If you've never played Williams' classic arcade hit Robotron 2084, you just might not know exactly what 'frantic' in a video game actually means. Hailed by many as one of the greatest games ever made, this game sucked down money faster than Gene Simmons when it was released in the arcade, which can be largely attributed to the fact that it gets incredibly hard very fast, resulting in players trying again and again to better themselves.

You play as a super human who has been tasked with taking out hundreds upon hundreds of murderous robots and saving the people (the last part is optional); sure, there's a bigger back story, but because in those days it was all about the gameplay, and since the game never actually ends the story, it doesn't really matter at all, does it?

On each level you start in the centre of the screen as the famed hero, surrounded by robots, tanks, Sphereoids [sic - still] and a few civilians running around for dear life. Using the d-pad or analog stick, you can walk in any of eight directions and using the right analog stick or face buttons, you can fire in these same eight directions. One of the original selling factors of Robotron - and where the real skill was needed -was being able to walk with one joystick and fire in another direction with the other joystick; the whole concept was a huge departure from the typical single joystick with a firing button. This can be mimicked well with the analog controller, although since you can only walk or shoot in eight direction, it's just as useful and probably more suitable to use the directional pad and the face buttons, where each button placement corresponds to the direction you fire in.

When all enemies are cleared from the screen it's time to advance to the next wave, which is the same but with more robots that are slightly faster. As you progree, you'll suddenly find new enemies, more civilians (who give you extra lives eventually, if you decide to save them), what appear to be alien creatures and even some barricades to block shots from hitting. The game is hard - really hard - and it gets that way very quickly. Getting to wave 10 can prove difficult to many, yet the game has an achievement for reaching Wave 100! Good luck with that one!

Robotron is one of those titles where the best features are also the worst. It's nearly an arcade perfect port, the only difference being the backdrop floor, which can be toggled on or off. Everything else, from the enemy pixels to the bright seizure-inducing colours, remains perfectly intact from the arcade. Even the sound is spot on from how you remember it. If you remember it, that is; for those who loved it back then Robotron will be a real treat, and a real nightmare if you were no good at it. For those who didn't play it or didn't like it, the latter remains true. With no graphical overhaul like Frogger or Crystal Quest and a staggering difficulty level that cannot be adjusted, Robotron is a hard recommendation for gamers who have no ties to the original.

It's definitely nice that 'tron stays true to the classic, but it would have been just as nice if it included two versions: a modern, graphically overhauled version and the classic original, much like Crystal Quest (which goes for the same amount of points). While some people get as wide-eyed as an animé girl at the thought of playing the original, and understandably so, others just don't want to look at a game like this any more. To its credit, the game plays solidly regardless, and it's a lot of fun to play in short bursts thanks to some tight controls, but seriously, if you're on a component cable set up and you plan to play this at night... please, sit FAR away from your TV set.

Some additions to the game include multiplayer support and leaderboards. With the staggering difficulty, the leaderboards are rendered pretty pointless unless you're very good at the game. Multiplayer comes in two flavours: Versus and Co-op. I'll start with Co-op because it's very interesting, and not completely crippled like the Versus mode. One player controls the movement of your human and another controls the firing; after each level this is switched. It's a cool concept and requires some communication, but it can also end the best of friendships. Be warned! The Versus mode has a nice concept as well, but the execution is flat out dumb. Players compete for the highest scores, but the game ends when one player runs out of lives - yet he can still win if he has the highest score. When you think about that, it means that the player with a good lead is just going to kill himself as fast as possible and thus win the game. Whoopsie! It makes getting those versus achievements a little easier though, I suppose.

Incredibly hard gameplay usually means incredibly hard achievements, and Robotron is not an exception. Getting beyond Wave 5 is easy enough and you can probably kill all enemies in Wave 1 without moving, but staying in Wave 1 for 28 seconds without dying is a bit harder. Getting to Wave 4 in 45 seconds isn't too difficult, once you come to grips with the game, nor is saving all humans on Wave 1 and 2. Getting by Wave 10 is a bit harder and wave 30 or 100? Enjoy yourself! Most of the other achievements involve multiplayer, which you better have a friend to do it with otherwise, it's unlikely you'll find many people to play with.

Robotron 2084 is true to the original and many regard that as one of the best games ever made - but with most other retro games offering some sort of overhauled main mode and the classic alongside it, recommending this is hard for players who simply want more then a port. It was great for its time, but with modern versions of the same concept such as Geometry Wars selling for the same amount of points, this is only for die-hard fans. If you aren't sure you're going to enjoy it after playing the trial version, then you best just skip out on this one.

Reviewed by Christopher Martin for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).