]

- Let me take your scooter and throw it into some alien base. - But you are here to save my scooter! - No time to explain!

[@steveoranges1960]

There is nothing wrong with Gobots. People poop on them but they stand on their own and the episodes are quality productions.

[@LGR]

@DirtyKameSennin Directly from Valve! It's a hat, actually.

[@LGR]

Sure man, just provide a link somewhere back to my channel and do with it what you please!

[@DarkFiber23]

5:24 "So you're supposed to destroy them in order to save them. That's some screwed up cult logic right there." That's some (Mass Effect) Reaper logic right there! :D

[@devjock]

Wow, Gobots! That's some nostalgia right there. Can you tell I'm marathon'ing your video's old to new?

[@fl0atpvnk]

Me too. Time for my once-every-few years rewatch of all Clint’s videos. Usually I just go back to ninja nanny and depth dwellers.

[@DiabolikSilhouette]

Go-Bots were always one of my absolute favorite toys/cartoons! When I was a kid I had a bunch of the toys and I definitely remember watching the cartoon as much as humanly possible. I was really surprised and happy to see that there was a computer game! Great review! Thanks LGR!

[@cooler123999]

hey lgr, what game were u playin in the beginning

[@R33Racer]

48k no music? You sure? Didn't it have a beeper? Or was this game designed for the 128k ones (maybe incompatible with the new sound systems in later spectrums)?

[@DirtyKameSennin]

hey phreak, where did you get the headcrab? :O!!

[@Phoenix2312]

+Lazy Game Reviews Is there such a thing as a Go-Bots/Robo Machine Collector? Well, were they affordable now (they fetch a tonne on ebay) yes... I would! While Transformers are the BEST and always will be, I still have a special place in my heart for Robo Machines... Mainly as they featured some vehicles that Transformers have NEVER DONE!!! Among them, Royal-T - A Harrier Jump Jet, there was also the Harley Davidson Motor Cycle which was so cool!!! The biggest issues for Go-Bots/Robo Machines was actually scale and price - Many of the Characters were just so out of scale it was ridiculous (OK! Yes, Megatron in G1 was a GIANT FREAKING GUN!!! but still...) and for a budget line product, they were damn expensive! Transformers Mini-Autobots such as Bumblebee were high priced at a Fiver (£5) in UK money... But Robo Machines as they were called here were only a single note cheaper!!! If you were lucky, you may see them in sales for £1.99... But most of the best ones were almost the same price as Transformers which were better in every way!!! Still, there is some love left for that cheesy line... If only for the ones that did not get a proper Hasbro edition... Would I want the game too? HELL NO!!!

[@LGR]

@galbyman Thumbs up for me not being the only one affected by this game's "scrolling" :D

[@Roadstar1602]

Commodore 64 wins again, even when comparing a nearly unplayable game on different formats. What a great machine it was.

[@pickupplay5]

I've come across a few gobot toys during my toy searches...however I had no knowledge of the the television series. Thanks for that bit of info on top of explaining the game that is based on the show.

[@DragonNexus]

I need to look up that music...that's so deliciously 80s it's making me nostalgia haaaaardcore.

[@jetpackman01]

You're right about Gobots: The Challenge being awesome. Listened to the full thing (well, at least side a) recently, and it's amazing. Thanks for directing me toward that classic.

[@markvergeer]

Very nice intro man!

[@jetstorm5]

ta gra jest na pegasusa?

[@SpAMCAN]

A version of Defender where you can throw humans at UFOs... So Resogun? :p

[@ManuelleMagnus]

Does anybody know how to throw bombs in this game? I can't figure out how to do it, I can only shoot lasers :(

[@Malus1531]

When lasers on a bagel, you can shoot lasers any time

[@tombert512]

I thought you said you didn't have a CPC....Did you review this version using the dark art of emulation?

[@av_79]

When I was a kid GoBots was one of the shows on Funfactory /DJ Kat show on Sky Channel. Ah, memories....

[@KoRnDuDe19886]

lmfao - 3:05 that retro music actually sounded pretty cool! lol!!! who was the girl on that photo? ;D lol

[@trekaddict]

"Enough" mid-80s rad... as if there could be such a thing.

[@ShadowWingTronix]

As a GoBots fan (yes, I'm serious) this makes me sad. It's like they slapped Leader-1 and Scooter into some other game with not a stitch of research into the series. I think the Scooter you launch is him in robot mode destroying the base while you rescue his clones while they're in motorscooter mode.

[@EzioAuditoreXIII]

do you mind if I use a soundbite of "for the commodore 64, Sinclair Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC... which I don't have but here's a headcrab *headcrab noise*"? I'm doing something similar to Freeman's mind, if I ever get around to it..

[@martinhowser4094]

I played the speccy version of this to death as a kid.. loved it!

[@TomServo420]

That intro song maybe one if the best ever in video game history!

[@michaellamartina8093]

Oh Loadstar, so much nostalgia.

[@HokutoForce]

We're going to do a trianer version of it, this video helped me to understood a bit the (awful) gameplay.

[@skybite]

Anybody got those Machine Robo remakes?

[@niceandgames]

Wow, having 2 cassettes like that with the extra features and music and awesome is seriously really really cool. Too bad the game isn't so great. lol I kind of like the game's idea, it looks like it should be fun, but just didn't turn out that way. Sorry about the motion sickness, thanks for taking one for the team and getting this review out despite it. :)

[@cromagnatron7155]

Love the double cassette boxes.

[@andrewfaraday8918]

So, were you supposed to listen to the tape while playing the game?

[@cmrninfinity]

Mobieus? Mobius? SEGA! WHAT DID YOU DO?

[@VoceCorale]

@kinmanyuen But who is she?

[@KarlosMorale]

I'm going to reach out across 7 years to acknowledge 'the gobots quickly became stopbots' - got a good laugh out of me :)

[@wazzal7]

Totally seems like one of those cases where they put more work into everything for the game besides the game itself. Ah, kinda want to try it actually!

[@eolfeci]

Loved that intro! lol

[@captainjurgh8142]

Gobots is somehow way too unknown, i didn't even know there's actually one game about the Gobots. Only, ONE game about it.

[@Alevamltd]

Wait, Mobius? Isn't that the name of Sonic's home planet?

[@kinmanyuen]

@funkophone Lmao.. that chick with the pony strap was epic.

[@henrold__]

Nice Duke 3D intro!

[@REVJHD]

3:36 the company name was "AriolaSoft"....which im glad wasn't "Areola Soft"

[@arcadely]

I see what you mean about the motion sickness: I nearly didn't make it through the video.

[@jellevandegraaf825]

I want an bumper sticker to stick on my pc and i want an headcrab, on my way to find an headcrab

[@jamesborlan2850]

The funny thing is that Hasbro now owns go bots because Hasbro acquire Tonka

[@dodgecukc]

Ariolasoft!?

[@guillermomasipgamerhd2137]

This intro in this video it's with Duke Nukem

[@TheStevenWhiting]

I never liked the Gobots when growing up in the 80s. I also thought of them as the cheap version of Transformers. I think I have a few comics of theirs but only because they came with a job lot I got in the 90s.

[@MrBuch169169]

'Can you save the world? Can you load the game?' There must be something in British DNA that just makes us destroy ourselves.

[@RJTamm93]

Good review as always. :D

[@Accelluter]

Wait.. Have a GoBots game? That's Nonsense!!!!!

[@magic666z]

Cool intro :)

[@TheLORDMJ]

A headcrab!? Wow awesome dude that made me laugh.

[@whatamalike]

i'd buy that game just for the challenge music tape!

[@fl0atpvnk]

The gobot to the right on the cover clearly got his design based on 1978 iron man 😂

[@antytrend]

Omg, that song

[@thepeternetwork]

My family had both Gobots and Transformers and the lion Voltron set. Unfortunately, my mom thought they were all Gobots. Mothers. What can you do?

[@matthewrohde4198]

Mobeius? Is this a Sonic game? Also, Gog? Isn't The main villain supposed to be Cy-kill? Enormous appetite for Scooters? Good, Scooter was so anoying.

[@PuffyRainbowCloud]

Sonic's home planet is Mobius. It's not spelt the same ;P

[@q306005]

OMG! Headcrab plushy! I want one. Can you wear it as a hat?

[@MrSlik25]

When i was a kid i loved Nugget!!!

[@SilviDaBun]

... I want a plushie headcrab. ;.;

[@SwedishEmpire1700]

i saw both Transformers and the Gobots, but because there where never any Gobot toys available around here it was Transformers all the way for me. but the VHS movies where great.

[@jasonz7788]

Awesome thanks

[@30LayersOfKevlar]

@tudythegangster check out Valve Store.

[@thef5adventurer389]

these mountains in the background... where do they begin? up? down? CRAZY!

[@captaincoco9310]

Loco is the name of a renagade gobot too.

[@AudieHolland]

The scrolling issues are entirely caused by each computer platform's technical specs. The C64 not only had superior music but decent programmers could do wonders with it. The Spectrum and Amstrad never had full screen scrolling while on the C64 shoot em ups, this became a requirement. Too bad I don't like shoot em ups that much.

[@johnathanwesleycritch5412]

I'll give the speccy the (very) slight edge in graphics(not necessarily in this game), but I just found that games flowed much better on the C64.

[@johnathanwesleycritch5412]

***** I agree, but I like the fact that the Speccy could handle true Vector graphics, while the C64 could not

[@AudieHolland]

***** Who can forget "Elite." Pretty awesome, even on the C64.

[@EmperorOfTheScrubs]

And that's where my name came from!

[@Elgauno]

K-mart Transformers!

[@MAMECADE]

"A death worse than fate." Huh? Love it!!! Fate must suck.

[@trnguy6137]

as a kid we sung the theme song the No Bots... No bots... we thought they were a transformer farce rip off. the 80s...

[@paulbrown06]

do Gobot collectors exist!?! Oh yes, we sad creatures do indeed exist my 8bit friend!

[@A_Player]

i so want one too :) i love half-life 2!

[@Pau_Pau9]

Real Challenge of Gobots: Being second tier to Transformers

[@EzioAuditoreXIII]

Sweet Goddess, I had to reload because Shockwave Flash crashed, and this showed up. You work fast. xD

[@Zagroseckt]

GO GO GOBOTS DEFENDERS OF THE BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL ON ISLE 6