Retro Machina | Nintendo Switch Machina

Drop what you’re doing and listen to me closely! The robots are taking over the world and we are just in their way. Those little Roomba’s aren’t just there to vacuum up your carpet. They are going to eventually grow arms and take over the world. Alexa doesn’t want to turn your lights on or tell you the weather; it wants to spy on you so it knows how to take you out. Tesla cars will eventually be programmed to execute Order 66 from supreme leader Musk. The list goes on, but I need to cool my conspiracy theory-ridden brain and tell you that Retro Machina is the game that will make you think twice about buying a cute little robot toy for your kids. Instead, just buy this game!

All jokes aside, the developers at Orbit Studio made a game fun-filled and packed with an eerie backstory. It will make you think about what the future of the human race will be in 100 or maybe even 200 years from now. Will we have robots to make us dinner or clean our house like Rosey the Robot from The Jetsons? Maybe we will be fighting the robots in a few years and they will send a Terminator back in time. One thing is for sure: you will be in for a huge awakening while playing Retro Machina, and you may even see some amazing easter eggs that you might miss with a blink of an eye.

Wall-E Meets The Jetsons

It’s no surprise that the human race wants to build robots to do the hard labor that becomes tedious or annoying the more you do it. Our lives become easier with AI help, and I wouldn’t have to worry about making dinner anymore since my wife doesn’t know how to.

One example is The Jetsons with Rosey the Robot. The majority of us grew up watching that show and know that Rosey would cook and clean for the Jetson family without a second thought. Of course, she was programmed to not have thoughts and to obey whatever they asked of her. Another example is that cute little kid movie with the robot named Wall-E. If you’ve seen the movie, you notice that the human race built a spaceship to house all of Earth’s citizens. Everything on the ship was taken care of by robots. I thought it was awesome until I noticed the sinister plot. Humans were becoming fat because they didn’t have to do anything, and the robot that controlled the ship was slowly taking over the ship completely from the captains.

Now, take everything I pointed out and this is Retro Machina. Robots were invented to make life easier in this game. They would even fly the cars, mow your lawn, and build your house. You name it, they did it. Eventually they had enough and became corrupt. Now with complete control, they could live peacefully in the floating metropolis that once housed millions of humans.

This is where your story begins. You’re just a tiny little robot that becomes self-aware or “corrupt” to them and the other robots cast you out into the once-forgotten world of humans. Along the journey, you become more corrupt, realizing that you weren’t the first to be cast from the metropolis. The worst part is you aren’t just a scrap of metal. As you become more corrupt, you find pieces of evidence along the way that points to something ludicrous.

The Little Engine That Could (Can I Say That?)

Now, as a little robot you are subjected to getting your butt kicked more than just once when pitted against an immensely powerful enemy. I mean, you only have a monkey wrench for a weapon along with some small powerups. Like twirling in a circle and knocking your enemy out, or another is sending a shock of electricity through the floor and nearby enemies are left unconscious. My favorite trick out of all this is the radio frequency mind control. In Retro Machina, while fighting certain enemies, you can send a radio frequency toward them to control them. Watch out though, if that enemy you are controlling is hit by another robot, it inflicts damage to you still.

This little fancy mind control trick is also used during puzzles that require smaller robots or robots that can carry parts. Each puzzle is designed to stump you and make you get upset, and that is me speaking from experience. There are many areas to explore and you can’t do it alone. Intricate detail to puzzles and constant combat are what make this game worth it.

The Future…In the 60s?

Come on, you’ve thought of what the future would look like many times. Dreamed of flying cars, living on Mars, or traveling by teleportation; “beam me up, Mr. Scott.” It doesn’t help that many movies, shows, or even art suggests what it would look like in the future. Orbit Studio brings their view and art into Retro Machina, all while clashing it with the artwork of famous futurist Jacque Fresco. If you haven’t heard of this man or seen his view of the future, take some time to look it up. The best way I can describe it video game related is by reminding you of what the retro Nuketown 2025 in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 looked like. It was sleek, sexy, stunning, and just overall fascinating. A future that looked like someone created it in the 60’s.

Easter Eggs

I am no stranger to some games having some small easter eggs that require you to pay close attention or look where most people wouldn’t look. Along my journey in Retro Machina I stumbled across a few small hidden gems.

At one point I mentioned Doctor Who. Throughout the game, there were no police boxes and somehow The Tardis was there just hanging out on a dead-end street. It looks like it’s seen better days, but there’s no denying that the developers are big Doctor Who fans.

Futurama was never brought up, but we can tell there might be some love for the show. Afterall, who doesn’t love Bender the robot? He might have bent his way to death. He was always a drinking and partying fool.

I have seen a few others, but I don’t want to give them all away!

Takeaway

There really isn’t much more to say besides how under-appreciated Retro Machina is. I feel like because it’s something different than a huge, franchise game, that it will get overlooked. Please take the time to play this game. It’s so good and I honestly can say that it will continue to be in my top 10 games for the remainder of the year. Don’t pass it up!

To hear me talk more about Retro Machina, be sure to listen to Episode 346 of The Gaming Outsider around the 1:14:48 time stamp.

This review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy of Retro Machina provided by Uber Strategist for coverage purposes. It is also available on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox.