Custom Robo

GameCube Europe

Once story mode is out of the way you will discover a gem of a fighter. You just have to persevere through the story. Don’t give up!

GameSpy

Thanks to the huge amount of customization options, this game offers much more depth of gameplay than what's found in your average fighting game. If only so much tedium wasn't involved in accessing all of it.

TotalGames.net

In a nutshell, Custom Robo is a vibrant and entertaining adventure game with more customisation options and robot combinations than you will ever actually see. [JPN Import]

Nintendojo

Although it's not the deepest game out there, Custom Robo is a thoroughly enjoyable action game, and probably one of the best sleeper hits of the spring for Gamecube.

Play Magazine

Graduating from story mode into Grand Battle, you can lost yourself in the game's meticulous art of fighting if you so desire, via a level of give-and-take that knows no bounds (this game could last you months.) [July 2004, p.73]

GameShark

The best part of Custom Robo, and the only reason to play through single player, is the level of customization you get with your miniaturized death machine.

NintendoWorldReport

Although it doesn't look or sound all that great, the awesome gameplay and the long single player mode make for a really good experience overall.

GMR Magazine

This is quality gaming that's both fresh and exciting. [May 2004, p.92]

GamingTrend

It's designed to let newcomers into the 'build your own robot' genre, yet isn't quite expansive enough to keep the diehard gamers happy for an extended period of time. Add in a so-so AI component, and you'll end up with a game that's better played as a multiplayer title.

Nintendo Power

With hundreds of parts to collect and diverse abilities to bestow on your robo, the customization elements are endless! The story starts out a little slow, but it really picks up. [June 2004, p.118]

GameZone

The battles are varied, along with the robots, but after a while, this game does get really repetitious.

Kombo

The lighthearted gameplay, silly innuendo, and general feel of the game are enough to make you crack a smile, even if the shallow story mode makes you sneer.

Gamezilla!

The multiplayer modes make up, in part, for the mistakes of the single player mode – stripping down the game to the essentials of battle – but there still just isn’t enough game here to keep you occupied for very long.

Armchair Empire

While the control can feel “floaty” at times, button mashing is as successful as nuanced control, and the camera can make it hard to keep a bead on your robot, the overall effect of playing 4-player multiplayer is darn fun!

Electronic Gaming Monthly

Though the fighting's great (even when it's on the slightly confusing four-player variety), I can't help but be disappointed by the rest. [June 2004, p.108]

IGN

Amusing for short periods of time. But, I was never compelled to play it. Too many things bothered me, like the "RPG" story mode that isn't really an RPG, the implausibility of the storyline, and how little strategy and skill is required to succeed.

GameSpot

While the level of customization is nice, the RPG section of the game and the actual combat leave a lot to be desired.

G4 TV

A game with this much customization and apparent depth is sure to have its fans, and the extent to which you'll enjoy Custom Robo largely depends on your willingness to overlook the simplicity of the story mode and sink your teeth into the somewhat repetitive battles.

Cheat Code Central

Custom Robo makes a great rental. Keep in mind that the longer you spend with it, the less you'll probably like it.

games(TM)

Battles soon take their toll on your controllers due to their frenetic nature and generally lack the strategy or refinement of many other mechanical adventures. [July 2004, p.110]

WHAM! Gaming

With only a so-so single-player storyline, it's up to Custom Robo's fun but not particularly deep multiplayer modes to carry the game, and it turns out to be a little too much weight for these mini-bots to bear.

Yahoo! Games

It's an uneven mix of the flashy, the goofy, the hectic, and the insipid -- that pretty much sums up the Custom Robo experience.

GamePro

A disappointingly undersized and shallow RPG experience for GameCube owners. [June 2004, p.91]

Game Informer

At a distance, it looks like an RPG, but it's really just a robot-themed "Power Stone" with some weak story elements in between battles. [Apr 2004, p.101]

Computer Games Magazine

The story mode proves dull - heavy on the text, skimpy on the action. [Aug 2004, p.6]

eToychest

Unfortunately, while all of this was very exciting 5 years ago, it just hasn’t evolved since then.

Edge Magazine

Subtitling this Battle Revolution could be considered a breach of advertising standards; it's about as revolutionary as a racing game with powerslides. But while Custom Robo lacks a fresh hook, it's done with such a diligent simplicity that it's hard not to take a shine to it. [July 2004, p.108]

Game Revolution

Its interesting customization feature is effectively buried underneath the mindless fighting and mind-numbing Story.

GamerFeed

An acquired taste. There's so many things that make you really want to delve into its world, but then there's so many limitations that you run into that make you wonder what the point really is.

GameCritics

Everything from the graphics to the storyline feels half-baked.

netjak

This game just bored the life out of me from the second I put it into my GameCube. There are so many problems with Custom Robo that it amazes me that Nintendo was willing to publish it in the first place.