Robotic Operating Buddy

For fighter info, see R.O.B. (SSBB).

Robotic Operating Buddy (R.O.B.)
R.O.B. The original Japanese R.O.B. peripheral.
Universe	none
Debut	Stack-Up and Gyromite (1985)
Smash Bros. appearances	Brawl SSB4 Ultimate
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
Species	NES accessory
Gender	None (referred to as male and given a male name)
Place of origin	Earth (Japan & America) and Isle of the Ancients

File:ROBSymbol.png

R.O.B. (short for Robotic Operating Buddy), also called the Famicom Robot in Japan, was an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), intended to disguise it as a toy, rather than a video game, due to toy stores' avoidance of video games after the Video Game Crash of 1983.

Character Description

File:Robotic Operating Buddy.jpg

The North American R.O.B.

R.O.B. was originally advertised as a toy in order to get toy stores in order to alleviate retail fears following the video game crash of 1983. R.O.B. was compatible with two games, Gyromite and Stack-Up and although the player didn't necessarily need R.O.B. to play the games, it still remained a key figure in Nintendo's attempt to keep the video games industry alive.

Although R.O.B.'s time has passed, his legacy lives on, as he was named the fifth in GameSpy's top twenty five smartest moves in gaming history. On the downside, ScrewAttack called R.O.B. the fifth-worst game peripheral ever, citing that it only moved up and down and side to side, was noisy and slow, was nearly impossible to put together by yourself and specifically noted the lack of games you could play with R.O.B..

Despite only appearing as a game peripheral, R.O.B. has made many appearances in games, both in playable and non-playable roles. R.O.B. appears as a playable character in Mario Kart DS. A treasure in the Pikmin 2 game was "Remembered Old Buddy", being R.O.B.'s head and having the initials R-O-B. In Kirby's Dream Land 3, there is a stage where Kirby must complete puzzles in various rooms to collect pieces of R.O.B. for Professor Hector, R.O.B.'s creator in Gyromite, so that R.O.B. can be rebuilt. Robotic-cranes designed in R.O.B.'s image can be seen in the F-Zero GX course "Port Town Aero Dive", which can also be seen in the Brawl stage of the same name. Also, R.O.B.'s legacy is also paid homage to in the Star Fox series where the Star Fox team's robotic helper, ROB 64, was named after R.O.B and 64 as in Nintendo 64.

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

File:R.O.B.jpg

R.O.B.'s artwork in Brawl

R.O.B. is a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. There are also many R.O.B. enemies in the Subspace Emissary and he also appears when the Ancient Minister's clothes are burned off. It sports its Japanese color scheme, being white and red like the Japanese Famicom, though one of its alternate palettes is its North American design, being gray and black like the NES. Overall, the R.O.B. in Brawl looks more realistic than the actual toy. One palette swap (SSBB) looks like a Transformer.

Trophy

The R.O.B. trophy from Brawl.

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

R.O.B. Squad

The R.O.B. Squad is the general term referring to the army and race of R.O.B. enemies in The Subspace Emissary. Although having no real canon of their own outside of the Smash Brothers series, the story of Subspace Emissary suggests that the race of R.O.B. robots called the floating island named the Isle of Ancients their home and was subsequently taken over by Tabuu in preparation for his invasion into the Smash Bros. world.