R.O.B.

R.O.B. (short for Robotic Operating Buddy; in Japan known as the Famicom Robot, short for Family Computer Robot, or simply called Robot) is an accessory released alongside the Nintendo Entertainment System to help advertise the console as a toy. He functions by translating flashes of information on the television screen into physical actions to assist players in compatible games, and was only used for the games Gyromite and Stack-Up.

While R.O.B. has made cameo appearances in the Mario franchise, he has also appeared as a playable character, most notably in Mario Kart DS.

Mario Kart DS
R.O.B. is one of the four unlockable characters in Mario Kart DS, unlocked by winning either all nitro Mirror cups, or all retro Mirror cups, and is the first non-Mario character to appear as a playable character in a Mario Kart game. In the game, he is tied with Bowser for being the heaviest racer. R.O.B.'s symbol is the NES D-pad. R.O.B. has two original karts: the ROB-BLS, which resembles R.O.B.'s stand for the game Stack-Up, and the ROB-LGS, which is a kart that appears like "legs" for R.O.B. His karts are fast, heavy, and have stronger handling, but they also offer the weakest drifting among all the other karts. R.O.B. is the only character in Mario Kart DS who doesn't control his kart with the wheel; instead, he seems to control the kart by moving his arms.

In the Japanese version of the game, R.O.B. is colored like his Japanese model, and is named HVC-012, the model number for the Japanese version of R.O.B. His karts have also different colors in the Japanese version. Also, the staff ghost data for Desert Hills and Rainbow Road feature the Japanese R.O.B. and vehicles, no matter what version of the game the player has.

WarioWare series
R.O.B. is the subject of the Stack-Up microgame in WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgame$! from 9-Volt's games. In WarioWare: Twisted!, a R.O.B. is seen in 9-Volt's game room. In WarioWare: Touched!, a R.O.B. accessory appears in the microgame Gunslinger after the player destroys a blue canister (this microgame is found in 9-Volt/18-Volt's stage). In WarioWare: Smooth Moves, R.O.B. is the boss of 9-Volt's stage, the Star Fox boss level. Like many of his other appearances, his model differs between Japanese and western versions. He bobs around, shooting either a large revolver-like light gun using both arms in the Japanese version or its western equivalent, the NES Zapper. To defeat him, the player has to shoot the flashing blocks set-up for has if he is being used to play Stack-Up.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl


R.O.B. appears as a newcomer and unlockable playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He is unlocked by playing 160 Brawl matches, collecting 250 trophies, or having R.O.B. join the party in The Subspace Emissary. His moveset is mostly based on the original R.O.B. accessory. His neutral special move is Robo Beam, which fires a beam from between R.O.B.'s eyes. R.O.B.'s side special move is Arm Rotor, which has him spin his arms around rapidly to attack. His down special move is Gyro, which charges and tosses one of R.O.B.'s gyro accessories. His up special move is Robo Burner, which uses jets in R.O.B.'s base to fly into the air. His Final Smash is Diffusion Beam, which fires a short-range constant beam from R.O.B.'s eyes that deals constant damage to nearby opponents.

R.O.B.'s general appearance in the game is that of the Japanese version of the accessory, while his NES colors appear as an alternate costume. Also, one of R.O.B.'s alternate costumes is based on the colors of the North American SNES. In addition, a structure that looks similar to R.O.B. appears in the Port Town Aero Dive stage, as he is in F-Zero GX. He is visible in one of the stop spots in the background of the stage.

The Subspace Emissary
R.O.B.s have two different roles in Super Smash Bros. Brawl's The Subspace Emissary. The first role they play is serving as enemies to the characters. They are part of the Subspace Army and attack any character that goes to their lair on The Subspace Bomb Factory. There are three variations; R.O.B. Sentries, R.O.B. Launchers, and R.O.B. Blasters. A specially trained group of R.O.B.s serve as the Ancient Minister's personal bodyguards, the R.O.B. Squad. R.O.B.s are also used to detonate Subspace Bombs.

In the Subspace Emissary it is revealed that the Ancient Minister is actually a R.O.B. himself (the playable character) and is being commanded by Tabuu to destroy the world to help his people. When Samus, Pikachu, Olimar, Captain Falcon, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong infiltrate the bomb factory and meet the Ancient Minister, he refuses to battle with them. Ganondorf appears in a hologram and forces the R.O.B.s to detonate all the bombs and to shoot the Ancient Minster when he tries to stop them.

After the R.O.B.s shoot the Ancient Minister, his robes burn off revealing that he was a R.O.B. himself all along. Unable to prevent the bombs from being detonated, he ends up finally being carried away by Donkey Kong as the factory explodes. R.O.B. escapes with the others on the Falcon Flyer and later meets up with the rest of the characters on the ground. He and the rest of the cast go into Subspace to confront Tabuu, but are all turned into Trophies. Eventually, Kirby saves him and he goes on to defeat Tabuu and save the world.

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U
R.O.B. appears again in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U as an unlockable character. This time around, his default palette is different depending on the version to match the colors of its original release; in the Japanese version it is the tan and red Famicom palette, while the US and PAL versions have the grey NES palette. R.O.B. also has a new Final Smash, the Super Diffusion Beam, which turns R.O.B. into a cannon that fires a single beam, dealing continuous damage until the end of the attack.

For equipment, R.O.B. uses the Zapper equipment for attack, the Block equipment for defense, and the Booster equipment for speed.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate


R.O.B. will reappear as a playable character in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. This time, he has a light gauge on his chassis showing how much fuel he has left when using his Robo Burner, which emits blue when it is full, yellow when it is two-thirds full, red when it is one-third full, and flashes red when it is completely empty.

Super Mario Maker
R.O.B. also makes an appearance as a Mystery Mushroom costume in Super Mario Maker. His appearance changes depending on the region: in the Japanese version of the game, his appearance matches that of the Famicom; in all other versions, it matches that of the NES. Upon transforming into R.O.B., the "level start" tune from Gyromite plays. When is pressed, R.O.B. emits beams of light from his eyes.

Mario Kart DS

 * Default Karts: Standard RB, ROB-BLS
 * Unlockable Kart: ROB-LGS
 * Website Bio (Flag of Europe.png): "Robotic Operating Buddy, to give R.O.B. his full name, has come out of retirement to take up a new career as a Mario Kart driver - and a strong one at that. But you'll be lucky if you catch sight of him, as he's notoriously elusive..."

Website Bio
"R.O.B., the Robotic Operating Buddy from the NES, makes a grand entrance into the maelstrom!

His stately form has received a lot of attention, but it’s his air of gentle playfulness that really charms us."

Snake's codec

 * Otacon: So, Snake, you're fighting Robot?
 * Snake: Yeah, it's a robot. Although, couldn't they have come up with a better name?
 * Otacon: Actually, in the U.S. they called him "R.O.B." Robot, R.O.B.--take your pick.
 * Snake: Fine. R.O.B. it is, then.
 * Otacon: In North America, R.O.B.'s body was grey, like the NES. But in Japan, he had a white body and red arms, the color of the Japanese Famicom.
 * Snake: Huh. You sure know your geeky tech stuff, Otacon.
 * Otacon: (chuckles) Well, you know...

Trophies
Blue indicates exclusive to the Wii U version.

Palutena's Guidance

 * Palutena: Look at that cute little robot!
 * Pit: R.O.B. isn't a very creative name for a robot.
 * Palutena: I think it has a certain ring to it.
 * Pit: No way! Any name is better than R.O.B.! Like, hmm... How about Mr. HVC-012?
 * Palutena: That doesn't exactly roll off the tongue...
 * Pit: How about Robobuddy, Third Edition?
 * Palutena: And what happened to the first two editions?
 * Pit: Oh, good point. How about Zzzrt...Blaaat...Tron?
 * Palutena: Let's just keep things simple by calling him R.O.B.
 * Viridi: The light on its head shows you the strength of the laser it's about to fire. The moment you forget about it, it'll unleash its laser at maximum power, so watch out!

amiibo

 * This robotic operating buddy was released in 1985 as an accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. R.O.B. introduced a new and unique way for players to interact with games. In recent years R.O.B.’s appeared as a playable character in multiple games, including Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, using projectile weapons to attack and a rocket base to fly through the air.

Portrayals
R.O.B. has been voiced by Toru Asakawa in Mario Kart DS. In other games (notably the Super Smash Bros. series), he uses computer-generated sound effects instead.

Trivia

 * In the same style as the original R.O.B., R.O.B.'s amiibo's coloring differs depending on the region; however, R.O.B.'s Famicom coloring would later be available around the world and the NES coloring also being released in Japan.
 * If both are used in Yoshi's Woolly World and Poochy & Yoshi's Woolly World, the player can get two different R.O.B. Yoshis. Curiously, the same cannot be done in Super Mario Maker.