Robot Combat League

My brother just made an amusing analogy after starting to watch this show with me tonight - he thought the robots hitting each other looked kind of like if you had two kids bashing their action figures together.

Which, now that he mentions it, is an amusingly apt comparison.

They announced a redemption game which is good but … wow … did the Plestis guy not think we were paying attention whenever they had the lineup on screen. I guess it’s a star trek vs. a star wars thing you are suppose to be amazed by the tech/characters but are in fact amazed by the characters/tech. the human part of the story is lacking.

On the other hand 2 good fights not bad for tech level 7 and 300 bp.

Really looking forward to the scorpio crash round but the Arnim Zola v Iron Man A.X.E vs. Game Over fight still kind of stings though.

Espesially when you realize that it's basically "Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots" writ large

Yeah, I think it's safe to say that the most important part of any robot is the armor.

Also, judging by the Brimstone match, it would seem those spark throwers are surprisingly dangerous. At least, I'm assuming that's what caused the fire.

Though I'm kinda surprised how close the scores were on Steampunk vs. Drone Strike. You'd think the latter losing a midsection hydrolic, its arm, and finally shutting down completely might have given Steampunk more than a five point lead each round.

Can't say I'm a fan of the voting process for giving the robots a second go around.

I'm happy steel cyclone made it.

Getting voted back on the island was a bit odd but hey the weapons are back and the assembly mini-game was fun to watch.

It is better than having the fans vote then completely disregarding it. Honestly I would have chose robo hammer if it was any of the round one losers but really would have had the round two losers fight again.

I like this show. They can't shut up sometimes and they occasionally take too long showing the robots being repaired, but all in all it's pretty fun. I'm rooting for Steampunk, he's been my favorite from the first episode (even if his jockey's annoying).

Robo-hammer could have used the win more than Thunder-skull.

Kinda hoping that if RCL gets a second season the robots or upgraded expys come back. I've been going over some blogs that had interviews with Mark Setrakian (looking for the first robot Hades beat a vw beetle like Rocky and a side of beef but anyway) it sounds like not only is he more interesting than some of the contestants but also the technology, philosophy, and engineering behind the robots is much more entertaining than Smart Dog Media lets on.

The semi-finals were awe inspiring. Scorpio V Crash with psycho elf in a sarashi ineffectually scratching at the sickly hockey-mask dwarf’s battering ram shield with a mega drill. Steam Punk going at Steel Cyclone like some kind of giant starving metal hobo knife fight then dropping the towel and winning against Steel Cyclones starving metal hobo cuisinart by only one point.

Probably too much gushing but they were two of the best fights of the series.

Also was it just me or was there a hilarious disagreement on scorpio's team over the gender of their robot. Diana seemed to be calling scorpio she and Chris refused to acknowledge that scorpio had pink lights and therefore was a girl robot.

edited 17th Apr '13 4:25:26 PM by GiantSpaceChinchilla

Flat "What"

i expected more from the weapons, especially scorpio's Shame Spear Of Hurt (Frisky Dingo reference)

and steam punk's weapon broke it's arm!

though i don't like the one judge's point victory over steel cyclone. steam punk was in worse shape, and took more damage in each round. (maybe the judge's ruled for ms. wonderwoman's single mom woobie factor?)

i'm expecting steam punk to win over crash.

My dad pointed out that Steampunk looks kind of like Bender. The funny thing is, he's kind of right. Anyway, Semifinals were flipping incredible, I hope Steampunk wins it.

edited 18th Apr '13 4:49:26 PM by shadowelecman

... yeah apparently too much gushing. The fights were Troperiffic what with all the set ups Elf vrs Dwarf et al. But think about this review the first episode where the teams had trouble controlling the sparing robots now review the semi-finals that is just awesome.

Now that the shoulder pauldron is off I can kinda of see it. Still waiting for the point where RCL isn’t being given the derivative diminutive treatment.

Woot for the finals being just that much closer.

edited 19th Apr '13 4:50:51 PM by GiantSpaceChinchilla

Did not see the show, something called defiance was on.

Aw hell, Crash won. Oh, well, at least it wasn't Robo Hammer. Hoping Crash gets nerfed if he shows up in the second season, that roll cage was pretty overpowerd.

Though the arms were apparently pretty weaksauce when it came down to it, too. I think Steampunk could have won it had they been more aggressive and gone all out the way team Crash did.

Makes sense, the two "survivors" didn't win so much as they survived.

And fought back as aggressively as they did against their diseases.

I am SO buying this DVD when it comes out, and I hope there's a season 2. (Jericho I can take or leave, for a game show host, he's a great pro wrestler.)

I think steam punk should have won, I would have awarded them that last round if I was a judge, how much more decisive do you get than an amputation? Though if they had gone the regular three rounds Crash would have been the undisputed winner, it really tore Steam Punk apart early on.

edited 24th Apr '13 8:12:40 PM by Cider

The fight was brutally awesome what with the dremel from hell, best 3 out of 5 rounds, and the extra team mate. The rulings of the judges were questionable to me but I’ll let it slide seeing as how Crash ground its own arms off on Steam-punk who finally, finally broke through the robots roll cage. Not that it made much of a difference at the end (too light).

My thinking is that if RCL got a second season 2.0 if you will that Sy Fy will sink the money to build 14 robots 12 expys of the first class and two new robots. But who knows it probably took millions to shoot the last show. Thoughts?

I'm so hoping that they would let teams customize their own robots if they get a second season.

You can learn a lot from watching how the fights went in this season. Arm and torso protection is super important while the head is useless.

edited 24th Apr '13 6:51:44 PM by nightwyrm_zero

I think, frankly, that the head should be worth more points in the future, to give it a reason for being there and risking attacking it in the first place. I also want more transparency on how the rounds were judged, because I'm really starting to get the impression that any damage short of a TKO isn't actually counted by the judges.

I'll admit I went into the finale hoping Crash would win, but...after seeing the final bout, I can't say I'm satisfied with the outcome. :(

Am I the only one who couldn't help but think they edited the footage to make out Amber to be more of a Heel? I actually thought Steampunk was going to win when I noticed that.

Also, I think I prefer how the final round went with a "best of X" dynamic - I really hope that becomes standard from now on. Frankly, I also think there should be no restriction on powered weapons. I really hope there's a Season 2, because the game evolved quite a bit as it went on. I'd love to see another batch of robots built using the lessons learned from the first season. (Starting with tougher arm actuators and no more roll cages! XD)

I’ll admit the assembly and weapon add-on stuff was fun but I honestly don’t think they could manage to keep up the different motifs if each team customized their robots. I mean yes all of the robots are probably identical underneath the hood but that frame has to be painted, fabricated, assembled, and all the engendering that goes into the weight protection and esthetics would probably cost way too much. I’ve heard that the robots cost $200,000 a head (no pun intended) so at 12 named robots 2 sparing bots and what 11equivelent bots in spare parts would be $5 million before revenue hosting etc. would the extra money really make robot 2974 better than Brimstone?

Agreed. The chest has all the brains Setrakian must have been a Gurren Lagann fan

Agreed.

I got that feeling too. Seemed to go based on how damaged the robot was with the scoring being a tiebreaker or something. Perhaps a videogame-esque display? or a Robo Ref?

I’m still kind of Iffy on how they judged that last fight it seemed to me that they dragged it out all the way to five rounds. They were both decent competitors though

I can’t say I noticed any footage manipulation.

That and splash shields. Perhaps more fire hydrants too.

well, I suspect, since a team had to win 2 rounds before the much vaunted weapons came out, that once Crash clearly won rd 1, the judges gave it round 2.

then to stretch the show to a full 5 rds, gave 3 & 4 to Steam Punk, despite going badly. (it's clear the judges tweaked the rulings for rds 2-4)

I think Steam would have done better to target Crash's arms with the cutter tool. That Roll Cage was too tough.

also, aren't crash's arms the weakest of all the robots? They essentially broke in EVERY round!

but as flails they were surprisingly effective. (and team crash's new member even brought attention to it)

They actually broke Steam Punk's chest plate AND it's left giant fist.

Amazing what just a few matches can do for improving skill.

Team Crash was considered the underdog for having the worst time hitting a marked target (though half the teams copied the fastest team)