R.O.B.

Hardware

The R.O.B. unit's height is 24 cm (9.6 in). It has a head movement range of a 45° horizontally centered tilt. The arm movement range is 240° left and right with five stopping points, 7 cm (2.75 in) up and down with six stopping points, and 7 cm (2.75 in) between hands when open. The unit has five accessory slots around the hexagonal base, numbered clockwise, starting at the rear-left from the robot's point of view; and notches on the hands allow for specialized parts to be attached for each game. The optional tinted filter can be attached over the eyes to compensate for overly bright televisions. The unit is powered by four AA batteries.

Gyromite

The Gyromite retail package consists of the following items: two claws for R.O.B.'s hands; two gyros (heavy spinning tops); two red and blue trays upon which the gyros will rest, causing buttons to be pressed on the second NES controller; one spinner motor for accelerating the gyros; and two black trays upon which the gyros are placed when not in use. Direct game mode is a feature used to learn how to use R.O.B. or to play with R.O.B. without playing the game. Gyromite is a puzzle-platformer in which the character has to collect dynamite before the time runs out, with several red and blue pillars blocking his way. In Game A, the commands are made by pressing START and then pushing the direction in which to move R.O.B., and using the A and B buttons to open and close his arms. If R.O.B. places a gyro on the red or blue button, it pushes the A or B button on the second NES controller, moving the pillar of the corresponding color. If both buttons need to be pressed at the same time, the gyros are placed in a spinner so that they will stay balanced on the button without R.O.B. holding it. Game B has the same controls, except that START does not need to be pressed to make R.O.B. accept a command.

Stack-Up

Stack-Up comes with five trays, five different colored blocks, and two claws worn by R.O.B. for grabbing the blocks. In the Direct game mode, the player makes their block stack match with the one on screen by moving Professor Hector to the button that corresponds to the desired movement. In Memory, the player has to make a list of commands to recreate the displayed block set up, and then R.O.B. follows the list afterward. In Bingo, the player makes the shown block stack, where the color of the block does not matter. There are two enemies: one causes the player to lose a life, and the other makes R.O.B. perform undesired actions.

Homebrew

In 2014, independent homebrew game developer Retrozone produced a limited release NES cartridge titled 8-Bit X-Mas 2015. The title screen features R.O.B. character graphics, and interacts with the vintage R.O.B. toy by making it dance to Christmas music.^[3]

Legacy

R.O.B. has appeared as a cameo character in various video games, such as StarTropics,^[5] F-Zero GX,^[6] the WarioWare series^[7] and the Star Fox series.^[8][9]

R.O.B. is featured as an unlockable character in Mario Kart DS,^[10] Super Smash Bros. Brawl,^[11] Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U,^[12] and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate,^[13] each of which refers to R.O.B. as male within their respective universes. In Brawl's adventure mode, The Subspace Emissary, R.O.B. plays a major role in the story's plot. He first appears as the Ancient Minister, a cloaked figure who initially leads the Subspace Army in an attempt to transport the Super Smash Bros. world into Subspace, an alternate dimension ruled by a mysterious force. Upon being betrayed by Ganondorf, one of the Army's chief commanders, who forces his fellow R.O.B.s to self-destruct against their wills, R.O.B. joins the allied protagonists in their bid to stop the Subspace Army.^[14] As part of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, R.O.B. is among the Super Smash Bros. series of Amiibo, with his figure being unique in that it is available in both his gray and white NES color scheme and his red and white Famicom color scheme.^[15][16]