‘Hari realized that his immortal friend, capable of extending his vision from X rays to the radio spectrum, was at the moment, envious.’
– Isaac Asimov, Robots and Empire, 1985.
Played during the Backloggd’s Game of the Week (Mar. 7 – Mar. 13, 2023).
On Altair IV, the Krells' great machine sprawls over an improbable area, the bare minimum to generate the computing power needed to materialise any object. Dr. Edward Morbius invites Adams and Ostrow to visit this vast complex in Forbidden Planet (1956), in an overhead shot that dwarfs the characters under the cold angles of the alien machinery. In the following scenes, the viewer sees a huge transmitter towering over bleached globes, blinking mysteriously. Forbidden Planet, like many films of the 1950s, left its mark on science fiction cinema through the quality of its special effects and its atypical setting. The action takes place far from Earth, and Robby the Robot flanks the humans and impresses with his robust appearance, elements that became central to this type of cinema. A whole visual imaginary was thus developed, which would be reproduced in the great science-fiction epics of the Cold War, thereby establishing the credentials of a serious and engaged science-fiction. At the same time, the space opera was reborn, much more optimistic and adventurous, following the great success of the pulp magazines.
The merits of an eerie adventure
When Pangea Software announced Otto Matic in 2001, the references to these old trends were deliberate and part of the marketing strategy, thus placing the game within a circumscribed stylistic framework. While Nanosaur (1998) and Bugdom (1999), with their short development time, were rather clumsy in their presentation, Otto Matic was more deliberate. The player embodies the eponymous robot from deep space whose goal is to save humanity from the Brain Aliens, who are more or less reminiscent of the pod people in The Body Snatchers (1954). Similar to Bugdom, Otto must traverse ten different levels, saving various humans from being captured before reaching the exit or defeating a boss.
The game effectively encapsulates the ideas of the previous two titles, borrowing the shooter elements of Nanosaur and integrating them into a Bugdom-like adventure platformer. The inherent flaws of both titles are generally corrected or smoothed out, such as the camera automatically refocusing or Otto's shots automatically targeting the nearest enemy as long as its direction is broadly correct. Bugdom's roll has been replaced by a jetpack, which allows for better trajectory control and can be used situationally to break through walls or cross streams of water or lava. For the most part, the title is more readable and enjoyable than its predecessors, thanks to better level design, better communication of its intentions and mechanics that naturally aid progression.
The many environments help to give Otto Matic a character that oscillates between the eerie and the absurd. Landscapes ravaged by industrialisation and war give way to more phantasmal levels, such as Planet Rennie and its nightmarish carnival inhabited by deformed clowns, fish bombers and four-armed babies. There is a constant tension in the title, which revels in portraying alien civilisations as disturbing, however ideologically misguided it may be. The Brain Aliens are bathed in a sickly glow and their brains form a comically repulsive protrusion, while the environments of the various planets are decidedly hostile. The soundtrack uses alarming rhythms and bastard instrumentation to emphasise the unpleasant aspect of the invasion: harshly strummed strings accompany relentless bass, while strange noises abound in the background, evoking the chaos of Helios Creed's Planet X (1994). Otto Matic is a game that is always a little awkward to explore, so much so that the player remains on their guard.
An overall structure full of archaisms
While slightly less punishing than Bugdom, this title remains demanding. To activate the exit, the player must collect blue orbs, which serve as fuel for Otto's rocket. The player then has to open bonus capsules or fight enemies that are sometimes too powerful for the robot. Despite the assisted aiming, positioning oneself properly to change weapons and shoot is not so easy: Otto has an animation lock when swapping equipment, which is problematic in more confined areas. Similarly, while the camera makes platforming sections easier, it is far from perfect. On the planet Sulak and beyond, the camera is far too close to the ground, preventing the player from getting a real sense of the distances between platforms that bridge deadly areas. It is easy to miss a jump due to a lack of information, and the title immediately punishes this by taking a life. Sometimes the level gimmicks are the troublesome instances, such as on Planet Snoth, where water-skiing behind the metal dragon is more frustrating than anything else.
Otto Matic still lacks ergonomics and persists in archaic game designs that do not necessarily belong in the early 2000s. Of course, the player regains lives more easily, but some sections remain needlessly cruel. The second level is certainly one of the most difficult in the game and Sulak replicates Bugdom's lack of readability, with a jungle where everything looks the same: the visual cues are so lacking that one could easily go in circles, unlike the other levels, where the linear directionality works better. Generally speaking, when the title assumes its wacky and strange nature, favouring slightly emergent sections – such as the bumper cars on Rennie or the flying saucer sequence on Shebanek – it stands out, at the cost of a slight frustration with the sometimes ill-adapted controls. More conventional sequences such as the platforming to reach the Slime Machine are also enjoyable, because Otto's inertia works well with these kinds of platforms. But as soon as the title returns to hackneyed conventions and integrates elements without thinking about their relevance, the camera and control issues are greatly exacerbated.
Ultimately, Otto Matic's formula, though modernised and more complete, remains very similar to Bugdom. Structurally, it is already outdated and suffers from severe archaisms, perhaps minor for such a short game, but difficult to understand. Perhaps Nanosaur and Bugdom were successes in spite of themselves, released at the right time and on the right platform, impressing a whole generation of children and teenagers, of whom only a tiny number managed to progress beyond the first levels. This is a surprising observation for titles that can be completed in a few meagre hours: who were they intended for? A general public of unknown quality? Pangea Software productions are by no means abhorrent titles, quite the opposite. They are the product of an era and part of the history of Western computer games, yet they struggle to be situated beyond childhood memories and their technical showcase status. Otto Matic, for all its good ideas, does not break this pattern.
– Isaac Asimov, Robots and Empire, 1985.
Played during the Backloggd’s Game of the Week (Mar. 7 – Mar. 13, 2023).
On Altair IV, the Krells' great machine sprawls over an improbable area, the bare minimum to generate the computing power needed to materialise any object. Dr. Edward Morbius invites Adams and Ostrow to visit this vast complex in Forbidden Planet (1956), in an overhead shot that dwarfs the characters under the cold angles of the alien machinery. In the following scenes, the viewer sees a huge transmitter towering over bleached globes, blinking mysteriously. Forbidden Planet, like many films of the 1950s, left its mark on science fiction cinema through the quality of its special effects and its atypical setting. The action takes place far from Earth, and Robby the Robot flanks the humans and impresses with his robust appearance, elements that became central to this type of cinema. A whole visual imaginary was thus developed, which would be reproduced in the great science-fiction epics of the Cold War, thereby establishing the credentials of a serious and engaged science-fiction. At the same time, the space opera was reborn, much more optimistic and adventurous, following the great success of the pulp magazines.
The merits of an eerie adventure
When Pangea Software announced Otto Matic in 2001, the references to these old trends were deliberate and part of the marketing strategy, thus placing the game within a circumscribed stylistic framework. While Nanosaur (1998) and Bugdom (1999), with their short development time, were rather clumsy in their presentation, Otto Matic was more deliberate. The player embodies the eponymous robot from deep space whose goal is to save humanity from the Brain Aliens, who are more or less reminiscent of the pod people in The Body Snatchers (1954). Similar to Bugdom, Otto must traverse ten different levels, saving various humans from being captured before reaching the exit or defeating a boss.
The game effectively encapsulates the ideas of the previous two titles, borrowing the shooter elements of Nanosaur and integrating them into a Bugdom-like adventure platformer. The inherent flaws of both titles are generally corrected or smoothed out, such as the camera automatically refocusing or Otto's shots automatically targeting the nearest enemy as long as its direction is broadly correct. Bugdom's roll has been replaced by a jetpack, which allows for better trajectory control and can be used situationally to break through walls or cross streams of water or lava. For the most part, the title is more readable and enjoyable than its predecessors, thanks to better level design, better communication of its intentions and mechanics that naturally aid progression.
The many environments help to give Otto Matic a character that oscillates between the eerie and the absurd. Landscapes ravaged by industrialisation and war give way to more phantasmal levels, such as Planet Rennie and its nightmarish carnival inhabited by deformed clowns, fish bombers and four-armed babies. There is a constant tension in the title, which revels in portraying alien civilisations as disturbing, however ideologically misguided it may be. The Brain Aliens are bathed in a sickly glow and their brains form a comically repulsive protrusion, while the environments of the various planets are decidedly hostile. The soundtrack uses alarming rhythms and bastard instrumentation to emphasise the unpleasant aspect of the invasion: harshly strummed strings accompany relentless bass, while strange noises abound in the background, evoking the chaos of Helios Creed's Planet X (1994). Otto Matic is a game that is always a little awkward to explore, so much so that the player remains on their guard.
An overall structure full of archaisms
While slightly less punishing than Bugdom, this title remains demanding. To activate the exit, the player must collect blue orbs, which serve as fuel for Otto's rocket. The player then has to open bonus capsules or fight enemies that are sometimes too powerful for the robot. Despite the assisted aiming, positioning oneself properly to change weapons and shoot is not so easy: Otto has an animation lock when swapping equipment, which is problematic in more confined areas. Similarly, while the camera makes platforming sections easier, it is far from perfect. On the planet Sulak and beyond, the camera is far too close to the ground, preventing the player from getting a real sense of the distances between platforms that bridge deadly areas. It is easy to miss a jump due to a lack of information, and the title immediately punishes this by taking a life. Sometimes the level gimmicks are the troublesome instances, such as on Planet Snoth, where water-skiing behind the metal dragon is more frustrating than anything else.
Otto Matic still lacks ergonomics and persists in archaic game designs that do not necessarily belong in the early 2000s. Of course, the player regains lives more easily, but some sections remain needlessly cruel. The second level is certainly one of the most difficult in the game and Sulak replicates Bugdom's lack of readability, with a jungle where everything looks the same: the visual cues are so lacking that one could easily go in circles, unlike the other levels, where the linear directionality works better. Generally speaking, when the title assumes its wacky and strange nature, favouring slightly emergent sections – such as the bumper cars on Rennie or the flying saucer sequence on Shebanek – it stands out, at the cost of a slight frustration with the sometimes ill-adapted controls. More conventional sequences such as the platforming to reach the Slime Machine are also enjoyable, because Otto's inertia works well with these kinds of platforms. But as soon as the title returns to hackneyed conventions and integrates elements without thinking about their relevance, the camera and control issues are greatly exacerbated.
Ultimately, Otto Matic's formula, though modernised and more complete, remains very similar to Bugdom. Structurally, it is already outdated and suffers from severe archaisms, perhaps minor for such a short game, but difficult to understand. Perhaps Nanosaur and Bugdom were successes in spite of themselves, released at the right time and on the right platform, impressing a whole generation of children and teenagers, of whom only a tiny number managed to progress beyond the first levels. This is a surprising observation for titles that can be completed in a few meagre hours: who were they intended for? A general public of unknown quality? Pangea Software productions are by no means abhorrent titles, quite the opposite. They are the product of an era and part of the history of Western computer games, yet they struggle to be situated beyond childhood memories and their technical showcase status. Otto Matic, for all its good ideas, does not break this pattern.