''Otto Matic'' is a 2001

action-adventure The action-adventure genre is a video game hybrid genre that combines core elements from both the action game and adventure game genres. Typically, pure adventure games have situational problems for the player to solve to complete a storyli ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by

Pangea Software Pangea Software is a video game developer based in Austin, Texas, owned and operated by Brian Greenstone. The company began with Apple IIGS games in 1987, then moved to Macintosh and later iOS. Pangea found its primary success with a series of 3D ...

and published by Aspyr Media for Mac OS 8, Mac OS 9 and

Mac OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and la ...

. It came bundled with

iMac G3 The iMac G3, originally released as the iMac, is a series of Macintosh personal computers sold by Apple Computer from 1998 to 2003. The iMac was the first major new product release for Apple under Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO and cofounder ...

and G4 computers. The game was later

ported In software engineering, porting is the process of adapting software for the purpose of achieving some form of execution in a computing environment that is different from the one that a given program (meant for such execution) was originally desi ...

by Ideas From the Deep to Microsoft Windows in 2004. An

iPhone OS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also include ...

port, titled ''Otto Matic: Alien Invasion'', was released by Pangea in 2009. ''Otto Matic'' parodies the retro

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

genre in a whimsical style. Its gameplay resembles that of Pangea's previous titles like ''

Bugdom ''Bugdom'' is a 1999 platform video game originally created by Pangea Software for Mac OS 9. It was included with the iMac DV 2000 and later iBook models. The Microsoft Windows version, released in 2000, was developed by Hoplite Research and pub ...

'' and '' Nanosaur''. In September 2021, the game as well as other Pangea software titles received a free, open source re-release for Windows, modern macOS, and Linux.

Gameplay

The gameplay of ''Otto Matic'' is level-based, and the player's success on a level is measured with points. Levels typically begin with Otto landing his rocket ship on a planet controlled by the Brain Aliens. As soon as Otto has disembarked, the rocket ship promptly takes off again and lands at the end of the level. To progress to the next level, the player must return to the rocket ship with enough fuel for take off. The majority of the game's points are scored by saving humans from abduction, although some points are also awarded for finding weapons and ammunition. The levels include power-ups such as weapons, health, rocket fuel and jump-jet fuel, and occasionally brief vehicle sections. The level design tends towards the whimsical: enemies include enormous walking vegetables, clowns, and miniature robotic wrecking balls, and the landscapes are usually cartoonish and warped.

Plot

''Otto Matic'' takes place in the year 1957, as the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's surfa ...

is being conquered by the evil Brain Aliens from Planet X. The people of Earth are being systematically abducted by the

flying saucers A flying saucer (also referred to as "a flying disc") is a descriptive term for a type of flying craft having a disc or saucer-shaped body, commonly used generically to refer to an anomalous flying object. The term was coined in 1947 but has g ...

of the Brain Aliens, who wish to transform the humans into new Brain Aliens, subject to the will of their leader, the Giant Brain. The player takes on the role of Otto Matic, one of a line of robots charged with policing the galaxy, as he attempts to defeat the Brain Aliens and restore the independence of the Earth. Otto travels to eight planets and rescues the humans, defeating the Giant Brain in a final confrontation.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Otto Matic page on Pangea Software
2001 video games IOS games Classic Mac OS games MacOS games Pangea Software Platformers Science fiction video games Windows games Aspyr games Alien invasions in video games Video games about police officers Video games about robots Video games developed in the United States Video games set in the 1950s Video games set in Kansas Video games set in outer space Video games set on fictional planets Fiction set in 1957 Single-player video games Ideas From the Deep games