Robot Combat League

OK; listen-up, all you haters: first off, you need to stop whining and whimpering about how this ain't 'Real Steel' (NO KIDDING - WE AIN'T THERE YET, HELLLLO..). But, if you'd just quit crying long enough to wipe away and see through those impatient-little-boy tears, you'd see that you ARE witnessing its birth in this wicked-cool and (for the most part) well-thought-out series. Those who still want to sniffle need to just step-off and go watch something lame and adolescent-boy-targeted like reruns of the little, remote-controlled, bumper-car-action of 'Robot Wars' or some such. Because, honestly, RCL is AWEZOM. The robots are BOXERS - simple as that. So, take this unique and incredibly-cool series for what it is: Rockem-Sockem' for grownups... and the DAWN of the eventual reality of 'Real Steel' robot combat. BE PATIENT AND ENJOY WATCHING THE EVOLUTION - for, surely, this series will be remembered as its BIRTH.

The attraction (for me) is in picking my favorite team and rooting them onward through each, subsequent battle. Being a born-again, Gaea-worshiping, Female-adoring, radical Eco-Feminist means that I cannot help myself but to cheer for those teams being rightfully led by the Gals.

In fact, I wouldn't doubt that MOST of the reason all these waa-waa-boys are *REALLY* sniffling is because it's totally possible (and perhaps even probable, hehe) for a five-foot-tall, ninety-five-pound Woman to use Her superior intellect and intuition to whoop-ass on some big, beasty MMA/Olympic boys. And sadly, most boys cry when Girls beat them. But I *like* that, muhahaha ;) As for the contestants, they're OK - although it IS kinda difficult for me to identify TOO closely with Intel employees and NASA scientists (i.e., I'd like to see more 'regular' people - like myself - as contestants; peeps who could otherwise likely never HOPE to see $100k in their miserable lives, lol). Heh; I'm pretty sure that designer-guy of the Mars CURIOSITY rover never struggles to choose which two to pay among his rent/food/car bills the way we normal, recession-pounded people often must.

Aside from that, (and a tidbit of annoyance with the show's current 'bit-more-talking-than-punching' format), I hereby wish this outstanding series (and it's progeny) at least twenty more seasons of TRUE, robot-battle carnage - different robots and jocks/techs but the same, basic format. Change little other than new and identifiable contestants and new/improved robots and I'll watch those twenty seasons, I promise.

SYFY scored a KO with this one. Among the best things on TV these days... imho.

Oh; and I've never been 'into' any sport, really - until THIS.

First of all, some of these negative comments are a bit too critical. Understand that this show has more entertainment value rather than the technical expertise put into these bots. Unlike Battlebots which seemed like different varieties of shoe boxes always close to the ground with damaging weapons and little design creativity, this show takes it to the next level with different upright bot characters and strengths and weaknesses, giving it an entertaining value. Mind you this show has just premiered and the first of its kind which itself is impressive, regardless of it's choppy movement and limited mobilities. If the show survives several seasons then hopefully the creators of the show will seek out improvements and advancements to make this bots more fluid and agile. As far as the hydraulic fluids and the robotic sparks, understand that those may not be due to actual damage but is there for climax and entertainment value, making the show more enticing. Overall look at the show for it's entertainment value as well as it's infancy into a new arena of combat entertainment. Don't expect it to mimic the movie Real Steel or compare it to boxing and wrestling as the show isn't at the level yet but give it enough chance and support and who knows that the show may be just around the corner.

I can see this being of value for younger viewers, but personally I found it way to "bad imitation" boxing, with "robots" that had jerky movements, that almost seem mechanical even though they use hydraulics. I wonder why they didn't put the hydraulic lines inside the metal shell of those robots, also, why there are no over pressure release valves, so the damned hoses won't burst all the time.

The hoses bursting almost seemed remote controlled to me.

I think these unnatural movements, kinda jerky, almost as if someone where pulling strings to control them, and a "as if" they where made out of cardboard, effect, comes out of a "weak" "flexing" frame inside their metal shells, making the arms movements seem "cheap" and jerky.

Some of the team members seem to have little or no understanding of both the concept, the mechanics of the robots, limitations of the robots, the controls, and the physics.

Sometimes it feels like it's scripted. Like when one team is mastering the controls, and beating the crap out of the other team, while the other team is struggling to control\understand the controls of their robot, next round, the situation is completely flipped, as if the first team suddenly forgot how to control the robots, while the second team have suddenly become experts in controlling theirs....

No, this is like Rockem Sockem, only slightly scripted and with sparks for no apparent reason, probably good for the younger audience, but utter crap to me.

I was very skeptical when I first saw this advertised on Hulu Japan but decided to watch it with an open mind and since I'm a subscriber I was able to watch the entire season in a few sittings.

It's never been done before and though, yes, it could have been executed better I was glad to see a production house gutsy enough to present what could possibly become a new form of professional entertainment or sport. Of the negative reviews I read I noticed that many of of those people were expecting to see boxing Pacific Rim bots complete with professional Jaeger pilots and to them I say, "Please quit whining and go rent Transformers again while the rest of us watch real robots made with today's real technology beating each other into spare parts."

Despite it being peppered with the typical reality-series crap that passes for entertainment in the US I actually really enjoyed watching this. I hope that Smart Dog Media learned from the mistakes that were made and stay on the ball and keeping running with this series.

The lessons learned that RCL needs to address:

1) Final round should **always** go until one robot can no longer fight or is destroyed. The fight footage can be edited as necessary to meet TV airtime constraints.

2) Hire another robotics expert so Mr. Mark Setrakian isn't required to "time share" between the two teams during the 20 minute repair recesses.

3) Invest a bit more funding into the creation of the robots so they are more sturdy and have stronger skeletal infrastructure, particularly in the arms.

4) Take out the spark throwers and just show us the fight in all its bent steel ugliness AND streamline & clarify the rules so we the audience can understand how the judges are making decisions so no one can complain of a match being "rigged."

5) If they keep the same teams then the teams should be rotated between different robots. This will really highlight which teams are *skilled* and which are *lucky* enough to be assigned to the really well-designed robots.

Though these bots aren't of the caliber I'm used to seeing here in Japan RCL is highly entertaining and exciting and I'd pay to go to see these tournaments in person.

My final thoughts on this show are...

AWESOME!! Finally a new sport to Entertain the Masses! If I was back in California during season one I'd *definitely* have gone to see as many of these at the arena as I could.

*********** LET'S SEE RCL SEASON TWO!!! ***********

Many viewers have said what I wanted to say. Bad camera work. fake enthusiasm by audience. lame robots. nothing advanced about it. Leaves you feeling empty inside if your a robot geek like me. Bottom line is this is hardly robot combat. Much more like rock-em sock-em robots on a big scale and the production is lame and insulting. I got 3 shows in and could not stomach any more. I will not be watching this show any longer. Robot Wars was a million times better and was 'real'. The producers need to learn from that show and take that format to the next level. I would be excited to see robot teams that have a set amount of money to work with and a base frame to work from that are not tethered. Hell, just bring back robot wars!