Retro Replay Review

Gameplay

Custom Robo Arena brings the fast-paced action of the series to the Nintendo DS with remarkable fidelity. As a newcomer to the Portable DS landscape, it preserves the core loop of scavenging parts, customizing your Robo, and engaging in tight, arena-style battles. Matches unfold in fully rendered 3D arenas where you pilot your Mini robot, dash around obstacles, and lock onto opponents as you fire custom-equipped weapons.

Customization remains the beating heart of the experience. You can mix and match dozens of heads, bodies, arms, and legs, each influencing your movement speed, defense, and special attack options. During battle you’ll switch between a gun, bomb, and blade arm on the fly—learning to read your opponent’s pattern and counter effectively is immensely satisfying.

The DS touchscreen brings more than menus to your fingertips. As your Robo takes damage it gets dirty, hindering its performance. You’ll actually tap and rub onscreen to clean off grime mid-battle, a simple but charming mechanic that reinforces a sense of physical connection with your machine. This cleaning minigame keeps you engaged in between volleys of laser fire.

Graphics

Visually, Custom Robo Arena delivers surprisingly crisp 3D graphics for a DS title. Robos and battlefields are rendered with smooth frame rates, and the colorful, cartoon-inspired aesthetic lends itself well to the handheld’s screen. Don’t expect photo-realism—textures can be simple—but the bold shading and dynamic camera angles during special attacks pop beautifully.

Particle effects for explosions, electrical sparks, and hit sparks are used judiciously, never overwhelming the small screen. The arena designs range from urban streets to volcanic pits, each with destructible elements that break apart when you land heavy hits. This environmental feedback makes every encounter feel alive.

Inventory screens and menus are clean and intuitive, with icons large enough to tap accurately on the touchscreen. Custom Robo Arena’s UI strikes a great balance between detail and readability, ensuring that newcomers can dive into customization without getting lost in a sea of tiny text.

Story

As the fifth game in the series (and the first DS entry), Custom Robo Arena introduces you to the “Numero Uno” Robo Team, striving for glory in the prestigious Robo Cup. Though the narrative follows a familiar underdog-tournament format, it’s bolstered by a cast of quirky rivals, each with distinct personalities and fighting styles. These characters grow on you as you face them again and again in the Robo Circuit.

Story segments are delivered through colorful comic-style panels punctuated by short voice clips—an impressive touch for a DS cartridge. The rival system, borrowed from Metroid Prime: Hunters, keeps you on your toes, assigning you specific opponents to beat before advancing the plot. It may not reinvent storytelling in games, but it provides enough motivation to keep grinding for parts.

Dialogue can be a bit cheesy at times, but humor and heart shine through. Whether you’re bantering with teammates or trash-talking a cocky rival, the lighthearted tone ensures the campaign remains breezy. Fans of battle-oriented RPGs will appreciate how the story serves gameplay without overstaying its welcome.

Overall Experience

Custom Robo Arena is a stellar addition to the DS library for action-RPG and customization aficionados. Its tight controls—combining dual-stick-style movement with touchscreen maintenance—make battles feel immediate and skill-driven. The single-player campaign offers dozens of hours of part-collecting and arena skirmishes, and the online Nintendo Wi-Fi multiplayer mode is a welcome first for the series, complete with voice chat support.

Multiplayer matches over Wi-Fi extend the game’s replay value immensely. Trading parts locally or online with friends injects new life into your Robo builds, and a ranking/rival system ensures every bout matters. Even without a local opponent, asynchronous challenges keep the world feeling connected.

While some may find the story a bit standard and the environments somewhat repetitive after extended play, Custom Robo Arena compensates with deep customization, fast-paced combat, and a satisfying progression loop. For anyone seeking a portable robot battle arena with both solo depth and robust multiplayer, this title stands out as one of the DS’s best-kept secrets.

Retro Replay Score

7.2/10