Robot Wars: Metal Mayhem

Robot Wars was a British television show involving competitors fighting each other with pre-built and custom made remotely controlled vehicles (refereed to as Robots on the show) with the goal usually being to immobilize your opponent.

The original version lasted nine seasons (seven normal and two 'Extreme') and had several tie-in games made during its run. Most of which ranged from terrible to decent, but Metal Mayhem (the first one) is almost universally considered the worst of the bunch.

Why It Can't Spell Mentorn Barraclough Carey's Name Right

 * 1) There was no way the now aging Game Boy would be able to do a game of this nature justice. So putting it there was already a death sentence.
 * 2) There is an almost complete lack of physics in the game, the only way to flip a robot is through the floor spikes as the arena flipper is completely absent and Competitors with flippers just tear away at opponents life bar like they where axes.
 * 3) No destruction physics either. Robots just catch fire once their life bar depletes.
 * 4) The House Robots have no AI, they will just attack you once you enter their CPZ (Corner Patrol Zone) and won't follow you out of it.
 * 5) The opponent AI ain't much better and will just follow your robot in a straight line even trough hazards.
 * 6) The low resolution graphics means many of the robot designs had to be simplified and some lost their most distinct features.
 * 7) Said resolution combined with the isometric view also makes it hard to see what's coming ahead, since only a small part of the arena is shown around your robot. Because of the perspective and poor graphics, Sir Chromalot and Diotior only have two dimensions.
 * 8) Only one song that plays continuously on a loop and will quickly become annoying.
 * 9) No in fight commentary, which makes sense considering this is the Game Boy we are talking about, but that asks yet another question for why the game is on this platform. Johnathan Pearce's commentary is part of the reason why the show was so popular, so his absence in the game makes it feel more soulless.
 * 10) Weird choice of roster. While well known machines like Chaos 2, Panic Attack and Behemoth are present, the roster also features mostly unknown machines like Dundee, Purple Predator and Crasha Gnasha (which lost its battle almost immediately to Fire Storm, another robot featured in the game), all of which only fought a single battle. Other fan favorites like Razer and Hypno-disc are nowhere to be seen, as are previous semi/grand finalists like Mortis, Killertron, King Buxton, Cassius, or even the original champion, Roadblock.
 * 11) The game is teeming with errors and inaccuracies including, but not limited to:
 * 12) *Chaos 2's weapon is listed as a Pneumatic Axe rather than a Flipper.
 * 13) *X-Terminator using its Series 4 colour scheme (silver) instead of its Series 3 scheme (red and orange).
 * 14) *Thermador going by the name Thermidor II, again despite being based on Series 3.
 * 15) *Even the producer's credit is misspelt! Mentorn Barraclough Carey (the correct spelling) is written as Mentron Baraclough Carey.
 * 16) False advertising: heat finalist Ultor (famous for winning its heat, and then conceding its place for another robot) is visible on the back of the box, but is nowhere in the game.
 * 17) No two player mode, which is disappointing for a game like this.
 * 18) Very little replay value since everything is unlocked from the start.

Reception
Robot Wars: Metal Mayhem received almost exclusively negatively reviews when it released. Robshi of GameFAQ concluded that the game was an insult to the show and recommended people to stay the hell away from it, while Dracophile of Twilight Foundry claimed that he would rather eat his Game Boy than having to sit through the game again.

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