Game: RoboDunk
Genre: Action, Arcade, Sports
System: Steam (Windows) (Also on PS4, Xbox & Nintendo Switch)
Developer|Publisher: Jollypunch Games
Controller Support: Yes
Price: US $14.99 | UK £12.99 | EU € 14,99
Release Date: September 25th, 2023
Review code provided with many thanks to Stride PR.
The Return of Fun
Once upon a time in gaming history, sports video games were fun and exciting. We once had over-the-top snowboarding games like SSX and brutal hockey games like Mutant League Hockey. Even sports games that took themselves more seriously, such as tennis or golf, provided plenty of entertainment with friends on those rainy days when you just couldn’t play the sport for real.
Then modern gaming happened, where all serious sports games are held hostage by AAA developers and have turned into dull gotcha games. If you want to find a more casual, fun sports game, it usually has Mario before the title. But as with all dark times, a shining light beckons on the horizon. And that beacon is the army of indie developers coming over the mountain with new, original ideas, not exploitative mechanics.
The sports game revolution for me began back in the early Switch life with Golf Story, a flawed but ultimately very enjoyable golf game. Unlike the rogue-lite genre, the trickle of sports games is slow. However, it’s about to receive a heavy injection of awesome in the form of RoboDunk, the most exciting game of basketball I have played in video games, probably since the Mega Drive era. It also features robots and roguelite mechanics.
Two vs. Two
The game is basketball, two vs. two players. You can play the game alone or with friends locally. You can play a friendly match, endless mode or dunk into campaign mode, where you take on various robot opponents one after another until you get beat. This mode can be played in local co-op. The rules are simple: it’s basketball. Grab the ball, run to the opponent’s net and dunk as many hoops as possible within the very short time limit. The game models itself after classic arcade sports games like NBA JAM, a much-loved classic still enjoyed by gamers today.
Pick up and Play
So, what does RoboDunk do differently? Well, it turns out quite a lot. Controls are pick up and dunk but take time to master fully. You have your expected controls like tackle, pass and shoot. Dunking the ball in the net could not be easier. Get close to the net, hold the dunk button and watch a little meter fill up, indicating how powerful your dunk will be. Release when ready, followed by a prompted button press, and you will score up to four points. Getting the epic four-point dunk is very satisfying as your robot will fly into space before ploughing the ball down into the net and literally breaking the net itself. It’s moments like these that had me standing up and cheering in triumph, something I rarely do in games.
RoboDunk briefly pulled me out of depressive funks with its spectacle. Obviously, be wary of your opponents. The longer you charge, the more vulnerable you are to a last-moment tackle. But the risk-reward is often all part of the excitement. It’s not all tackling and dunking. While you can get by with these simple moves initially, you’ll need to make the most of some extra robot tricks as the difficulty ramps up. If you have the ball, you can use a shield to block opponents tackles.
Each robot can even use a weapon to make things harder for the opposition; this could be a mine or a turret. It is usually in limited supply, indicated by a small brick above the player’s head. It took me a while to really get my head around all these mechanics, but it provided appealing flexibility to the gameplay, allowing the player to alter strategies quickly on the fly.
Rogue-lite Elements and Random Generation
This is one of the very few sports games I know that incorporates roguelite elements and random generation. When you play a match, the rules for each level are randomly created, including the number of rounds and the hazards that will appear. Before a match begins, you can choose a few stat buffs to each player’s abilities, like passing or dunking. While the general rules are the same, you never quite play the same match twice, keeping things fresh and interesting.
Sometimes rounds are super short; others, you’re dealing with super glue on the field. Whether you win or lose, you accumulate coins or caps similar to what you see in Lego games. These are then exchanged for various permanent upgrades. You can invest them in a skill tree to unlock new abilities and perks between matches. You can also sink coins to unlock new players and upgrade their abilities in their own skill tree.
My only niggle regarding the game is it’s one heck of a grind to unlock these new perks. You can slightly increase your cash output by changing up your players, but depending on how well you have upgraded them, this could put you at a greater disadvantage against stronger AI opponents. There is no denying that RoboDunk, at its core, is darn fun to play and may make an appealing game night game with friends. Even if people are new, controls are shown during loading screens as a handy reminder of how to play.
Robot Wars
Since this is a sports game, I wasn’t expecting the most deep and engaging story. The world-building from the developers is quite impressive. The game doesn’t contain long, boring cutscenes or pages of text. Instead, things are kept simple, in line with the developer’s likely limited budget. When you finish a match, you often unlock a page of lore. This could be a short description of the individual player, a whole team and even the courts themselves.
Usually, I don’t find myself engaging in codex pages, but I have to say I was kind of taken by this robot universe trying to learn the meaning of DUNK. You can tell the care and attention from the developers, as the images used for the players show actual models made out of connector bricks, along with crediting their creators. It’s an impressive amount of depth, but if you choose to only engage in the gameplay, it doesn’t interrupt your game of basketball. You can totally skip over it and still have a good time.
Brick By Brick
Graphics are simple but unique. Presented in 3D sprites and environments. The animations feel like they are stop motion, which may make sense since they were built out of bricks in real life before being transferred into digital form. There is a huge variety of robot players to unlock and play with, each with unique appearances and stats.
I liked the small touches of how you hear the creaking of robot arms and gears as the robots move around the court. There is a feel of simplicity to the environment; after all, you are just playing on a court with two nets on either end. Once again, the developers rocked it with the resources they had and still provided plenty of variety in their presentation. Lava courts, underwater courts and good old standard-looking courts. It has more variety than almost all modern sports games released today despite a simple colour palette and low poly appearance.
Steam Deck
This is the very first game I have reviewed on my new flashy Seam Deck. During the review process, the game is yet to be verified. But I am pleased to say it was very playable on Steam Deck, running as well portably as on my PC. If portability is your preference, you won’t be disappointed.
Conclusion: Slam Dunk
RoboDunk is easily the best sports video game I have played in a very long time. Bringing the excitement and spectacle of basketball into a fun pick-up and play experience that becomes all the deeper for players who choose to take the time to master it. Fun alone and with friends in both long and short bursts of gameplay. If I had to nitpick anything, the game could feel a little grindy to unlock new content and upgrade your players. Otherwise, this is an utter slam dunk from the developers.
Final Verdict: I Like It a Lot
A free demo is available on Steam if you want to dunk before you buy.