Cyberbots/FAQ

General

• What is Cyberbots?

Cyberbots is a 1995 fighting game spin off of the 1994 beat-em-up Armored Warriors/Powered Gear and features the base model mech units from it in addition to models with various combinations of Arm, Leg, and Weapon parts that you could pick up. Due to its very limited release, Cyberbots remained mostly unknown outside of Japan for a long time, with people being exposed to it mostly through cameos in other games, such as Jin Saotome or Devilot in various Marvel vs. Capcom titles; and even in Japan where the game had a wider release, the game was never very popular. In spite of this, the game has seen some increase in interest, but still has a very small player base. In 2018 one of the Japanese players said "there are enough Cyberbots players in Japan for a baseball team." Because of this, the game is still very unexplored, and new new discoveries are constantly being made.

• What is the gameplay like?

The game speed varies dramatically depending on how players choose to play. A problem that the game has is that air stalling for time is an extremely effective tactic with certain VAs, and it can be nearly impossible to force a hit on them if the opponent is content to sit on a life lead and run away. The potential for high octane aggression is very high, and people tend to play more in this manner, but the fact that an extremely passive runaway strategy is lurking behind the scenes as the strongest meta game choice can turn some people away, and is probably the main reason for the unpopularity of the game in Japan. Both the aggressive and evasive game play are fueled by the crazy movement options the VAs have access to. As a mecha fighting game, there is a much larger focus on air to air combat than in other games, and as such, you are able to stay in the air for a very long time. This makes the game play very different from more traditional fighting games which tend to be mostly ground based. New players often find the game to feel very strange, largely in part because they try to play Cyberbots the same way they play other fighting games. Since the game was not designed to be played like that, it usually translates into a bad experience for players trying it for the first time with other people unaccustomed to the unique style and flow of Cyberbots. One of the four buttons is dedicated to dashing and character specific air movement option, that should be a testament to how central air movement is to the game. Another unique feature that Cyberbots has is that each character has access to strong zoning tools that don't do chip damage in the form of Weapon attacks. This makes for many very intense situations when both players are at low life because both players are able to zone large swathes of the screen without actually threatening to do damage on a blocked hit, leading to sometimes very long and drawn out scrambles towards the end of rounds.

• Is this game for me?

Whether or not you enjoy Cyberbots will probably depend a lot on whether you enjoy the theme and aesthetic of the game as a whole. Since the gameplay is designed to be a realization of mecha combat, you will probably find the game a little stilted and awkward if you're more used to traditional fighting and are not very interested in mecha in general. If you are a fan of mecha, then this game will probably be a lot of fun for you, as the way the game captures the mecha feel is very convincing, both in the animation and the flow of the game; but you must still be willing to learn a fighting game that requires learning a new style of gameplay that doesn't build on previous fighting game experience.

Gameplay

• Does it matter which Pilot you choose?

Often the first question new players ask, as the first thing you are presented with when starting the game is the Pilot select menu. Your choice of Pilot has no effect on the gameplay and only changes win quotes and the arcade story mode.

• You can play the boss/hidden VAs?

Currently most people agree that Warlock is the only ban worthy VA as he is much more powerful than the next best character. At one time in America all of the bosses/hidden were banned with the exception of Gaits. This was mostly because Helion and Super 8 (in addition to Warlock) have extremely strong air stalling that is not very fun to play against if the opponent is resigned to playing that way. With the realization of Vise's true power in America, it became difficult to justify banning VAs who weren't even considered to be as strong as the best legal VA, so most people are fine with playing Helion and Super 8 now.

• Training Mode

For enabling a kind of training mode on an emulator, you will need to copy and paste this text into a notepad document, save it as "cybots.ini" and place it in your "cheats" folder. Then when running Cyberbots, select "Misc" then "Enable Cheats." This will allow you to turn on infinite time, health, super meter etc.

Other

• What is the Cyberbots Access Mod?

A mod created to allow bosses to be selected easier. You can also play in some stages that were only available in arcade mode.

Enables previously story-mode only pilots in Versus and both players to select the same pilot. Hold the combination before entering pilot selection, then press right on the joystick. Mini Boss characters will crash Story Mode.

• L + H then press right = Devilotte
• H + B then press right = Chiyomaru & Tessan
• L + B then press right = Shade
• L + H + B then press right = G.O.D.

Simplified Secret Bot codes, input these button combinations after you select the bot & before the player versus player splash graphic appears.

• L + H = Helion
• H + B = Super-8
• L + B = Gaits
• L + H + B = Warlock

This mod has its own room on Fightcade.