The Sad State of Medabots Games

MEDABOOOOOOOOTS
Taking a quick look at the western Medabots titles. They're pretty rough! There's 2 psuedo-fighters and a jrpg. I get the impression that Medabots, or Medarot in Japan, never really had a shot in the west, even though it totally should have. Those designs are peak toy-shonen stuff, and the merchandise was cool. Even the anime was oddly characteristic and well-produced. So let's look at the games and get sad.
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[@TheAzulmagia]

It's so unfair that a series about collectible robots that shoot lasers and flamethrowers isn't more popular.

[@CornBreadtm1]

It would be. If it was pushed even a little anywhere except Japan for more than a a few months. I mean, Gundam was super popular in the west, then they just stopped pushing it. It's not like westerners don't like robots, we love them, Terminator is regarded as one of the best movies along with the Matrix. But Japan just never pushes their robot franchises with any effort.

[@keithragin89]

@@CornBreadtm1 ok

[@Klonoahedgehog]

RPG's where the main gimmick is collecting shit never gains traction in the west because it's always compared to Pokemon in some way. I hate it.

[@keithragin89]

@@Klonoahedgehog ok

[@GamerBoy870]

@@Klonoahedgehog I hate Pokemon so much

[@maraganger]

Character design in Medabot was the slickest thing ever. I miss this type of art style, and Rokusho. Specifically Rokusho.

[@NouKex23]

cyandog/krosserdog is also a really good character imo, imagine a loyal dog that can shoot your enemies and also talk!

[@Ricki5ifty]

FACTS

[@aaxxeell92]

You mean robot sasuke uchiha?

[@maraganger]

@@aaxxeell92 Exactly why I love them lmao B)

[@PaKePo]

Yeah, Metabee was my favorite. I still have my metabee figurine.

[@reviathan3524]

Loved the Medabots rpg one back then. I like games that lets you level up, explore and customize parts

[@oh-not-the-bees7872]

Yeah bud i think we all do

[@jordenfrost2329]

That one for GameCube where you could do a Frankenstein mister style build was the best one

[@mrvfino]

Same. Any more other games like these?

[@MsTatakai]

I really loved that RPG medabot... it had a boring random encounters but was challenging and had strategy ...

[@fckyall2113]

Zaku’s overrated

[@AdrianPlusUs]

Yo, the Medabot RPG was fantastic! It was definitely easier to get through with an emulator and going through battles at 3x speed

[@MsMercedes]

This is one of the first nostalgic "wish this was a real thing in the states" feelings that I can relate to deeply on a personal level. I was sure Metabots was gonna get big someday and then it just didn't, reminds me a lot of my relationship with Duel Masters.

[@nathanielhaven3453]

Don’t you mean drool masters? Either way, strange name for a bubblegum card

[@MsMercedes]

@@nathanielhaven3453 How could I have forgotten that it was called that? Can't believe they thought the Black Licorice flavor was a good idea.

[@Lost_Yeti]

Pretty sure duel masters is still the second most played card game in japan, they just stopped shipping to the rest of the world cause it didn't stick

[@MsMercedes]

@@Lost_Yeti Exactly. Metarot isn't nearly as big in Japan currently, but it equally had a pretty hard time penetrating the western market. Though, while it seems like it's more obscure these days, Metabots seems more fondly remembered than Duel Masters ever really was. Can only hope both can get another shot over here, though I'm pretty sure Kaijudo buried that effort for DM.

[@ekuh78]

@Shin Shaman android game? What android game? I searched for it and found nothing

[@EmporerM24]

B-Daman actually had some fun and interesting games on the GBA, where you could customise your robots. It was pretty sick

[@Nathan-rb3qp]

Bomberman getting crucified INTENSIFIES.

[@gregsanders61]

The Medabots RPGs are sick. I can respectfully disagree with you on them.

[@DeathHasAMeaning]

I love the medabots RPG's but they are pretty bad. the battles are a slog. you can be instantly killed or can kill instantly at any point in battles, its very slow, there is 0 variation, and there are a few mechanics they straight up don't explain to you at all.

[@Speculativedude]

@@DeathHasAMeaning Agreed, and because it is random encounters, the battles feel way too repetitive.

[@jironamos7650]

@Shin Shaman Medarot 5 is probably the most advanced GBC game ever created, it made Pokemon look like a piece of shit even at that time.

[@3ndg4m3]

I think it was the first game I played with multiple romance options. At the time, that really stood out to me.

[@jironamos7650]

@@3ndg4m3 And when you think about the fifth game then that one had like thrice the dating options. It would have been cool if they ported the 5th game to the GBA instead of the 2nd, it would have easily become one of the best GBA games.

[@niwatorimeat]

Also Medarot Girls Mission was weird wasn't it. Never knew it didn't get localized. (Clunky game, the only good thing to come out of it was the official short manga by Z-ton. That man can draw girls, monster girls and even mechs.)

[@jksanrio]

Many new toys in the Japanese industry like spinning toys and playing with marbles are based on traditional toys Japanese children used to play with and would occasionally learn about in school as “toys from the olden days”, so since all kids had their hands on tops and marbles from school, making epic versions based on those would be really easy sells since they make sense to everyone immediately. Metabots, on the other hand, are just super cool. That’s all they need. Edit: if you can ever find a way to read the metabot manga, you would really enjoy it. It is parallel to the anime but focuses on a different character.

[@Exorcist92]

Glad to see Custom Robo mentioned. Hope we get a full Kbash video on it

[@j.l.9689]

God yes please this so much. An even more underappreciated and obscure gem.

[@thatboyb8659]

Brooo when he mentioned it my memory got unlocked immediately! Such a good game

[@completelyferrouschemist6776]

Metabots is one of the sorest spots for me, not only because of localization issues, but because EVERYBODY I talk to seems to remember it in some capacity. "Yeah, that was pretty cool, I saw some toys on the shelf at Toys'R'Us back in the day and I remember seeing an episode or two on TV." Just... What the hell? How is this NOT more popular?

[@bigrubberfist2945]

Literally got this in my recommended out of nowhere and I just have to say mad respect for talking about medabots it's actually been 12 years since I've even seen or heard anything about it. I remember playing it for the Gameboy advanced metabee Ax and as much as it is clunky I loved it.

[@neoflashjf]

If somebody made a custom robo mod to look like medabots, that would officially be the best medabots game lol

[@chimuoma390]

Hadron VS Mega-Emperor!!!!!Death Battle!!!!!!FIGHT!!!!!

[@hagishin00]

"WOW METAL" -Ikky Tenryou that's the only phrase apart from holy medaroly that I remember from the game

[@editorgt8623]

After hearing what you want from the medabots games I'm wondering what you'd think of Gundam breaker 3

[@gettingannoyedquick]

That and M.A.S.S Builder are my go to custom robot games I recommend for people unless they have a ps3 to run armored core

[@Abearnamedfrederick]

One of my earliest memories was playing the Fire Emblem-esque GBA medabots games and then begging my mother to buy it for me for months and months - only to repeatedly soft lock myself with god awful builds only a 7 year old child could construct over and over again. I think now would be a good time to go back and beat it with my (hopefully adequate) adult faculties; thanks for this little reminder, Kbash!

[@del46_60]

What was the name of the game? I didn't know they had an SRPG.

[@Atlas_Azimuth]

You know!!! Same though tbh lol. So much fun but god was I dumb with builds and just wanted to use whatever was cool lol

[@aikou2886]

Never played Fire Emblem but I think you're describing Medarot Navi, my favorite game (Kuwagata version specifically). It was pretty much playing chess with medarots, wasn't it?

[@hemangchauhan2864]

Why does KBash decide to review all games I was playing/reading about back in college days. What is this uncanny ability?!

[@OptimusHighMegaBong]

I love this anime and gba games adaptations . The whole concept of keeping a piece of your opponents bot is awesome to me 👍

[@AizakkuAnalysis]

Oh, Medabots. I remember begging my dad for the GameCube game. Only to play it once and never want to touch it again. 😂

[@frostnova2144]

because noone on earth expected it to be a weird puzzle platformer

[@plasmodius9449]

if I did that I'd feel so bad that I would just force myself into playing the game through and convincing myself that I liked it lol

[@AizakkuAnalysis]

@@plasmodius9449 Lol, I appreciate that he did that for me. But when you only get one game a year and it's that bad. I just couldn't. I played multiplayer with my brother and it still didn't make it any better.

[@doxiswolfenstein]

I really enjoyed Medabots RPG, not so much AX or Infinity but I was still really excited to find them in stores way back when. Real shame they've abandoned the west, RIP getting the collection..

[@GamerJrdn]

I wish a publisher would give the series a second chance with one of the newer titles

[@micksmith1812]

One of the better 'for kids animes' from my childhood. Always thought it could do well as a fighting game or arena fighter where you could switch out parts for different special moves but cant see that happening anytime soon

[@SageofLight777]

Holt shit, someone talking even tangentially about Custom Robo in the year 2021...now I long for the (hopefully) eventual video(s) on the two (as far as I'm aware) games we got here in the west.

[@mitchtheninja5864]

Japan definitely got the good Medabots games. I genuinely loved Medarot Dual's gameplay, and the 3DS Medarot rpgs are actually pretty good. Lots of strategy and parts to collect. Unfortunately we'll probably never see any of those localized because the 3DS is "outdated" now and someone bought up the trademark for Medabots and is using it to make horrible mobile games. They even issued an injunction against Imagineer, the original rights holder, to prevent them from marketing any Medabots games in the West. Medabots will always be one of those series that deserved way more than it got.

[@DigiBrad]

I just received two Medabot plastic model kits (to assemble) and now this video comes out, this is a great day

[@kazual6149]

I'm so glad you made this video. I tried talking to my buddys about this the other day and they just stared blankly at me.

[@cesco1990]

There was a 3D battler for Medabots for a short time too but it got taken offline for some reason I believe. Was pretty cool for its time from what I remember.

[@ezequiel6575]

i really wish your videos blow up more the effort on them is incredible

[@patrickrosario407]

Your cutaway intros are always so damn hilarious my dude lmao

[@NotTheWheel]

I remember medabots, I remember watching it AND it just so happened they sold the medabot figures at my dollar store so my Mom bought me like almost all of them when I was young. It came with some weird cylinder dice? but like you could mix and match the pieces it was so cool. Don't be too impressed tho, lots of things in Japan have cool stuff like animes, mangas, card games, video games etc even for the most short lived of franchises. Japanese love of merchandising is one of my favorite things about the Japanese.

[@darkhaven9119]

I love your videos bro you have great content and you’re funny asf. You definitely have the quality and deserve at least 100k plus subs. Hopefully you get to 100k soon! You’re close.

[@dannyshroyer5770]

The one where they have to run to the middle and have the dope cutscenes where they attacked was THE SHIT. I absolutely loved that game and have no clue how many times I beat it

[@fireproofhail]

We gotta get this man kbash to 100k subs😮💯!! also forgot about this series definitely was locked in the back of my early 2000s mind..

[@AsprosOfAzeroth]

I remember being a 10 year old kid in the early 2000s and watching the original series. The arc that put the normally stoic Rokusho (

[@shawninverted8551]

mandatory comment to support the channel, 'cause our boy KBash absolutely slays every one of these videos and doesn't get the love and attention his efforts and passion deserve

[@SECONDQUEST]

The running back and forth in medabots 1 on GBA is just a "cool" way to do ATB gauges.

[@ZenoDLC]

Until you get a few Destroy parts, any of Sunnywitch's parts, watch the terrains...

[@niwatorimeat]

I appreciate Medarot... or rather the Medarot NAVI manga for introducing me to the mecha designs of Kenki Fujioka. Love Kenki's take on Medarots (the bulk of NAVI-Medarots) and Gundam (Advance of Zeta).

[@davidsterling7570]

When you mentioned hunting for goofy dialogue in older RPGs I thought about Custom Robo on the Gamecube, and the absolute bonkers amount of goofy, useless optional dialogue. Then I'm pretty sure you played some Custom Robo music at 5:30, was perfect. Heard some Star Fox Assault multiplayer music too; good stuff!

[@chimuoma390]

Ray II Dark Versus Arcbeetle!And Hadron Versus Mega Emperor!DEATH BATTLES!!!!FIGHT!!!!!!FUNCTION CEASED!!!!MEDABOTS PREVAIL!!!!!

[@ArkayeCh]

I remember playing this twice as a kid and an adult. The story was surprisingly dark for a kids collectible game. A lot like the Megaman Battle Network games. Also, Rokusho was the edgelord Medabot.

[@klokar21]

The first medabots games we got in the west was pretty fun, i wish there was more of a post game though, like an option to collect all the rare parts because there are some medabots you can not possibly get all parts like Robo-emperor and Blackram who are mainstays of the anime.

[@halol537]

Kbash never disappoints with these intros

[@PanthalassaRo]

Oof that Medabots opening truly awoke some fond memories, after the video I'm gotta watch the anime again.

[@Bloodshade]

Oh man I love the Big Bad Beetleborgs. Gotta catch them all amirite. Kidding aside though, Angewoman got my engine going

[@Claego]

There was also a Macromedia shockwave player game. And I remember an online game where you build your own robot with various parts. Can't seem to find a playable version anywhere. I think it was called Robattle 3D

[@MrSandmanTBB]

Kbash upload? Pog

[@skvltdmedia]

Our beloved Medas absolutely deserved more, and it's not like we didn't get Custom Robo and LBX that would've been absolutely amazing damn engines where bots would've thrived, but no, can't have nice things.

[@kagerockman]

The opening hype of Kbash always hits right here. 🤣

[@sokumotanaka9271]

Man I miss medabots, it's anime and concept can lead to so many great games continuations, toys and many other medias only to be lost to time. It really says how dead it is when you look it up on twitter and see the last thing from it was from 017 the fans even vanished...it's really sad

[@ZenoDLC]

Well, if you're stuck with just English...

[@Uno_Hunter]

When Medabots came to the US, on the website we had 3D Robattle where we could battle and customize parts I think.

[@vlackz]

Yep. I remembered that. It was fun. But takes a long time collecting parts.

[@sallbanjoman1790]

funny thing, i initially found this channel because i was looking for a mana series retrospective kind of thing and i ended up watching all of this channel's videos... multiple times in some cases Edit: also it was the soul calibur series... actually now that i think of it, it may be the soul calibur series that brought me to this channel, either way, love your channel, keep up the good work!

[@72SpidersWeb72]

Man I did the same amount of research as you did. I loved this series. It something that sticked with me to my adult hood. I even bought medabots AX and a ds to play on it. Thinking about the toys next. Should I?

[@Ichigo111293]

You are now legally obligated to make a Custom Robo Retrospective 💙

[@landoncore92]

Your final statement in this video was really poignant and hit close to home for me man. Love your work.

[@hellsing219]

I always end up playing the gba ones to remember this great anime and franchise

[@sharlo1691]

the Megaman Command Mission battle background music is fire🔥

[@crh1985]

Bedabots loves on in Digimon… was atleast 2 of them and they even gave then a Omnimon (Omagamon) form in Omedamon

[@SoDeepSoFineCOD]

Medabots metabee and rokusho edition are one of the most underrated games from GBA ever.

[@gilsonmr]

12:02 Nice Undead Rogue. Have this same one here. But its broken in lots of small places

[@Luxocell]

Man this video was great and it conveys very well many points and thoughts I've had in my head for a decade at least. But I was hoping maybe you would illustrate me on the JP Medabots games lol I remember being amused at the thought of a 3ds Medabots game, but never even tried it because of language barrier (10 yo me would have laughed at me for saying that btw)

[@kimfalleiro]

oh man i really hope they end up making a really good new Medabots game i remember really liking a gameboy advance one i think that was a pretty cool fighter with up to 4 medabots and some customization

[@mattsumner9157]

since you mentioned final fantasy tactics.......what r your thoughts on the remake rumor?

[@s7121n9s]

I loved Medabots. I wish we had more updated games for it. Wait, there's a card game for it?! Where TF was that when I was little?!

[@M1N0rZ1rC0N]

I remember playing a medabots game on the fox Kids web site were you control the bot and get parts from a over the shoulder camera

[@gnardawgyt]

Your videos never fail to make me laugh. Make a video about Astro Boy: Omega Factor!

[@joaoguilhermenextlevel302]

by the title i thought you where going to talk about the new medabots game, and the meda coin

[@DeadxBreadx]

Looking forward to watching this soon! Hoping you rap in this one. Lol

[@GigaMan91]

Will you make a video about Custom Robo. There is so little content on that series. The GameCube game is one of my favorite games on the GameCube.

[@empera13yt7]

I loved and still love meta bots,I remember McD's ran a promo for the toys,I miss my metabee finger toy :(

[@justsomejojo]

I remember finding the first game(s) in this video through a reddit thread a few years ago and promptly tried it. I actually would have loved the somewhat turnbased RPG game, but all I can remember (besides the ridiculous dialogue) was the fact that 80% of attacks missed unless you had a Rokusho head (I think) which was only in the Rokusho version of the game. Despite this frustrating balance issue, the game actually made me check out the anime and I enjoyed it quite a bit (despite watching at 27 or something). The simple art style somehow really did it for me. Funny story though, when I later wanted to buy the thing, I accidentally bought the AX game and super bounced off it. I ended up getting the actual RPG on Wii U even later. Kind of a shame nothing became of it here. (and I'm in Europe, so I saw nothing of it legitimately afaik)

[@sukamadik5983]

Nostalgia hit me hard right now

[@Hanketsu]

D=Check if there is a HK release planned. Its really easy to make an offshore account for the Switch and it works regularly. Speaking from experience with SRW and Legacy of The Duelist LE in Japanese. Even better if you get the physical.

[@Imp_Counter]

Custom Robo is one of my favorite childhood game

[@R-SXX]

Custom robo on ds was my JAM back in the day

[@blakeunderwood8364]

I def played metabots before the internet and didnt get far but I collected the toys that can exchange parts with one another

[@osiahene]

The original Medabots anime is the best thing about the franchise (the same could be said about Digimon tbh). Is it time for the Mega Man Battle Network video yet?

[@gabrielcastejon7914]

Check out Medabots Dual for 3DS. It looks amazing. (And also Medabots Girls Mission, it has the same gameplay but very lewd if you can believe it)

[@nexusgiga]

your end speech made me feel like a fandom zombie at this point

[@XxImStarvingxX]

This show was a classic

[@Jauloid]

The one on the GBA is a hidden gem

[@TheBucket86]

Have you tried out Medarot Navi? I played it a long time ago, and really enjoyed it. Shame it was Japanese only.

[@Cryzes]

Now that's a really good game!! Always wanted Medarot Navi to be fan translated. And the whole SRPG made the game so much more interesting than the Medabots games. Story wise it also seemed pretty far ahead and art style 10/10

[@oumono]

All I remember about that first metabots game (the only one I played) is some chicken parts which would break at least one enemy part if they were on their way back to their side. So I had all 3 medabots run that, because what else is destroying a part in a single hit?

[@austinhatfield]

I’m in a discord server where we’ve made a randomizer for the medabots rpg, it makes the game wild and very fun

[@rochendlywouters9113]

Yooo I completely forgot about this, the moment i read the name i remembered everything!!!

[@animegx45]

Fun fact: There's a fan-done english translation for Medarot/Medabot R you can download and play. It was for the playstation, also a JRPG, and features all of the Medabots from Medarot 2 (and more), but in 3D graphics. Not an official port, but it's more Medabots.

[@18010gp]

Isn't the switch region free? I get some games on playasia and it works fine. I don't understand much but it's fun when I play the games like tsukihime

[@Klonoahedgehog]

It's great for more recent Japanese games that have more cinematic stories and quest markers for easy access to players. The problem comes when playing old games ported to modern consoles this way and ALL you have is walls of Japanese text.

[@SlickTactics]

I had rokusho ver and love it as a kid

[@crypto_cowboy9279]

Do you know about medacoin and the new medabots game being released?

[@BladedArrowTBGamer]

I played the medabots rpg game growing up. We didnt have a lot of money so I got a lot of mileage out of the game and holy shit I loved it., Got me into the anime (my grandma bought it for me for christmas one year randomly she would buy anything that "looked weird" but had a family friendly rating she also ended up buying my kingdom hearts and jak n dax) love love this game

[@Jesus-hu4lq]

Its pretty crazy I remember they did cross overs with digimon though it was an april fools joke and then one with megaman battle network but it was a Japan only mobile game

[@jacktaylor6155]

Good sentiment at the end

[@mrsora16]

I loved the metabots rpg I had the rokusho version and before I lost the game I never changed my main bots parts lol.

[@AudioGAWD]

I loved this show so much.

[@SimplyMarque]

I had all the little toys as a kid so this is a weird memory to unlock

[@hellsing219]

when you said golden sun I subscribed lol

[@ashley2449]

i could always remember having seen the pilot of medabots when i was a really little kid and i couldnt for life of me remember what it was called. I even asked all my friends who are around my age if they knew what I had seen and none of them had a clue what I was talking about needless to say im so glad you made this video you unlocked a core memory of mine and now finally after all these years I finally know what this stupid fucking franchise is called!

[@okaminodin4321]

Every time someone talks about Custom Robo I forget the DS one isn't the only one XD

[@TheSentinelStone]

You get a like and a sub for talking about Custom Robo. I loved that game on GameCube and still have my copy of the DS game!

[@GrayMongerArk]

I want them to remake medabots Infinity on all consuls playing on the game cube makes nostalgic

[@GhostFrost24]

It sure bring back memories this almost forgot about this game thanks bring back mebabot but is Aslo to same as the LBX.

[@tevin1633]

I haven’t thought of metabots since the 90s not mad at the you tube algorithm on this one