Oh, my, how I truly wanted to love Atomic Robo-Kid. And that isn't to say I hate it or even dislike it; this game seems to me like a charming, unique title for the Sega Genesis. I just really wish it wasn't so bloody hard so that I could see it beyond the second stage.

The story, while not the most original I've ever seen, certainly is an interesting concept. A deep-space outpost called Terra-12 has been heavily bombarded with radiation which has mutated the organisms in the area. This travesty created an opportunity for a barbaric alien race currently known as "governors" to invade the outpost and purge it of all remaining life. This leaves only one hope for restoring order to Terra-12: an eighth-grade science project made of a bucket and some scrap metal. Sure, he's kinda cute, but first impressions leave me thinking of how desperate the poor inhabitants of Terra-12 must be to have him be their hero. Sarcasm aside, there's more reasons aside from just his appearance that make him rather troublesome...

The graphics, I must say, are probably some of the best on the system and do a great job of conveying the dystopic extraterrestrial feel that this game was going for. This is reinforced by its carefully-chosen color pallet and aesthetic style. The music is also quite good, making unique use of the Genesis sound card, and contributes greatly to the atmosphere.

Now to answer the question that you've probably had in your heads since the first paragraph of this review: What makes this game so difficult? For that, there is one simple reason: the titular Robo-Kid, though he controls generally well,  is slow as molasses. The gameplay, which can be classified as that of a side-scrolling shoot-em-up, will have you using your rockets for a good majority of the game (and thankfully, they appear to have unlimited fuel). However, the speed at which you fly happens to be about as fast as your walking speed, and the enemies are merciless. This makes navigating the labyrinthine stages seem much more challenging than necessary, and dodging enemy fire proves to be just as difficult. The game is relatively forgiving, providing you with six lives and five continues, but doesn't fully compensate for the challenge you have to face all because Robo-Kid is so darn slow!

Like I said, I wanted to love this game. It seems great, and I definitely recommend it to people who are looking for a unique gaming experience. But be warned; this is not a walk in the park by any means. Granted, this is the first time I've played this game, so perhaps once I replay the game a few more times (which I can certainly see myself doing) I'll be able to progress further and I might even re-review the game with a different score. My point still stands, though, that something as simple as the main character's speed (or lack thereof) makes Atomic Robo-Kid for the Sega Genesis one hack of a challenge.

Not a bad review. You don't review like most people on this site ( well, the layout of your review, at least ) , and you have your style. That is a must have if you are going to considered a good review writer on this site. 

keep up the good work. 

And I have to ask... extraterrestrial? Deep-space outpost? Why does this sound like some mash-up of Doom 3 and Mass Effect?  XD 

thing1 : Yeah, you know how these kinds of games were back then with their stories. Kind of a mish-mash of all sorts of sci-fi tropes and "spacey stuff".

Thanks a lot for the reply and the compliment! I do try to write differently and stand out from the others. The usual way people do it around here is a tad restrictive to me; I find that the way I do makes it much easier to efficiently convey my thoughts on the game, and it also seems like a better read overall. Of course, I don't mean to knock everyone else. That's just how I do it.

Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention one more thing. The enemies respawn whenever you go backwards. That means if you try to back off while fighting one of the stronger enemies, you'll be ganged up on by ones that you've already killed.