This
cart is noteworthy simply because, as far as I know, it is the only version of Robotron
that allows gamers to effectively use two joysticks; in short, it's the only
version that allows you to play the game as it was intended to be played. It
also highlights the nutty approach Atari took toward controllers. They produced
revoltionary analog controllers that, when new, worked great--but only on
certain games. They offered an elaborate (and pricey) Trak-ball controller. They
included the joystick coupler for free with Space
Dungeon and Robotron, and it works wonderfully on both games.
Snap a 5200 controller into each slot of the coupler and you are ready to
rumble--one stick moves your character, the other fires. Yet for all their
recognition of the importance of controllers, Atari never offered a simple
four-way joystick to work with blockbuster releases of Pac-Man and Ms.
Pac-Man (my understanding is that the subject of a four-way 5200 controller
created a great deal of in-fighting at Atari). Ther is much about that company
that I will never understand.
Anyway, 5200 Robotron is not as good graphically as the 7800 version, much less the arcade ports that exist for the 32-bit systems. Nor does it have quite the level of intensity of those later versions. It looks and feels kinda old. But it still plays pretty well, and if you want to use two joysticks instead of two thumbs (which I have never gotten used to), it's the only Robotron in town.
