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Top 10 Rad Robots in Video Games

Top 10 Rad Robots in Video Games

If video games have nothing else, they sure do have a lot of robots. Most of the time you’re smashing, shooting, or otherwise destroying them. But sometimes, robots are the heroes, the big bads, the villains at the end. Sometimes they’re only part-robot, or sometimes they’re dope-ass mobile suit weapons. Either way, robots are cool, and video games are full of cool robots. So here are our ten favorite robots in video games. Yes, we left a lot out, because there’s a million, so let us know which gaming robots you like the most at the end.

RoboCop

RoboCop

We’ll get RoboCop out of the way first, since this one is cheating a bit. Not originally a video game character, RoboCop is the star of several movies and a one-time WCW wrestler (sort of). But RoboCop was also a big deal in the multimedia world, and Data East developed an arcade game based on the first movie that people actually really liked! In fact it did well enough that several more games came out with each movie, coming in various forms on various platforms. Unfortunately, the last developer to get the IP into game form was Titus, a company better known for Superman 64 . So it’s been a while since we’ve seen RoboCop on consoles. We miss him, though.

Sasuke

Sasuke

Here’s my more obscure pick of the list. Sasuke is one of the many supporting characters in the Legend of the Mystical Ninja series from Konami, also known as Ganbare Goemon in Japan. We’ve only seen a handful of the games localized, but the first game on the Nintendo 64 was a crazy mix of Zelda -style exploration and dungeon crawling, with ludicrous, first-person, giant robot battles. It’s one of my favorite games of all time, and Sasuke was great! After repairing him with a battery, Sasuke was super agile, and had a unique set of tools that opened the game up to new discoveries.

Clank

Clank

The Ratchet and Clank series is still going today, although Insomniac is talking a break to make that little Spider-Man game. While Ratchet usually got top billing, without Clank there wouldn’t be nearly as much accented sarcasm and little puzzles to break the monotony of shooting everything in sight. Secret Agent Clank was also a thing that happened on PSP that many fans remember fondly. Give it up for Clank.

Metal Sonic

Metal Sonic

Metal Sonic is just a crazy, anime robot version of Sonic with a serious mean streak. He’s not always the most threatening presence, but he’s scary as hell in Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and really great in Sonic the Hedgehog the Movie . He’s a bit on the boring side in many of the 3D games, but Sonic Mania makes great use of the recurring villain.

Jehuty

Jehuty

Zone of the Enders never gets enough credit. It’s one of the few times Hideo Kojima was able to sneak away from pumping out Metal Gear sequels, and the creative breath of fresh air really shows in both games, especially the sequel. While largely paying homage to the likes of Mobile Suit Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion , this series has plenty of its own appeal, especially the badass mobile suit designs. The main suit, Jehuty, is especially great across its various incarnations.

The Geth

The Geth

The Geth count as both a race of sorts, as well as one singular conciousness. One of the products of the more hard sci-fi elements of the first Mass Effect , the Geth took classic themes of life vs artificial intelligene and threw in some unique hooks to make this version distinctly compelling. Commander Shepard has to both deal with the Geth as a mortal threat, as well as the greater cultural and societal implications of their presence, history, and conflict with the Quarians. When Legion comes along, another new dimension is added as we look at how the Geth can grow and change, despite being manufactured.

GLaDOS

GLaDOS

GLaDOS is either great or terrible depending on how much you could tolerate the same lines being repeated over and over by armies of nerdy fans around the time Portal rose to prominence. GLaDOS was the driving presence behind Portal ‘s dark sense of humor, and despite being a robot was full of a personality that won everyone over.

Raiden

Raiden

Raiden started out as a human who shocked the world by being the main character of Metal Gear Solid 2 instead of Solid Snake. When he reappeared in Metal Gear Solid 4 , the divisive reception to Raiden led to a total rehaul of his character in every way imaginable. He became a cyborg samurai, after a whole bunch of horrible stuff happened to him off-screen. But then Metal Gear Rising happened, and he became even more cybernetic, but also several times more awesome. Jack the Ripper, folks. Just play that damn game.

Robo

Robo

When you come across Robo in Chrono Trigger , you’re not quite sure what to expect. He’s more of an inconsequential character, a participant in the story who doesn’t neccessarily move or shake the overarching plot in major ways. But he’s there to, despite being a big ol’ bucket of nuts and bolts, add some extra heart to the experience. Robo is one of the most endearing members of the cast, and if you don’t love him after the first time you hear his theme music, you’re probably not a very fun person to be around.

Mega Man

Mega Man

Yeah, this was pretty predictable. What could anyone possibly say about the Blue Bomber that hasn’t been said already? Little guy’s a legend. Mega Man is one of the most enduring single characters in all of video game history, and there’s a reason why. Nobody has been able to capture the same magic of the Mega Man games, with their intense, finely-tuned action, memorable boss characters, and god-tier music. Sure, the modern versions haven’t all been great, and declining sales led to a period of dormancy, but hopefully that will all change with Mega Man 11 .

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