Power up your Zipboard.
"WARNING: Incoming Game."
ReBoot, or sometimes referred to as ReBoot: Countdown to Chaos, is an action adventure game based on the animated series of the same name, released for the Sony PlayStation on March 18th, 1998.
Set before the events of the show's first episode, the game follows Bob as he travels around the many areas of Mainframe to mend tears, spawned by the actions of Megabyte and Hexadecimal, before the disrupted energy clumps destroy the entire city. Players navigate Bob by riding on his trademark Zipboard through the stages, as objectives mostly consist of mending the tears as quickly as they could before the timer ticks down to zero. Depending on how fast the player completes the level, two different outcomes can sometimes happen at the end of said levels. Which will, in turn, determine the type of ending received after clearing the game.
WARNING: Incoming Tropes.
- Ax-Crazy: Hexadecimal, even more so than in the show. Just before the final boss fight, she tries tricking Bob by disguising herself as Dot, in the hopes of winning his love. When Bob seen through this ruse and ripped her 'Dot' face off, however...Hexadecimal: If you can't love them...DELETE THEM!!!
- Just the many times she came close to utterly destroying Mainframe proves how unhinged the aptly-named 'Queen of Chaos' is here.
- Oh, and lest we forget what happens should Bob lose his last life during her final boss fight...
Hexadecimal: If you can't love them...STUFF THEM. - The Bad Guy Wins: Several Game Over scenes depict Megabyte or Hexadecimal successfully taking over Mainframe.
- The 'Failed' ending of the game has Hexadecimal succeeding in reducing all of Mainframe to a singular piece of rock.
- Big Bad: Megabyte, as per usual. Until the halfway point where Hexadecimal is revealed to have survived the former's betrayal at the beginning of the game, that is.
- BFG: As stated in the original page, Glitch turns into one upon Bob's command to shoot at Hex's mirror before infiltrating her lair to rescue Dot.
- Brainwashed: What becomes Enzo's fate, at the hands of Megabyte, should Bob get a Game Over upon losing to Clash in Chapter 5.
- Canon Character All Along: Defeating Clash in Chapter 5 reveals that the robot is actually a combined form of Hack and Slash for the body, and Scuzzy for the head.
- Damsel in Distress: Dot gets kidnapped by Hexadecimal just before the Final Boss battle takes place.
- Darker and Edgier: The plot of this game, especially when compared to the first and second seasons of the show, is noticeably darker than the show proper, likely due to the crew not being hindered by the censors of television. On top of the All-Loving Hero Bob wielding a freaking GUN to mow down enemies with, there are many failure cutscenes that result in the Guardian's death, Mainframe either being under Megabyte's control or being completely nuked by Hex, and even Enzo suffering badly upon the player's actions, just to name a few.
- Dead Guy on Display: One of the game's bad endings sees Bob and Dot's dead bodies stuffed, mounted, and encased on glass.
- Disc-One Final Boss: Megabyte.
- Downer Ending: If the player manages to defeat Hex, but didn't achieve all the good outcomes in the previous levels, Phong informs Bob that although Mainframe is saved from the viruses, many casualties have been counted. When Dot asks about Enzo, Phong regretfully says that he didn't survive. Thankfully, Phong gives Bob what is known as a 'Revert Command', which will allow the Guardian to go back to the past and set things right to ensure a better outcome.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Mike the TV shows up in this prequel game before his canonical first appearance in "The TIFF".
- Gigabyte, an antagonist debuted from Season 2, shows up in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in the game's intro.
- Also from Season 2, the Web Creature appears as a boss.
- Family-Unfriendly Death: As stated numerous times on this page, this game does NOT pull any punches in showing just how bad the player messed up if they get a Game Over.
- Final Boss: Hexadecimal.
- Game-Over Man: Megabyte assumes this role for the first few levels.Megabyte: Welcome to Megaframe!
- Phong is this, of a sort, as well.
Phong: Remember, the future is not written in ROM. The game player with the fastest clock speed will journey first to the ultimate ending. - Golden Ending: If the player manages to achieve all good endings on all levels upon clearing the Final Boss, Phong proclaims Bob as the hero of Mainframe, Enzo appears to congratulate him, and Dot rewards the Guardian with a kiss on his cheek.Bob: It doesn't get any better than this!
- Have a Nice Death: Failure to complete some levels will treat the player to a grim cutscene showcasing the extent of Bob's failure to the T. Some examples include:
- Losing all lives in Chapter 4 showcases an enslaved Dot, Enzo, and a nullified Bob standing near Nibble's Diner as Megabyte welcomes the player to Megaframe.
- Failing to defeat Clash in Chapter 5 will result in Enzo, now a teenager, becoming mind-controlled by Megabyte.
- Hex's chaotic orb successfully striking the core of Mainframe, thus causing its complete destruction, should said orb not be stopped in Chapter 6.
- Lose all your lives during the boss fight with Megabyte, and you'll be treated to a scene where he grabs a lifeless Bob by his neck as he taunts him.
Megabyte: When you upgrade the system, you throw out the trash.- Getting a Game Over on the Final Boss results in Hex stuffing Bob and Dot's corpses for display.
- If I Can't Have You…: Hex's demeanor entirely changes the moment Bob saw through her disturbing 'Dot' disguise and ripped off her mask, as she goes from wanting the Guardian's love to threatening to kill him and nuke all of Mainframe.
- Multiple Endings: Alongside the many outcomes of the game's stages, the overall ending changes depending on the player's actions during the Final Boss.
- The 'Failed' ending occurs if Bob is too late to defeat Hex before her swarm of tears reduces Mainframe down to a simple pile of debris. As Bob stands alongside an unconscious (and presumably dead) Dot upon the debris, a bot showcasing a recording of Phong arrives to hand the Guardian a 'Revert Command' to use to go back to alter the past.
- The 'Bad' ending, listed above, occurs if the player receives a bad outcome on at least one level before Hex's defeat.
- And the 'Good' ending, also listed above, occurs upon achieving all good outcomes on all levels before Hex's defeat.
- Mythology Gag: This actually isn't the first time Bob is wielding a gun. In the episode "The Tiff", Bob acquires one during the game he and Dot are trapped in. But in the episode, the gun only shoots bubbles. The game, however? Actual bullets.
- Enzo's appearance during the Game Over scene in Chapter 5 is similar to his appearance during 'Identity Crisis, Part 2.'
- Prequel: This game serves as this to the first episode of the show, as evident by Frisket being shown as a puppy, and Dot's Diner undergoing a grand opening.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: In both bad endings to the game, Phong gives Bob a 'Revert Command' to use to be able to go back and alter the past for a better outcome.
- Title Drop: Considering one would accept the unofficial subtitle for the game, Hex technically does this at one point.Hexadecimal: THIS IS THE COUNTDOWN TO CHAOS!!!
- Video Game Cruelty Potential: Since Bob has access to an actual pistol, the player can allow him to use it to shoot at various Mainframe civilian NPCS in some levels. Phong will be quick to call you out on this, however.Phong: Bob, you must not shoot civilians!
