Battle Wheels RC Robots Review

Today we are going to check out a pair of remote controlled robot warriors. The gadgets are called Battle Wheels from Johnny Lightning. If you and your kids have ever watched Robot Wars on TV and thought it looked cool, Battle Wheels are a great way to have your own wars in your home. Read on for the full details.

Gallery

10 images

Benchmarks

Features & Specifications
The four robots available can operate on different bands allowing up to six robots to join the battle at once. Available robots include VOL “The Savage Protector of Venus”, TYR “The Cold Arm of Pluto’s Justice”, BASHAMON “The Silent Enforcer of Saturn’s Law”, and KAGU-TSUCHI “The Fury of Mercury’s Fire”.

Each robot includes two weapons including a ball and chain mace and a dual-purpose lance/sword. Each bot also has five pieces of armor including two shoulder pads, two wheel blades and one shield. The box the robots come in has a cardboard cutout for training purposes. Power comes from four AA batteries for the robots and one 9V battery for the controller. The arms of the robots are moveable to allow you to position them for defense or attack strategies.

Robot Wars with Battle Wheels
The pair of robots I was sent for review was the red VOL and the blue TYR versions. Once removed from their packaging and the batteries installed you are ready to place the armor onto the robots. The armor simply clips on and can be knocked off easily by other robots and hazards in the area like walls and corners.

The object of the battle game it to knock the head off your opponents robot by hitting the button in the center of its chest. Controlling the robots is easy, but takes a bit of getting used to. The controller has dual joysticks and when both are pressed forward the bot moves forward, press them both backwards and the bot goes in reverse. If you press one stick forward and leave the other in neutral position, you get a slow rotation in the direction of the stick you press.

If you press one stick forward and one backwards you get a fast rotation in the direction of the stick pressed forward. Turning the bot while moving forward is a bit tricky and is something you have to get a feel for. You simply let off one of the sticks for a second while going forward to turn. Once you get close to the other robot you can simply ram it with your bot, or you can pull up close and go into a spin bashing the other robot with your weapons.

The control method seems complex, but you pick it up fast. My 6-year old son was playing and controlling the bot in 30-minutes without problems and even my 2-year old daughter was able to play. My son thinks these are “the coolest things ever”. The robots are surprisingly fast and have enough power to operate on carpet or hard floors. The wheels are non-marking too so moms won’t have to worry about their floors.

After about an hour of continuous play on carpet, I noticed that the robots were slowing down due to the batteries running down. I would suggest investing in a few sets of rechargeable or you will spend quite a bit on batteries, trust me your kids or you will play with the robots frequently. The robots are available now at a reasonable $29.99 at Target stores and on Amazon.

Verdict

Conclusion

Pros

• Easy to operate
• Fun to play
• Up to six robots at once

Cons

• Slight learning curve to the controls
• Drains batteries fast

Verdict
I have looked at several remote control vehicles over the year and my kids and I had more fun with the Battle Wheels robots than any of the others. Once you get the hang of the controls, the bots are easy to operate and the whole family can get in on the Battle Wheels action. If you are looking for an interesting and fun gift for kids or adults who like RC stuff, the Battle Wheels robots are a great gift idea.

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