The first Custom Robo surprised me with how much I loved it, and this keeps up the momentum by providing an enhanced experience and not one, but two new campaigns to play through. For this, I managed to find a beta English patch that has unfortunately been abandoned. It’s a big buggy, but the first campaign is fully translated (you just need to be careful about skipping text, as it can crash if you skip when the text box shakes), and the main issues don’t crop up until well into the second (where I switched to using Google Lens to translate the Japanese version).

For the most part, it’s more of the same with a few improvements, but there’s one big change for singleplayer that helps massively.

As you progress though the game, you’ll now unlock different robo designs to use. This wasn’t possible in the first game, so you could only try out the different models in challenge mode or multiplayer. This is a massive boost for singleplayer, as you can now alter how your robo moves – not just speed, but different kinds of jumps – as well as experiment with different attacks. Combined with the extra equipment added, it means a ton more customisation and variety to play around with.

I also found the story itself more engaging, there’s a bigger mystery from the start, it delves even more into the ethics of Custom Robo, as criminals and the police now use weaponised versions, and the mental link between human and robo gets more exploited. There are some compelling characters (a few returning from the first game) and plenty of twists and turns.

The one downside to the campaign is that there are even fewer opportunities to explore, as for most of the game you’re automatically walking to the next location. The game is still immensely good fun to play, but a little bit more freedom would be nice.

The first campaign is a really good length, though, and the story kicks in a lot sooner than in the first game (which felt like an introduction for most of it). The enemies get tougher a lot faster, and seem more capable of pulling off combos and traps using the various weapons, bomb, and pods. You’ll have to work out each enemy’s plan quickly if you want to proceed, although this game is also much more generous with letting you save, which prevents the frustration of losing.

Once you’ve gone though the dramatic story, the game isn’t over: there’s a second campaign to play. This is more focused on battles as you try to complete challenge rooms of 5-6 opponents. These challenges start introducing rules to force you to mix into different styles. The most common is “limited parts”, where you can only use each part in one battle, meaning you have to pick a completely different robo setup for each battle. Others include “rental parts”, where you can only use weapons provided, and sometimes you’ll fight groups of enemies with specific styles (such as long range or short range).

There’s still some story here, as it’s about you getting ready for the Robo Cup (which now feels much more significant than in the first game), and some interesting events crop up, like a mysterious alternative version of you. The three campaigns from the two games have a really good difficulty curve, and forcing the player to adapt to new situations and experiment more is a great way to expand the game. This is a brilliant game.

Fave

In fact, Custom Robo V2 is very much like another ‘breed-and-battle’-style adventure we could mention. Like Pokémon, the fun comes through developing your charge into exactly the kind of canned whup-ass opener you want it to be. Legs not speedy enough? Try any of the other 40+ varieties. Weedy gun? No problem. Fight well enough and you’ll have the laser-spitting potential your heart desired – and then some. Each and every mechanical appendage you earn really does make a difference to the way your robot handles, so customising your fella becomes a genuine labour of love as you attempt to weight up the pros and cons of each new limb and weapon.

Geraint Evans, N64 Magazine #54. Review Score: 84%

Remake or remaster?

A remastered (and officially translated) version of both games would be outstanding, especially if thy could expand the games a little – allow you to explore a bit with some additional side quests and dialogue, and these grand adventures would be wonderful. The graphics are still charming and it controls really smoothly, so it just needs a little spruce up. Nintendo are sitting on something amazing here.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no way to buy a new copy of Custom Robo V2, the only official way to play is to rent it via the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pak in Japan.