TransBot
System: SMS
Release Date: October 1986
Developer: Sega
Publisher: Sega
Genre: Shoot ‘Em Up
TransBot is a barebones Shoot ‘Em Up for the Sega Master System. Humans are finally returning to the surface after nuclear war drove them to the underground. As they rebuild society, a rogue AI names DALAUS started to take over and try to destroy the humans’ new society. Flying the new CA-214 transforming astro-plane, it’s up to you to destroy DALAUS forever.
TransBot consists of 2 ever looping levels. One above ground, the other below. Gameplay in both is the same and is typical side scrolling shoot ‘em up. Enemies come on screen from both directions and you earn points by blowing them out of the sky. While playing, you learn the general patterns that each enemy type throws at you.
You can collect ‘?’ bubbles after destroying ARM carrier trucks. This starts an A-G roulette at the top of the screen. If your timing is good, you can pick which power up you receive. ‘A’ is the normal gun and is similar to ‘B’ beam, which is a bit wider. ‘C’ is a sword fire that was as tall as the standing CA-214 and would travel through enemies. ‘D’ is a cannon that is powerful and fast, destroying enemies directly in front of you. ‘E’ is the diffusion beam, which is a fancy way of saying a spread shot, probably my second favorite. ‘F’ is two direction fire, shooting in front of and behind you, not very good. ‘G’ replenishes your health and ammo.
Each power up weapon comes with a certain amount of ammo, which is displayed on the ARM meter. If you run out of ammo, you revert back to the normal gun. My favorite weapon was ‘C’, it was powerful, wide, and would take out multiple enemies in one shot. My least favorite was ‘F’, which I would often get on accident when going for ‘G’. It was weak, small, and I didn’t much need to shoot behind me.
There’s apparently a way to unlock the underground that I stumbled into on my first playthrough, but I was unable to do it again subsequently. Luckily, my only time to the underground ended with me defeating the boss ELGRAMZON, so I saw enough.
Graphics: 1.5
The graphics are alright, but some enemies blend in to the background which isn’t cool.
Sound: 1.5
The song and sound effects are fine. Nothing special.
Gameplay: 2.0
We’ve got lots of weapon choices and enemies that aren’t incredibly cheap.
Difficulty: 1.5
It’s a fast loop, assuming you can find the entrance to the underground…
Fun Factor: 1.0
It was alright, but not particularly good. I would have had more fun if I could have made it through a few loops.
Overall Grade: 1.5
Transbot earns a D+/C- for its efforts. It wasn’t particularly good, I’m hoping for some better games soon.