Full Review

21 April 2006 - Tokobot sees you command a bunch prehistoric robots as you solve puzzles and battle the forces of evil. So is the latest PSP game from Take2 worth the effort? We check it out.

The main crux behind the heavily Japanese influenced platform game is that you play a weedy character called Bolt, who is incapable of fending off bad guys or jumping that high.

To get around this problem, he is given control of a bunch of robots who help him get across jumps, climb walls and beat up the bad guys as they come knocking.

The gameplay, which revolves mostly around puzzles with the odd bad guy thrown in for good measure is simple, but fun.

The Tokobots, with which you start with six, have three different formations; group, straight line behind you and straight line either side of you.

These formations help you solve specific tasks when you come to them and certain baddies have weaknesses that can only be defeated by certain formations.

The straight line behind him formation for example is used to scale walls as by getting the Tokobots to hold hands you can hurl them up parts of the wall which just so happen to be magnised. The same formation can be used for knocking bad guys on the head and knocking them out.

To keep you interested in playing you can also collect bits of old machine lying around or hidden in pots or crates which you have to smash.

Collect enough of these extra bits and they will allow you to activate additional formations and manvuouers. Crane-O-Matic lets you lift heavy objects, while another one called The Samurai Hover combo turns the Tokobots into a giant floating robot which can smash enemies.

VERDICT
And that's it really. The Tokobots themselves are easy to control, although can be annoying at times, especially when an attack command hasn't worked and they are scattered around the place.

Tokobot is a solid game that we enjoyed playing and certainly fun enough to kill half an hour on the train to work. Where the game failed however is a lack of speed and a lack of character.

Overall this won't challenge gamers that much beyond the usual puzzler, but then with a lack of good puzzlers on the PSP at present, this might just keep you or the kids entertained.