The Game: No one said it was easy being Mainframe’s Guardian, and this game is proof. You’re Bob the Guardian, trying to protect the citizens of Mainframe from a series of deadly tears unleashed upon the unsuspecting populace by an unholy alliance between Megabyte and Hexidecimal. Various characters show up along the way, like Mike TV, to offer advice, but aside from some vital health power-ups, you’re on your own. As you advance from level to level, a new ReBoot adventure is gradually revealed until you reach the end of the story – but if you fail in your mission to protect Mainframe, that episode’s going to come up short. (Electronic Arts, 1997)
Memories: What better property to base a game on than ReBoot, the all-CGI animated show from Canada which has never gotten a decent time slot in the U.S.? Originally shown on ABC in the early 1990s, ReBoot started out as standard kid-friendly fare. Its second season introduced some more violent elements, after which ABC dropped the show and its third season – complete with battles, psychological drama and character development aplenty – wound up in a dead-of-night slot on the Cartoon Network. (And this treatment of the show hasn’t changed – the fourth season was aired on the Cartoon Network, and went almost completely unpromoted.)
This show is based firmly on the second-season format of the series: Bob totes a big blaster with which to dispatch obstacles and enemies, and there’s a bit of a dark, gritty “police drama” look to the game, but it’s not quite as dark as season three. (Besides, a game set in the third season would likely feature Enzo as the hero, not Bob.) The graphics are well-done, and the sound effects and soundbytes are faithful enough to evoke the show’s atmosphere. The “exclusive episode” isn’t bad, even if it’s not necessarily a sterling episode of ReBoot on its own.
If I have a single problem with ReBoot, it’s the Zooming Camera Syndrome – on the one hand, the camera 
stays planted firmly behind Bob, but can still have a bit of a dizzying effect that makes me long for the good old days of 2-D games. Control of your character is pretty smooth – sometimes too fluid – but it helps to be able to swing around in a hurry.