Robot Block / Geimos / 10-Yard Fight retrospective: Block ’em sock ’em robots | NES Works Gaiden #36

Well, I goofed on this episode-the production order list I work for ended up getting scrambled due a copy/paste error, and I accidentally covered Geimos and 10-Yard Fight out of sequence (they shipped right after Robot Gyro, not Robot Block). This means that 10-Yard Fight wasn't actually Irem's first Famicom! Since I was on the road when I realized this during final caption edits, I couldn't rework this episode. So please look forward to next episode, where I walk it back a bit. Overall, though, the details and sentiments here are otherwise correct-Robot Block is a waste, Geimos is interesting if derivative and shallow, and 10-Yard Fight's history largely holds true. Anyway.
Production notes:
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NES/Famicom footage captured from ‪@analogueinc‬ Nt Mini Noir. Video upscaled to 720 with ‪@retrotink339‬ 5X.

[@garfieldepicmoments]

12:16 The Famicom version of 10 Yard Fight only has the offensive part just like the arcade version. The defensive part was added for the NES release.

[@JeremyParish]

I legitimately did not realize that. Thanks for the notice.

[@jonothanthrace1530]

I kind of want a pillow of Geimos's box art.

[@MJFallout]

nothing stops you from having such a thing printed.

[@DSMTheEditor]

R.O.B.: "Insufficient. Must have gyros."

[@Riz2336]

Best thing about a stack up cart is the converter inside it but nobody is going to take that out to ruin the value

[@jasonblalock4429]

Well, I had no idea that the NES/Famicom ever got light-up carts. TIL! Did any of Irem's games actually do anything with the light, like making it blink, or was it simply a power indicator?

[@MutantHeadcrab]

I thought the price on Stack Up got jacked through the roof because of the Famicom adapter in the cart?

[@JeremyParish]

More to do with scarcity and limited production in the first place

[@almightycinder]

Some copies of Gyromite have it too. It's still insanely cheap.

[@emmastarr5242]

Okay, I think you’re officially giving Xevious WAY too much credit now. @_@ Is Pokemon going to be a DQ5 clone when you get to it, due solely to the fact that you could recruit monsters to fight with you in that game too? 🤣 And will the Dragon Quest Monster series be designated as Pokemon clones, which would in turn make them...DQ5 clones?! :p

[@JeremyParish]

I’m really not. If you spend any time reading mid ‘80s dev interviews, tons of them talk about Xevious. That game was huge, at least among the type of people who would go on to make their own games.

[@emmastarr5242]

@@JeremyParish Did the devs of this game mention Xevious in an actual interview about the game?

[@JeremyParish]

Haha, interviews about this game... good one.

[@philmason9653]

I found the vignette of Fami-Bot owners reeling for two consecutive weeks in Robot Block-induced dysphoria surprisingly vivid. I can see the vortex spinning behind them as they flail their arms helplessly, screaming out incomprehensible words in voices Nintendo could not - or would not - hear.

[@GameDave]

Ah yes 2:33 my Top Rider motorcycle controller. A real treat for your seat.

[@JeremyParish]

Thank you for posting footage of that being used in the real world so that our species can fully appreciate its glory

[@absolutezeronow7928]

Interesting to see Micronics appear in a game under an alias. And yes, good Geimos box art.

[@punzai72]

wow! that Geimos box art is great!

[@user-hu7lw4le1k]

Another day without a Heiankyo Alien mention at the very least.

[@bfish89ryuhayabusa]

Robot Block? A strange game... The only winning move is not to play.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

"How about a nice game of Gyromite?"

[@Aboveup]

ROB always feels really strange to me having lived in the Netherlands. A lot of the European countries had their own localized Nintendo offices, with their own marketing techniques, and over here we didn't have that gaming collapse of the US to require this sort of marketing technique. Nor did we have the UK's microcomputer scene. We kind of had our own scene with MSX computers, but the NES did well on its own power here. So ROB was only something I found out about years later, browsing online as a teenager. Which was its own kind of weird situation in and of itself, since I'd mostly known ROB from its Starfox 64 appearance as a crewmate. Anyway, Dr Slump's cool. My Japanese teacher once gave me a stack of Dr Slump volumes for practice and I've been a fan of it since.

[@malkneil]

Don't forget about ROB's cameo in Star Tropics for NES as the sub navigator!

[@Aboveup]

@@malkneil Actually didn't get to play that myself until the Virtual Console release, but you're totally right.

[@Sixfortyfive]

You could argue that ROB gets a disproportionate amount of words written about him even among Americans, as he ultimately was little more than a brief marketing gimmick to get the NES on store shelves. His actual games didn't really have any staying power, and by the time I received my own NES in '88, he was already long forgotten by the general American public. I too didn't even really know much about the peripheral until years later. In fact, I think I first learned about it when I was looking up ways to play Famicom games on NES, with Gyromite and Stack Up being cited as cartridges that you could reliably rip an adapter from.

[@hyper_vyolet]

Micronics feels like it was probably a developer most adept at a very specific type of limited hardware spec that the Famicom in this era happened to match, but once it began to balloon in capability and popularity they seemed to struggle with keeping up.

[@DeepWeeb]

Jeremy praising Geimos' boxart despite of being considered "worst boxart ever" in Japan makes me wonder if they actually like any of the boxart that is reviled in North America (Mega Man 1, etc.), art is subjective after all 🤔

[@almightycinder]

The Geimos art is certainty better than most of the Master System graph paper covers.

[@rubberwoody]

given capcom's nod to that art in street fighter x tekken, i'd say theyre in on the joke

[@Nipah_]

Gotta agree with you Jeremy, that Geimos box art is quite nice. When we got the NES growing up, we had the Gyromite + ROB version as well as a copy of 10-Yard Fight, so this episode really brought back memories. One of the funnest things at the time was for us to ignore poor ol' ROB and take turns playing with the second controller, and holding the main player's life in your hands. Do you get squished? Do you get trapped with a man-eating parrot? That all depends on how your brother is feeling at the given moment.

[@picc9000]

A most dangerous game

[@ginormousaurus8394]

I never owned R.O.B., but I bought a cheap used copy of Gyromite and play it using two controllers. It's ironic that the only R.O.B. compatible NES game worth playing can be played without the expensive R.O.B. peripheral.

[@dislikebutton1799]

Did 10-Yard Fight come out in Europe as 9-Meter Melee?

[@Dwedit]

10 Yard Fight has to do very interesting things to get the split screen vertical scrolling working. It contains the graphics for numbers, then has another copy of the numbers offset vertically by 4 pixels, then the main playfield scrolls in 4 pixel increments. They move the numbers every time the playfield is redrawn, switching between the grid-aligned numbers, and the 4-pixel offset numbers. If sprites had been used for the right side UI elements, then the scrolling could have been smooth. But there are limits to the total number of sprites that can be drawn on screen, so I see why they had to use background tiles. I would have taken out the field minimap, there's no real reason for that to be there. Then once that's gone, there's no real reason to have the vertical split screen at all.

[@DaneeBound]

We meet again, Robert.

[@TeruteruBozusama]

He'd later evolve into Robert Cop.

[@HPRshredder]

R.O.B. is adorable, but I've never had much of a desire to play any games that required him. I'm not sure if that's just because he was before my time or not, but the games just don't look fun to play. I would have been more interested in a robot action figure with movable joints as a kid. @5:19 - lol at the "Coming Up" section

[@TravisWebb]

Hey Jeremy, I am not sure if I am right, but when I imported this game back in the game it was pitched to me as a “June First” for Nintendo. It has the same settings, and most of the patterns are most the same. I am not sure about the other connections. I don’t do the level of research you do, so maybe I am wrong, but I think it would be worth revisiting and checking the relationship.

[@JeremyParish]

I can't find anything called "June First" for Famicom. Do you mean Juno First? Because they're not that similar. Otherwise I really don't know what you mean.

[@TravisWebb]

@@JeremyParish Sorry, “Apple strikes again”. “Juno First” Konami 1983. (Man KZbin comments are difficult with an Ipad). I just pack up my collection, so I don’t have access to my copy. I remember not being that impressed and shelving it. I think you can’t move back and there were boss fights? I just remember the guy telling me that was “it was basically Juno First for Nintendo.” “And it wasn’t released in the US because Juno First didn’t blow up”. But this is also coming from a tiny game shop years ago and shop guys are known for making up stories like that. But I thought I would mention it in case you missed it, and to see if maybe it was actually shipped like that at the time. Giving it the shop the benefit of the doubt after all these years. God knows how many times a line like that was used on me before the internet blew up to sell me something out of Japan.

[@JeremyParish]

Juno First was OK, but it plays more like Space Invaders with a little bit of a perspective tilt. Kinda like Nintendo's Radar Scope. This is a proper scrolling, behind-the-ship perspective, which makes it pretty different.

[@therealthirst8099]

Joined the Patreon a few days ago. A new video from you always makes a day a little bit better.

[@70smebbin]

we used to call gyromite "growmonty" cuz we were 5

[@tsvtsvtsv]

block robot block block robot block block robot block block robot block

[@DiggZiggah]

Arale!

[@rabiroden]

This is about the only somewhat positive take on 10-Yard Fight I've seen. Most people just compare it to Tecmo Bowl and say "why bother".

[@magus2342]

I don't see why Geimos's box art is so hated. It looks pretty good, gives a decent representation of what you're getting. Then again, we got Mega Man 1 box art, so I guess maybe we had it so much worse that something this basic yet inoffensive would seem okay. Also, how the hell did Micronics, which might have been a one person operation, go from the decent Elevator Action and Geimos to the utter garbage of 1942 and G&G?

[@jasonblalock4429]

It may have been a similar situation to Tose, with Micronix putting in exactly as much work as their client was willing to pay for.

[@willmistretta]

The funny thing is that most American nostalgia for R.O.B. isn't even first-hand, seeing as how the NES *really* took off here around 1987. I remember him from commercials and other marketing materials, but he was phased out quick.

[@JeremyParish]

Nah, everyone had a friend who owned ROB (he said, blithely treating his personal lived experience as universal truth)

[@stopmikeandjim3196]

As a huge football and NES fan at the time, my friends and I wore out 10 Yard Fight. It was probably the best American football game available in the US until Tecmo Bowl came along and blew it out of the water

[@stanleyteriaca2184]

Humm...Doctor Slump.

[@robbyrobot3303]

Ah I never realized till now that Nintendo publishing R-Type in America was just a continuing partnership after Kung Fu and 10-Yard Fight. It seems less weird now, but still weird when they were only doing Vs. Titles that advertised the home console

[@treyslay753]

I have a copy of Zippy Race for the Famicom. Bad game, but it's got a freaking red led on the cartridge.

[@abraveastronaut]

Stack-Up/Robot Block did at least provide some cool music for Smash.

[@RabbitEarsCh]

It's interesting to see what looks like a thin line aesthetically for us Americans but is a total disaster in Japan. I genuinely don't see why Geimos is some horrifying abomination, yet the covers to Katsumii Horii Project albums or Tatsuro Yamashita's FOR YOU were (and still are) considered masterworks. Maybe it's because Geimos looks extremely sloppy and slapdash with so much color bleed on every line?

[@JeremyParish]

Maybe I like it because I’ve colored in that style, too-deliberate color elements straying outside the lines to simulate a registration error though clearly intentional. I think it’s a pretty great effect when used well!

[@jamesmoss3424]

Geimos should have been released in the USA in the first place. 😀👍🎮

[@ginormousaurus8394]

I never owned R.O.B., but I remember how popular robots were with kids in the 1980s. Kids loved the idea of having their own robot that responded to their commands, although Nintendo's promise of a robot buddy that could play video games with you never lived up to the hype. I wonder what else could have been done with R.O.B. if Nintendo put in the effort. A space exploration game with R.O.B. as your co-pilot? A rhythm game that makes R.O.B. move to the music?

[@jasonblalock4429]

I'm honestly not sure if there was much way to ever make ROB into a good peripheral. It was just so limited in what it could do, not to mention being fairly slow (and noisy!) when moving. And any attempt to integrate him is really just an obfuscated button press. Tell ROB to do something, then wait several seconds for it to happen. I think it was always doomed to be a gimmick.

[@MaidenHell1977]

Amazing, hahahaha I LOVE MICRONICS!

[@k8track]

Hi Jeremy, finally getting caught up on watching all your videos after falling behind. This is another excellent outing. I’m curious: at around the forty second mark, you mention that “the American console market had collapsed under the dismal weight of bad Atari 2600 games.” You’re certainly not wrong, but I just wondered why you showed Dig Dug at that moment, which is a very good Atari 2600 game. It seemed a bit incongruous. When I think of bad, industry-crashing Atari 2600 games, the likes of Skeet Shoot and Airlock spring to mind. In any event, keep up the great work.

[@JeremyParish]

No reason. It was just the footage I had on hand.

[@IanDunbar1]

Yeah, what *is* the hole in Konami's carts for? I'd noticed them previously in their MSX game carts, so it's not a thing exclusive to their Famicom releases.

[@JeremyParish]

They're so that those dudes who carry big ol' janitor keychains around can use the carts as an ornament

[@Atomhaz]

“Wholesome looking chap!” Aka the one and only Howard Phillips. Great Easter egg just in time for Easter Jeremy.

[@JeremyParish]

Wait, HOWARD is the guy who brings me all that candy every year??

[@pentelegomenon1175]

Xevious must be a Japanese thing.

[@rodneylives]

Dr Slump!! VCS Dig Dug might not look like much, but it's definitely one of those games where you're surprised the dog can talk at all. I like to compare 10 Yard Fight to the amazingly popular arcade game Atari Football, which is awesome for a game that came out around the time of freaking Space Invaders. Sadly, now Atari Football is obscure. I tell you, there's no justice.

[@marbyyy7810]

robot block is my favourite gizzard song :P

[@stopmikeandjim3196]

It's pretty funny to think of those lyrics coming from R.O.B.'s perspective

[@malkneil]

Is it me or does Howard Phillips from NES of America look like the insufferable Brian Kuh from King of Kong?

[@ianfredrick383]

Geimos totally reminds me of Imagic's Moonsweeper for the 2600 mixed with Xevious

[@zachreddy]

I dig the Geimos box art, though I do remember a time in the mid-to-late eighties when I had a bunch of Trapper Keepers and calendars and stuff in this sort of style. Maybe Japan got even more stuff like this and was tired of it?

[@RalphBarbagallo]

At this point I want a Micronics t-shirt. Time for some Video Works swag.

[@demonpugo]

I like the idea of irem fixing nintendos stuff. I know it’s somewhat dumb, and you don’t really need it, but I want a power led indicator darn it! It soothes my soul when you get the inevitable dirty cart that doesn’t work.

[@MrMegaManFan]

As always, thank you Mr. Parish.

[@martynau5089]

How are there 2 week old comments when the video just dropped today??

[@HowManyRobot]

I'm assuming there is an early release on Patreon.

[@JeremyParish]

Patreon supporters get to travel backward in time, it's a special perk

[@bokuboke482]

K, maybe if I’d been a kid in mid-80s N.Amerika I might feel that dopamine rush. But no, as a mid-teen in the mid-80s, I couldn’t have kared less about “Rob”. I was busy enjoying the pukey palette of games on my C64. And building scale models of aircraft and spacecraft. Agreed!-that “Geimos” package art was graphically GREAT!! Neat upload, Mr Parish.

[@youdontneedtoseehisidentif4939]

I've watched so many of your videos that the music from _Xevious_ is now turning up in my dreams - and I've never played _Xevious_ ;_;

[@JeremyParish]

All according to keikaku* (*keikaku means Xevious)

[@TroyBlackford]

Diggin' it. I'm here for your vids each week, but I know you being here each week for us with a video is a really great thing.

[@bfish89ryuhayabusa]

Famicom standard burgundy and cream. (and brushed-metal gold and black) I rather like the Famicom aesthetic, and it boggles me that places offering items in both SNES and Super Famicom color schemes only offer NES and almost never Famicom.