"A Robot Named Fight" Review

Few Metroidvania throwbacks wear their influences as proudly on their sleeves as "A Robot Named Fight," an exemplary indie effort from Matt Bitner Games. Genre standbyes such as a cyber-suited hero who jumps in a spinning ball, sealed, blastable portals that link rooms and grotesque, leaping alien menaces.

The twist is that instead of copious backtracking built on rote memorization, the labyrinthine hallways change every time out due to procedural generation. Every outing leas to paths with entirely new twists and turns, forcing you to think on your feet and adapt to the gauntlet set before you.

As charming as it is daunting and intimidating, "A Robot Named Fight" foists considerable challenge at you at every turn, packing staggering boss battles, delightful hidden power-ups and frantic chases. To survive, you need a savvy blend of twitch reflexes and steady forethought.

Since Nintendo and Konami have proven slow at cranking out sequels to the search-and-explore action genre mash-up the publishers popularized in the 1990s, it's fallen to the hands of obsessive developers and appreciative players to carry the torch forward. In "A Robot Named Fight," the hands of Matt Bitner prove to be capable indeed.
Publisher provided review code.