Robtrek and Uncharted Waters: New Horizons are both games I first played on an emulator. It wasn’t until the late 1990s and early 2000s that I got the games on the SNES. It was fun to look for these games back in the day.
One of these games is more realistic, and the other is a little crazy. This is a match up of a science fiction and an alternate history game. They have very different approaches to the genre, which makes for a fun comparison.
There aren’t too many similarities between these games. Aside from them being RPGs, they don’t do the same things. There are significant differences in their setting, stories, and gameplay. This is going to be a little hard, but that makes it more fun for me as I write all this out.
Game Descriptions/Overviews
This is a little tough because of how different New Horizons is. Robotrek has a fairly straightforward and comical story, while New Horizons has six stories. It is a fun comparison because these games are so different in terms of story, gameplay, and graphics.
Uncharted Waters: New Horizons is an alternate history game with six stories. It takes place in the 1500s and has the player exploring the world. While there are six main stories, you can play however you want. The game has a long time limit for the player to complete the main story, which gives you plenty of opportunities to do what you want in the game’s world.
Robotrek is a turn-based RPG that uses a science fiction setting. You play as an inventor, and you use robots to fight. The story gets a little confusing for its own good as you do some time traveling and eventually go into space. There is a crafting system in this game, which is how you build equipment for your robots.
These are the general descriptions for both games. There is a little more to them, especially when it comes to New Horizons. Let’s get into the main differences between them.
Main Differences
There are so many differences between these games. Narrowing things down to the biggest ones was very hard. I’ll do my best to keep this to three things that stood out to me. I’ll be going over the setting, exploration, and the stories. If I come up with any other things, I’ll add them in.
The settings are very different. New Horizons takes place on Earth during the 1500s. It is an alternate history of what happened during that time. You don’t have much of an impact on history, but it does happen around your character. Robotrek takes place on an alien world, goes into space, and also travels through time. It is a pure science fiction story.
New Horizons is all about exploring the game’s map. One of the stories has you acting as a map maker, which is an option in all of the storylines. The game has a large map and a lot of things for the player to discover. Robotrek locks the player into a few set paths. While you can explore locations, that is about it.
Robotrek follows one character on a grand adventure. The story takes you all over the place, and eventually into space. New Horizons has six possible storylines for you to experience. Some stories are more involved than others, and you can do just about anything the game will let you do while finishing the main stories.
The combar is totally different between these games. Robotrek is a turn-based game where you use robots to fight. New Horizons is totally different. There is ship combat and dueling. Neither of them is all that much fun for me.
Those are the main things that stood out to me as I was looking back at these two games. There are a lot of other things that I could put in here. In the next section, I’ll take a look at the core mechanics in the games, and how they’re different.
Comparing Core Mechanics (Combat, Story, Visuals, etc)
These games have different core mechanics. It is an odd thing to say about two RPGs, but they aren’t trying to do the same things in any way. Their combat, stories, and visuals are all very different.
Combat is completely different in these games. Robotrek uses turn-based combat. The battle screens are a grid that you can move around on, and you can swap between your robots. New Horizons has two battle screens, neither of which reminds me of what I would expect to see in an RPG.
They have some different approaches to telling stories. Robotrek has one story, and while it is a little convoluted, I enjoy it. New Horizons has six storylines. There are more main characters, and some of the stories in New Horizons overlap.
The graphics are quite different. Robotrek is more detailed, more colorful, and a little goofier in its look. New Horizons has a few awkward graphics when it comes to NPC movements. When I look at them side-by-side, I like the graphics in Robotrek more.
I could keep going with all the things that are different between these games. None of the stories are even similar; the settings are different, and there are more playable characters in New Horizons. There is so much that is different between them. Let’s get into what each of them does better than the other.
What Does Robotrek do Better?
Robotrek does quite a few things better than New Horizons. It tells a great story, its combat is more fun, and the graphics are much better. It also has some gameplay elements that are more creative.
Robotrek’s story has really grown on me. It starts out as a fairly simple story where you’re fighting a terrorist organization. Things then spiral out of control as you go into space, travel through time, and eventually fight the big bad guy. I really appreciate the weirdness in this game.
The game’s combat is considerably better than New Horizons. It takes place on a grid, you can swap between your robots, and it is simply more fun. The enemies are also very creative as they’re a mix of robots, monsters, and aliens.
The dungeons are better by default. Robotrek has the player exploring caves, space stations, and towns. New Horizons doesn’t have this, as you only explore the world map, and the towns aren’t all that different from one another.
The crafting system is so cool! While it isn’t as involved as what you’ll see in modern games, it is great for a game from the 1990s. This is how you build and repair your key items, which is very cool.
Those are the big things that are better in Robotrek. I included a few of the minor things, because there are so many things that this game does better. It is more of an RPG than what you see in New Horizons.
What Does Uncharted Waters: New Horizons do Better?
New Horizons is a very unique game. While it is an RPG, it lacks some of the things that you would expect from a game in that genre. It does a few things better than Robotrek, such as exploration, more possible stories, and a bigger variety of gameplay.
Being able to explore the game’s world is a big step up for this game. New Horizons has a big world, and the player is encouraged to explore it. Robotrek locks the player into a few paths. While you can explore locations, it isn’t the same as being about to explore the whole world.
New Horizons gives you more story than Robotrek. Having six storylines is something very different from any other game on the SNES. It isn’t simply six possible endings; it is six completely different stories. You also have the freedom to do other things if you get stuck waiting for something in the main story.
Having more things to do helps this game out quite a bit. It makes up for some of the weaker areas when looking at it as an RPG. You can be a merchant, a pirate, or an explorer. The game encourages you to explore, as it is an easy way to get money early on in the game.
These are the areas that I think are better in New Horizons. Having all the options to play this game is very cool. While I like the stories, the combat tends to kill some of the possible stories. There are two where ship fights and personal combat aren’t all that important, which are the ones I tend to gravitate to.
Which is Better Overall and Why?
Robotrek is the better RPG. It has a setting that I enjoy more, the story is fun, and I love the gameplay. When I think of what makes up a game in this genre, then Robotrek comes closer to that than Uncharted Waters: New Horizons.
I love the goofy world that this game takes place in. Robotrek is more of a comedy game than most of the games I’ve played. This makes the story more comedic than other RPGs, and it is a lot of fun. It feels like this game hits all the beats from every game that I like, even if it doesn’t do all of them well.
The characters are what really make this story fun. It starts fairly simple, and then spirals out of control. In some ways, it feels like a Scooby Doo episode, or one of the other cartoons from the 70s and 80s. There are some serious things in the story, but none of them feel serious.
When I went back to look at it, I love the gameplay even more. The combat is very fun and unique, and it has a wonderful crafting system. Being able to swap between your robots, programming attacks for them, and moving them around the battlefield is so much fun.
As you progress through the game, you learn how to make more powerful weapons and equipment. There is also a system for you to make key items and combine other items. It is very impressive to see an RPG on the SNES pull this off so well.
Those are the big things that make this a better RPG. It does a lot of things better than quite a few of the second tier games in its genre. Robotrek is much better than quite a few of the RPGs that I’ve played so far, and it is a fairly unique game.
Which Would I Rather Play?
At this point, I would rather go back and play Robotrek. The more that I think about this one, the more that I want to play through Robrtrek again. I like New Horizons, but I really only like two of the four stories. I love the game’s story, the combat, and the crafting system in the game.
The story is weird, but it matches the tone of the game and how nothing is really taken seriously. It is a little crazy that you go on this grand adventure that ends up in space. Playing as an inventor is quite a bit of fun.
You use robots to fight monsters in this game. It is one of the most video game things that I could possibly think of. This game plays a little like Pokémon, but with a grander story.
As you play the game and gain levels, you can unlock more items to make. You do this by finding books. It is one of the more unique things in the game. I’m not sure if I found all the books, which gives me a great reason to come back and play the game again.
These are some of the reasons that I would rather revisit this game over New Horizons. Both of these games have a lot of memories attached to them, but I’ve grown to really like Robotrek. It is such a fun little game, and it is different enough to stand out amongst a crowded field. It isn’t as good as the more well-known RPGs, but it is much better than the bottom-tier games on the system.
Conclusion
I’m finding it a little hard to compare games with New Horizons. It is just so different from any of the other games in this genre. While it makes for some fun comparisons, it does make things a little rough at times. It can be fun to try to come up with things that it does better than other games.
Both games are in a similar category for me. They were games that I played on an emulator back when I was still learning about what games were on the system. It was a fun time, and it led me to want to collect retro games.
Robotrek is a game that I like more now than when I first played it. I remember getting stuck and moving on to something else. I eventually played through the game and really enjoyed it.
New Horizons is a bit more complicated. I really like two of the stories, and those are the ones that I keep going back to when I play this. While each story can be whatever you want until you get to the ending, they force you into combat situations. I really don’t enjoy the battles in this game.
If you liked this post, check out some of the other posts in this series. Such as Inindo vs New Horizons or Inindo vs Robotrek.