RoboCop is a 1987 action movie set in a crime-ridden Detroit, Michigan in the near future. RoboCop centers a police officer that is brutally murdered and subsequently re-created as a super-human cyborg, otherwise known as a "RoboCop". Two sequels followed with computer and video game adaptations done for each film.
RoboCop
RoboCop is a 1988 run and gun/beat 'em up hybrid arcade game developed and published by Data East with permission from Ocean Software. Other reworked versions appeared for home computers and video game consoles, most of them handled by Ocean, as well as a NES version ported by Sakata SAS and published by Data East. It has more recently appeared on mobile phones.
The games capture the spirit of the RoboCop film to some degree, as it involves killing generic criminals and enemy bosses, like the dangerous ED-209. Being quite popular, RoboCop was followed by several sequels (most of them handled by Ocean), including RoboCop 2, RoboCop 3, and RoboCop versus The Terminator which was developed for, but never released in arcades, and was later ported to several other consoles including the Sega Mega Drive, Super NES, Nintendo Game Boy, Sega Game Gear, and even as a final generation title for the Sega Master System in Europe.
RoboCop arcade game
Reception
The ZX Spectrum version of RoboCop achieved particular critical success, receiving a CRASH Smash award from CRASH, 94% in Sinclair User and Your Sinclair gave 8 out of 10, also placing it at number 94 in the Your Sinclair official top 100. The overall opinion was that this game was better than the original arcade game. Its capture of the original material, smooth scrolling and animation, sampled speech and sound effects were highlighted.
In addition, the ZX Spectrum RoboCop was one of the biggest selling games of all time on that platform and was number one in the sales charts for over a year and a half.
RoboCop 2
RoboCop 2 is a series of video games published in the 1990s by Ocean and Data East for various home computers and video game consoles. They are based on the movie of the same name. Three different games were produced, each produced on two systems.
RoboCop 2
The version for the Commodore 64 and NES was a simple left-to-right scrolling platformer, in which RoboCop was required to collect/destroy at least two-thirds of the drug "nuke" in each level and arrest two-thirds of the suspects by running into them (in contrast to shooting them). If RoboCop does not manage to attain the required amounts of nuke or number of arrests then he has two chances in the game to prove his efficiency at a shooting range. If he succeeds, he may continue onto the next level. If he fails, or if both chances at the shooting range are already used up, he must repeat the level.
The version for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC was also a platform game, but one that offered movement in both directions (vertically and horizontally) as well as into various areas providing an element of exploration. There were also a number of puzzle sub-games that had to be completed to progress in the game.
The version for the 16-bit Commodore Amiga and Atari ST was similar in nature to the 8-bit Spectrum and Amstrad CPC versions, but contained completely different levels to take advantage of the extra power offered by these computers.
There was also an arcade-only version of RoboCop 2, developed and published in 1991 by Data East with permission from Ocean Software, which allowed up to two players at once (one controlling the original RoboCop, the other controlling a slightly purple-hued clone). The game followed the basic premise of the movie, but had some major sequential differences.
It was a mostly side-scrolling shoot-em-up, with some levels viewed from behind RoboCop and providing a targeting reticle with which to kill generic criminals. Compared to all RoboCop 2 games, it features the most advanced graphics.
RoboCop 3
RoboCop 3 is a 1993 video game published by Ocean. It is based on the movie of the same name. The Amiga, ST and IBM PC versions of the game were developed by Digital Image Design, and were renowned and acclaimed for the 3D engine used. The more advanced version of this game for the Amiga, PC and Atari ST featured first person car chases and first person shooter sequences as well as a flying sequence.
RoboCop 3
The Amiga version comes with a choice of three languages: English, French and German. There are two game modes "Movie Adventure" that follows a story-line and "Arcade Action" where the player can choose between five different single levels. The "Movie Adventure" mode opens up with a cut-scene (the cut-scenes are made with subtitled 2D panels and movies with a mix of 2D and 3D graphics) where a newscasts details how the building of the new Delta City is creating a new class of homeless people and a wave of crime by a new gang called "Splatterpunks". A new police unit named "Rehabs" have been set up in response to this, headed by Mac Daggart (named differently to his counterpart in the film, whose name is Paul McDagget). The newscast then reports of a hostage situation in the city and the game cuts to the action where RoboCop is in pursuit of a stolen van. The player (represented by a green dot on the ingame map) is to stop the van (represented by an orange dot) by ramming it with his police car. If approached from the rear, the residents of the van will open fire lowering the health (called "Efficiency" in the game) of the player. Other obstacles include civilian cars on the road, terrain and buildings. After the van has been stopped the player's next goal is to assist officer Lewis inside an apartment building (represented by a white dot on the ingame map). The controls for driving the car is the keyboard cursor keys and the mouse. Somewhat different from most other racing games is the fact that no loss of speed occurs when turning only when moving the steering wheel.
Once the player has driven there, a first person shooter sequence follows where the player must find officer Lewis (who is being held hostage) in under two minutes. The only guide to where Lewis is a beeping noise that gets more frequent the closer the player gets to the goal. The level consists of corridors where the player must avoid shooting civilians (doing so lowers health) and shoot the opposing Splatterpunks who can attack by shooting and throwing handgrenades. Getting hit by a handgrenade lowers the health to zero immediately but the grenades can be shot out of the air as well. The controls are somewhat peculiar compared to what is standard today. Holding the right mouse button moves the player forward, left clicking fires the gun (unlimited ammo) and moving the cursor to the sides turns the perspective. There is no keyboard control and no "strafing" (sideways movement) that is common in other FPS games.
The NES edition of RoboCop 3 is a traditional single-player, side-scrolling game with a storyline and background that loosely follows the film. A unique, memorable feature is the fact that each of RoboCop's body parts has a separate damage rating. Heavily damaged parts can result in "malfunctions," such as erratic firing (if the arm holding the weapon is damaged) or difficulty walking (if legs are damaged). The player has the opportunity to repair RoboCop's parts between levels.
The Super NES edition of RoboCop 3 is also a traditional single-player side-scrolling game. It was developed by Ocean Software and had what many considered to be extremely difficult gameplay. It was largely critically panned upon release. Flying Edge (a subsidiary of Acclaim Entertainment) would later port this version to other consoles, including the Sega Genesis and Sega Master System.
RoboCop versus The Terminator
RoboCop versus The Terminator
RoboCop Versus The Terminator is a video game released for a number of platforms and is based on the RoboCop and Terminator franchises, but with the Mega Drive/Genesis version being loosely based on the 1992 four-issue comic book mini-series of the same name. A film version was almost put into production in 1995, but was scrapped when a director could not be found.
Synopsis
SNES version: In the future, human soldiers of John Connor's resistance force against the machines are fighting a losing war against Skynet and its robot forces. Discovering that one of the foundation technologies for Skynet is the cybernetics technology used in the creation of cyborg police officer RoboCop, Flo, a resistance soldier, is sent back in time to destroy RoboCop and stop Skynet from being built. However Skynet learns of the time travel attempt and sends Terminators to stop Flo.
RoboCop soon meets up with Flo and must engage in battle against Terminators, the forces of OCP and several obstacles. Upon discovering one of the Terminators has infiltrated the OCP building, RoboCop plugs himself into a console to reprogram the security, only to fall into a trap and be digitized. After his body is disassembled and used for building Skynet, RoboCop watches Skynet come to power before using his digitized mind to seize control of an abandoned robotics factory, rebuild himself, and begin to destroy Skynet in the future. He successfully destroys the Skynet CPU and prevails, and turns his sights to helping humanity rebuild from the devastation.
RoboCop fighting The Terminator
Mega Drive/Genesis version: Set years after RoboCop's invention, the story involves the SAC-NORAD contracting Cyberdyne Systems on building Skynet. The Cyberdyne used RoboCop's technology in creating Skynet. When activated, Skynet goes self-aware and launches a war against the humans. In the future, Skynet sends several Terminators back to the past to cripple the Resistance. After destroying one of the Terminators, RoboCop proceeds to Delta City, where he confronts RoboCain. After RoboCain was destroyed, RoboCop battles his way to the OCP building, where he defeats all the Terminators. After defeating an ED-209 unit reprogrammed by Terminators, RoboCop plugs himself into a console. Unknown to him, RoboCop gave Skynet information it can use. This ends up with RoboCop falling into a trap. In the future, RoboCop assembles himself, where he battled in the Terminator infested future and destroyed Skynet.
Differences between versions
In the Sega version, RoboCop has a larger arsenal of weapons and can carry two types of weapons. In the Super NES version, RoboCop equips the Auto 9 handgun and can only carry one other weapon. The Auto 9 handgun and laser guns were two different items in the Sega version. In the Super NES version, the laser gun was an upgrade for the Auto 9 handgun, and it becomes standard issue in the Future Detroit levels. In the Sega version, RoboCop fights RoboCop 2 and ED-209. In the SNES version, RoboCop fights an ED-209 unit reprogrammed by the Terminators. The Super NES version has actual story narrative cutscenes while the Sega version only tells the story in the introduction to the game. The Sega version has blood and gore, rendering the game MA-13 at the time. However, a cheat code was included by the developers which included fire-related attacks (like Molotov cocktails and fire traps) setting RoboCop on fire, RoboCop's body partially disassembled upon death, a new game-over message, and leather leotard-clad female human enemies. The Super Nintendo version has female enemies without the use of cheats. The Sega version purely has the side-scrolling action game while the SNES version has the side-scrolling and one first-person-shooter sequence. Enemies constantly respawn in the Super NES version. In the Sega version, RoboCop loses the weapon he carries when he loses a life, and continues on from where he died, with the Auto 9 and the other weapon he didn't equip himself with. In the Super NES version, RoboCop starts over from the beginning of the level armed with only his Auto 9. The overall look of the Sega version is borrowed from the respective movies featuring the central characters while the look of the Super NES version is based strictly on the comic book upon which it is based. The box art of the European PAL Sega version features a photo montage of RoboCop played by Peter Weller with Arnold Schwarzenegger as The Terminator, while the American Sega and Super NES versions simply feature the logo of the game's title. The soundtrack is completely different between the Super NES and Sega versions. The Super NES soundtrack is by Sam Powell and Anthony Shields, while the Sega version is by Tommy Tallarico and Mark Miller.
RoboCop 2003
RoboCop is a 2003 scrolling shooter released for the sixth generation home consoles and the Game Boy Advance. The only North American version available was released for the Xbox while the PAL region versions were released on all consoles except for Game Boy Advance.
RoboCop (2003)
The game allows the player to play as RoboCop and to uncover a sinister plot involving OCP, local gangsters dealing a deadly new synthetic drug and a powerful cyborg known only as MIND. As a last hope, RoboCop must capture, destroy, or arrest hostile characters in a desperate search for clues and evidence.
The game received mostly negative reviews by critics; Gamespot rated it 2.2/10, the official Xbox Magazine UK, rated it a mediocre 5.9/10, GamerFeed gave it a 2/5, XBN Magazine gave 2/10, and NTSC UK, rated it 3/10. In the Scandinavian magazine Gamereactor, it received 1/10 and was called "the worst videogame since Superman 64" (also from Titus Software)
