R.O.B. (universe)

R.O.B. (universe)
	;
Developer(s)	Nintendo
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Genre(s)	Puzzle
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
First installment	Stack-Up (1985)
Latest installment	Gyromite (1985)

The R.O.B. universe (ロボット, Robot) refers to the usage of the historically significant Robotic Operating Buddy (R.O.B.) peripheral for the NES as a playable character in the Super Smash Bros. series.

It was first represented in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, with the peripheral appearing as both a playable character and as a set of enemies in The Subspace Emissary. R.O.B. returns as an unlockable character in Super Smash Bros. 4 and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Franchise description[edit]

The logo for the Family Computer Robot

The Family Computer Robot was created in July of 1985 as an experiment into the possibility of an external apparatus separate from the player controlling a video game. Two games were made for this peripheral; Gyromite and Stack-Up. When necessary, the games will flash in a specific way that the robot will detect, triggering it to perform a desired action. The peripheral itself was a niche release in the Famicom aftermarket and, while selling decently well, did not initially have much of a cultural impact. However, its presence outside of Japan is its true claim to fame.

Roughly around the same time as Nintendo's domestic launch of its new video game console, the Famicom, in July 1983, one of the most infamous and historically significant time periods in the video game industry's early timeline was at its height: the two year-long North American video game recession that began in 1983 and heralded the catastrophic end of the second generation of video gaming. The main causes of this crash are an oversaturation of competition spreading customers thin and a general lack of quality control standards leading to a flood of low quality software meant as quick cash grabs. Burned by these events, consumers simply stopped buying video games and the industry as a whole was collapsing.

Around this time, Nintendo created a North American branch dubbed Nintendo of America to study the market and find a way to sell their product in such a turbulent era. The first order of business was to distance Nintendo from the stigma of video games, changing the luxurious Famicom into a toy-like aesthetic, selling it in the toy aisle of stores as the Nintendo Entertainment System. To further sell the idea that the system was a toy, some units of the console were bundled with the Zapper and the robot, now renamed to Robotic Operating Buddy (R.O.B. for short). The two games would also be released for the NES, though not in any console bundles.

The logo for the Robot series of video games.

Gyromite was effectively a side-scrolling game where the controls were split between player-character movement on player 1's Control Pad and environmental effects on player 2's A and B buttons, making it a cooperative game, and R.O.B.'s contribution to Gyromite was effectively as an optional substitute for a second player, where pressing Start on player 1's controller would compel R.O.B. to press an appropriate button on the player 2 controller after going through roughly half a minute's worth of pre-programmed motions. Stack-Up, on the other hand, fared better as software that used the R.O.B. unit itself as a physical game device, where electronically inputting commands with the NES controller would compel R.O.B. to move and drop colored blocks onto stands surrounding its base, though the pre-programmed motions of the R.O.B. unit often knocked blocks off their stands unintentionally.

Analysts and historians argue that R.O.B. had a uniquely profound and important effect in the North American history of video games as a market, allowing Nintendo to turn an accessory that would otherwise be considered a commercial failure that was quickly abandoned into a type of Trojan horse product that put themselves in the good graces of the public and revived the North American video game market and helped it blossom into the multi-billion dollar industry it is today. How much of the early success of the NES is owed to R.O.B, however, is up for debate.

Nintendo has shown itself to hold the R.O.B. unit in high regard, as evident by having it make a number of cameos and even a few playable appearances in a rather large number of its modern-day franchises. Its cameos consist of Kirby being able to collect its parts and reassemble them in a puzzle in Kirby's Dream Land 3, several R.O.B.-centered microgames appearing throughout the WarioWare series, a model of R.O.B. decorating a portion of Port Town Aero Dive in F-Zero GX (which also occurs in the stage of the same name in Super Smash Bros. Brawl), R.O.B. appearing in the Curiosity Shop in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, R.O.B.'s head being a collectable treasure in Pikmin 2, and R.O.B. appearing as on the back portion of the box art of Capcom's Viewtiful Joe. Its playable appearances consist of Mario Kart DS, which marked its debut as a full-fledged video game character and even features a kart that resembles its Stack-Up accessories, and lastly and most notably, the Super Smash Bros. series as of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. The recurring character in Gyromite and Stack-Up named Professor Hector has also made a few cameos like in Kirby's Dreamland 3 and Tetris DS, though he has not seen nearly as much representation as R.O.B.

In addition to cameos and playable appearances, R.O.B. has been referenced in some instances, with the most notable of these occurring within the Star Fox series. ROB 64 references R.O.B. both in name and in function as a robotic assistant, due to his status as the pilot of the Great Fox. However, Star Fox Zero and Star Fox Guard both feature robots that are almost identical to R.O.B. Zero features Direct-i, who is tethered to the Gyrowing and functions similarly to ROB 64 and R.O.B. by being an assistant to the player. Guard features the A.T.K. Unit, which is one of the "combat class" robots in the game that threaten the player's mining facilities. Outside of these instances, StarTropics features a robot resembling R.O.B. named "NAV-COM", who is an important side character.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]

Since the R.O.B. universe only has two games to draw material from, it has minimal representation: it features one character, one item (produced by R.O.B's down special move, Gyro), one music track, and no stages. However, R.O.B. plays an integral role in Adventure Mode, with several different R.O.B.s appearing as enemies.

Due to not having any stages, R.O.B. uses Mario Bros. as his home stage in Classic Mode and All-Star Mode.

Fighter[edit]

R.O.B. (Unlockable): R.O.B. is the only playable character in the R.O.B. universe. His moveset is largely original, although some of his moves are based on the real peripheral; for example, the flashing red light on R.O.B.'s head when his Robo Beam is charged is based on when the red light flashed to indicate that R.O.B. was ready for use with the NES. Once all characters are unlocked, on the character select screen R.O.B. is in the fourth column alongside the Ice Climbers, Pit and Samus, who all originated on the Famicom/NES and are also the only playable characters of their respective universes in Brawl (minus Zero Suit Samus, who does not appear on the character select screen).

Music[edit]

Main article: List of SSBB Music (Nintendo series)

Original Track[edit]

Gyromite: A remix of the title theme of Stack-Up, the game R.O.B. was packaged with. While Brawl mislabeled this track as being the background music from Gyromite, there are some short tracks from Gyromite that are inserted into this remix. It is used on the Mario Bros. stage and is played during R.O.B.'s Character Roll Call.

Victory Theme[edit]

Victory! R.O.B.: Upbeat music derived from Stack-Up's background music.

Trophies[edit]

Trophies which feature R.O.B.s are:

R.O.B. (Series: "Others". Unlock: Clear Classic Mode as R.O.B.)
R.O.B. sporting his Famicom colors. R.O.B. debuted in Japan as Robot in 1985 as an add-on for the Famicom. He could be combined with a "gyro set," etc. for two types of play. The player controlled Professor Hector, the TV emitted light, and R.O.B. responded to the light by moving. At the time, it was epoch-making game play. Recently, R.O.B. appeared in Mario Kart DS.

: Nintendo Entertainment System Robotic Operating Buddy

Diffusion Beam (Series: "Others". Unlock: Clear All-Star Mode as R.O.B.)
R.O.B.'s Final Smash. He emits a beam from his eyes that spreads across the spectrum and undulates in great variety as it travels. What makes this technique different is R.O.B.'s ability to move while using it. This allows him to use it in combination with his other moves to increase his Final Smash's effectiveness.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

R.O.B. Sentry (Series: The Subspace Emissary. Unlock: Use Trophy Stand)
A robot with a two-armed shot. This R.O.B. uses the booster on its base to propel its jumps. Often used in the Subspace Army bomb factory in defense or labor roles, the R.O.B. Sentry also works as a detonator. Its emotional capacity is unknown, but it has utter trust in the Ancient Minister and obeys him unwaveringly. This production model has been made in great numbers.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

R.O.B. Launcher (Series: The Subspace Emissary. Unlock: Use Trophy Stand)
An upgraded R.O.B. model with a missile-launcher head that bolsters firepower. The standard coloring has also been refinished with a green and brown military motif, stylishly accented with a blue cord connecting the arm sections and base. This R.O.B. does not use its arms—attacks are limited to the missiles fired from its head.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

R.O.B. Blaster (Series: The Subspace Emissary. Unlock: Use Trophy Stand)
A R.O.B. model boasting robo-beam-blasting eye lenses suited for long-range combat. There are two types—one acts like a stationary gun, sitting in place and lining up targets, and the other is mobile. Actually, the R.O.B. Sentry also features beam-firing capabilities, but because the roles of the R.O.B. Squad are so well defined, there's no conflict between the ranks.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Ancient Minister (Series: The Subspace Emissary. Unlock: Adventure Mode: The Subspace Emissary)
The commander of the Subspace Army who uses Subspace Bombs to tear up this world. He was once the lord of this world, living on the floating Island of the Ancients with many robots-but the robots were taken hostage on Tabuu's orders. Now that their home's a bomb factory, the robots carry out their functions while enduring deep sadness caused by the loss of their colleagues.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Subspace Bomb (Series: The Subspace Emissary. Unlock: Clear Boss Battles on Easy difficulty)
A weapon that, when it explodes, draws every part of this world within its blast range into Subspace. The areas drawn into Subspace this way float about in bubbles as individual colonies. To detonate a bomb, two R.O.B.'s must be destroyed in the process. The Ancient Minister is bitterly aggrieved by this fact.

: Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Stickers[edit]

Name	Game	Effect	Characters
R.O.B.	Mario Kart DS	[Specials: Indirect] Attack +15	R.O.B.
Robot & Blocks	Stack-Up	[Specials: Indirect] Attack +27	R.O.B.
Robot	Mario Kart DS	[Energy] Attack +32	R.O.B.

In Super Smash Bros. 4[edit]

The R.O.B. universe returns in Super Smash Bros. 4, though unlike in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, its representation is very minimal: while R.O.B. retains his status as the universe's sole fighter, its one song from Brawl is exclusive to Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. As a result, the R.O.B. universe is effectively akin to a "bonus" universe in SSB4, much like how the EarthBound and F-Zero universes were in Super Smash Bros., and how the Fire Emblem universe was in Super Smash Bros. Melee.