Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots: Arena uses a solid 3D engine that, while not spectacular, gets the job done. The robots are all very well-articulated, with tons of animation in every move they do. Their texturing is generally pretty simple, but it's not eye-clutter either. You won't really see any truly amazing special effects in Arena, but what's there is decidedly solid. The rings, on the other hand, are just about as bland as you can get. They get a little better as you progress through the various Belts, but even the Gold Belt arena is bland to the point of boring. I suppose I've been spoiled by pointless eyecandy in the distance when I play my fighters, but Arena strikes me as a little too sparse in said department. Even with the high-poly robots, it feels as if the game has just what it needs to have, and nothing more.

Well, not entirely. The full motion videos are great, and funny to boot. Watching the original Red and Blue robots commentate during the FMVs is a riot, especially if you remember the original Robots. Good stuff, if very sparse.

The sound is similar -- nothing too impressive, but nothing too annoying. The music is generic to the point of nonexistence -- maybe it actually doesn't exist, and I was hearing music from some other game -- but it's not annoying, so you probably won't bother with either turning it up or turning it off. The sound effects are similar, with lots of robotic sounds and crunches and whatnot, but not much in the way of glitz. You won't be knocked off your socks here, but it's certainly nothing that'll make you run screaming (Blaze and Blade, anyone?). And if you find yourself humming 'Mr. Roboto' as you play, consider it an added bonus.

To go along with the strictly standard graphics and sound, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots: Arena offers strictly standard gameplay. While there are a few nifty features that make the game unique, and a few characters and upgrades to unlock, in the end Arena doesn't stand up to other, more solid fighters on the PSX.

There are three major play modes in Arena. The first is your standard Versus mode, where you duke it out with a computer-controlled robot or one that your friend is in charge of. This is old-fashioned fighting at its finest. As you beat upgraded bots in Career mode, their upgrades appear in this mode, but that's the limit to the customization of the fighters. Simple, light fare, the Versus mode will likely not keep you entertained for long.

The real core of the game comes in the Career mode. You start out at the bottom of the ladder, and you've got to fight your way to the top. There are three official Leagues that you can fight in, and you start in the Bronze. As you defeat your opponents, you have a chance of ripping body parts off and using them for your own or buying new parts with your prize money. This lets you tinker with your robot and make it more to your style, which is a nice feature.

Of course, as you progress in the Career mode, you'll fight robots that have 'non-standard' parts as well. Part of the game is learning to adapt. There are four different combat 'types', and every robot is strong or weak in different ones. Interestingly enough, the weaker you are to a damage type, the more damage you deal of that type. It's an intriguing system, and its effects are quite obvious once you start switching parts around. Getting the right parts for the job is often half of the challenge of the game.

The arena combat itself is pretty much standard fare. You can run around, a la Tobal, and you can block with a different shoulder button. There are two throw buttons, but one generally doesn't work until you've upgraded your robot. These throws can be difficult to land, and it sometimes seems random as to whether they'll work or not.

And randomness of this sort is perhaps Arena's greatest flaw. I've fought robots and trounced them in a matter of seconds. In a rematch immediately afterwards, I can't get a single attack in. The AI is all over the map, sometimes tearing you a new hole, and sometimes doing next-to-nothing to keep you from wailing on them. Sometimes constant projectile attacks will defeat your opponent with little fuss or muss; other times, no amount of wily playing will keep you from getting your butt kicked.

The last play mode is Stakes Mode, which requires two people to have careers. You basically play for parts, which can be daunting if you've spent much money on your robotic whizzigigs and doodads. This mode will probably get the least use in Arena, although it's certainly imaginative.

And, despite any generic qualities of the game, it sure does have a good (if juvenile) sense of humour. Reading the information text for each weapon can be very amusing, and some of the part names are quite funny. (Uranus Kicker? -snicker-) The robot descriptions in the instruction book are amusing as well. This sort of lighthearted humour is the thing that characterizes nostalgic games like Arena, and is definitely put to good use in the game.

Spotty at best, and downright cheap at worst, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots: Arena will test your powers of frustration. Watch yourself get trounced in two quick rounds, only to step all over the computer-controlled opponent while using the same exact strategy as before. There seems to be no rhyme or reason as to why the AI acts as it does, although it has a heavy predilection for distance attacks. If you can't beat a fight, keep trying -- sooner or later the AI will burp and let you through. Of course, when you play with hu-man opponents, the difficulty either shoots up or drops down, depending on how cheap your friends are.

For the most part, the controls in Arena are solid, although it's sometimes hard to get the game to register a particular move -- especially those that involve two buttons at the same time. A little practice in the included practice modes will have you fighting like a champ in no time, however. As an added bonus, the instruction book lists many of the combos that you need to play well in the game, which is a nice touch. A little experimentation will find most of the rest. The menus are clear and easy to understand, using a tech look that reminds me of Ball Breakers. The core mechanics are a little spotty, with odd hit detection and wiggy AI, but perseverence can help you see the good through the bad. On the purely negative side, however, the load times in Arena are downright atrocious. Going to a battle is almost long enough to get a nice cup of coffee; fortunately, leaving battle is somewhat less annoying.

PS2: Turn the Fast disc speed option on. The load times are still annoying, but nowhere near as much so as with a vanilla PSX. The graphics Smoothing option doesn't really do much for Arena, as the textures in the game are fairly simple to begin with. Things look a little clearer, perhaps, but it's certainly nothing to call home about. If you're going to play this game, though, you should do it on a PS2 -- the reduction in load times will save you much angst.

In the end, Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots: Arena is a pretty solid fighter, but it doesn't really offer much of anything that hasn't been done before better. The few innovations that it gives -- the Career mode, for instance -- don't make up for the lackluster gameplay and abominable load times. If you remember the original Robots from the seventies, or are on the search of some lighthearted combat fare, you could do worse than Arena. But if you're on a limited budget, you may want to check out more qualified fighters before you pick this one up.