Gyromite is a 1985 NES launch title, which also saw a release on the Japanese Famicom two months prior. The North American version is notable for being rushed onto shelves. The initial run of Gyromite carts contain the Japanese Famicom PCB hooked up to a pin converter to boot the game on the 72-pin North American NES console. As such, the title screen of Gyromite still displays the words Robot Gyro, which is what the game was known as in its native land. For some time Gyromite was a favorite among retro game collectors, as said converter could be removed and utilized to run additional Famicom games on an NES; of course today there are much easier workarounds. And we've just scratched the surface of the game's idiosyncrasies.
At first glance, Gyromite appears to be a traditional old Nintendo platformer. Stages span a couple of screens horizontally, and are comprised of a series of girders and ropes. The player takes control of a professor named Hector. He's trying to rid his laboratory (40 consecutive stages) of dynamite before the timer hits zero. Said dynamite is defused simply by touching it. Hector's enemies are these cutesy alien-dinosaur things called "smicks." As Hector wields no weapon and is too tubby to jump, the smicks must be dealt with by more creative means. They're attracted to the radishes scattered throughout each stage. These can be picked up and moved by Hector; when a smick is busy munching they can't deal any damage. The player can also operate a series of blue and red pillars. Pillars can be raised or lowered to create (or block) pathways, and even crush an unsuspecting smick or two. But watch out, as Hector can be squashed into oblivion as well.
The audiovisual presentation is utilitarian, but pleasingly retro. Like most "black label" titles, the game boasts a perpetually black background, with the stage designs themselves resembling those of Donkey King Junior, albeit more cluttered. The sprites are charming, and the animation is rather amusing, especially when Hector takes damage. The soundtrack is endearing, but expect to hear the same simple ditty over and over.
As for the controls, that's where things get weird. See, Gyromite is one of the games to employ the use of the cutest NES accessory: R.O.B. the Robot. And by "one of the games" I mean one of two. The other, Stack-Up, is very rare, and quite terrible. R.O.B. is used to manipulate the aforementioned blue and red pillars. Basically, when the player presses the start button the screen begins to flash lights in quick succession: this switches to "R.O.B. mode" where the robot can be instructed. R.O.B. was originally packaged with a series of "gyros" (spinning tops), levers, and other assorted plastic junk. Through some very tedious choreography R.O.B. shuffles some things around and eventually raises or lowers an in-game pillar. It's all just a complex method to get R.O.B. to press A or B on the second controller. Which begs the question, can Gyromite be played sans R.O.B.? Yes, yes indeed. Which is incredibly useful: while Gyromite is cheap and easy to obtain, a complete R.O.B. is the exact opposite. So, with R.O.B. abandoned we're left with three control options: 1) a single human player uses both NES controllers to play the game, 2) one human player controls Hector while another human player controls the pillars (great way to play with a young kid), and 3) ditch the traditional NES altogether and use an emulator to totally reconfigure controls to a single controller.
This all sounds dreary and terrible and rather difficult. But here's the thing: the game is designed to match the incredible slowness of R.O.B. the Robot. Hector waddles around leisurely. The smicks are out for a stroll. Pillars bob up and down lazily. Players are allowed eight minutes to complete each tiny stage. Thus, even when juggling two controllers, any moderately competent player is going to simply dominate Gyromite. The game's only real "challenge" was predicated on forcing the player into a relationship with R.O.B., who can be ditched at a moment's notice. Not to say the game is a complete cakewalk. There are some scattered tricky moments, and some stages can become unwinnable if dynamite isn't defused in a specific order. Though, generally speaking, a R.O.B.-less playthrough lacks challenge, and the difficulty itself levels off pretty quickly (stage 40 isn't really any harder than stage 20, for instance).
There's also a mode B. Most of these old NES games feature such a mode, which is usually just a slight tweak to difficulty. But in Gyromite mode B presents a completely different challenge. Here, both radishes and dynamite have been scrapped. The goal is to steer a sleepwalking professor from stage entrance to exit: he lumbers along mindlessly like the protagonists of Lemmings. This mode is entirely R.O.B. reliant (controller two reliant) as the only way to change the professor's course is to manipulate the pillars he encounters. Should the pathway be insufficient, the dear professor encounters a smick and loses one life. All told, mode B provides a creative spin to the core gameplay, not to mention 25 new stages (bringing the grand total to a whopping 65). There's only one issue: while mode A is slow, mode B is downright glacial. There's no way to speed up the professor's walk cycle, and the bulk of playtime consists of waiting for him to move from one set of pillars to the next.
Gyromite is a bit of a small tragedy. The core design is rather creative and quite good, but its (supposed) reliance on a gimmicky accessory really takes the experience down several notches. Given its unorthodox play method, I would hesitate to recommend buying a copy. That said, if you have a cartridge collecting dust because you lack a R.O.B. don't despair. Plug in two controllers and pop that bad boy in. It's quite a trip.