Robocop vs Terminator

It’s a match made in comic book dreams. A man who protects humanity by becoming a machine, versus a machine who destroys humanity by impersonating a man. The Dark Horse crossover was really just a matter of time, so the game based on it shouldn’t be much of a surprise either. Frank Miller’s comic series went through three different time travel variations before finally settling on the winner of this fight. The game, fortunately, focuses on only one.

The convoluted story behind this marvelous meeting of metal might (a little Stan Lee for you there) goes like this: As Robocop is the most successful merging of a human mind with robotics, Cyberdyne patterns SkyNet’s neural network using him as a blueprint. SkyNet then does its evil deeds and humanity is laid to waste.

In the future, the human resistance learns that Robocop was indirectly behind the creation of SkyNet and sends a commando to destroy him. SkyNet intercepts with a load of Terminators, who kill the commando and plan to force Robocop to integrate with OCP’s computers so that Cyberdyne can gain knowledge of his inner workings. Robocop is blissfully unaware of all these proceedings and his place in the future, just patrolling Detroit and busting crooks in his own signature way. During a routine gunfight, Robocop finds the resistance commando just before she dies, learns that something strange is amiss, and sets off to save the future himself.

Take a quick rest now, that’s quite a lot to digest. An extended text crawl explains some of this at the beginning of the game, but it’s ultimately useless for gameplay, beyond giving you a very general idea of what to expect. Rest assured, you’ll be blasting Terminators and human punks across levels of Detroit and the future.

The Genesis and SNES version are different. The Genesis is a high-adrenaline arcade romp through multiple platform levels based off of scenes from the films. All the enemies from both franchises make appearances as bosses, whether it makes sense for them to or not. A few levels offer objectives, like rescuing hostages or destroying cameras, but these are optional and only give points and health. If you’re looking for something more faithful to the comics – or more focused on plot – the SNES version fills this role. If you’re looking for an extreme action platformer, this Genesis version has got the goods.

Genesis RvT is mostly known for its graphics, which remain some of the most artistically impressive that the system ever produced. Streets are dark and dingy, lit by dim streetlights casting shadows into dark alleyways. Metal gleams, trash blows by, and gangbangers perch, ready to fire. You’ll even have assassins shoot at you from open windows as you pass by on fire escapes or poles. Later in the game, antiseptic neon-and-glass corporate offices and the concrete ruins of a nuclear-bombed Detroit bring different, but equally impressive, looks to the game.

Robocop himself looks exactly like his movie counterpart, right down to the gun-blued metal armor. Muzzle flashes look as menacing and explosive as they did in the films, and impressively reflect off of his chest and helmet. The character animations are even fairly authentic, right down to Robo’s gunslinger stance as he fires his signature Auto-9.

RvT is also remembered for is its graphic graphics – enemies all die grotesquely imaginative deaths. No one just falls; every enemy blows apart in splashes of blood and limbs, heads spin from decapitated bodies, and Terminators shed their flesh as they’re shot, slowly revealing their metal framework underneath. The images are nasty and true to Miller’s comic violence, but the audio to go with it is awfully silly. I presume that the Genesis processor couldn’t accurately portray a “splashing” noise, so the result is an odd quivering sort of sound whenever an enemy is liquidated. It unintentionally brings the shock of violence down by quickly returning every death firmly to unreality. It’s also a shame, considering the quality of the other sounds throughout the game.

There are some clear digitized speech clips and noises, somewhat of a rarity for the time. Robocop has some nice one-liners, and even ED-209’s mechanical “growl” is here and sounding properly intimidating. In following with the game’s style, the sounds are loud and heavy on the bass. Explosions and gunfire are everything you can ask for, and every weapon sounds unique. About the only disappointing weapon is the flamethrower, with a similar quivering noise as the blood splatters; again, probably an inability of the sound hardware to imitate organic noises

Music is another high point, coming from Tommy Tallarico.  His personal style leans to industrial and techno, while he knows how to drive a lot out of the MIDI-style sound processors of the time (see The Terminator Sega CD edition for an example of his work without such restraints). The music here is pure energy, fast-paced synth, with heavy thumping bass and the Genesis equivalent of power chords. Robotic and metal clashing representations make appearances in the background of the tracks as well, for flavor. It can get a little squelchy at times – as any music for these systems could- and it’s certainly not something you’re going to want to record and play in your car, but it works well for the pace of the game and the robotic theme.

Controlling the cyborg constable is easy, with the button layout you’d probably expect. Though Robo moves slowly compared to other game characters, the pace of the game itself is never slowed, and he jumps and climbs like a monkey. Jumping and firing get individual buttons, with the third switching between two weapon slots. You’ll always have your signature handgun, but either slot can be “overwritten” with a stronger weapon acquired in the level – like homing rockets and bazookas. You’re given control over what you carry this way and can pick guns for strategic value, saving them for the proper time. When you lose a life, you lose the gun in the active slot and replace it with the Auto-9. This way you can quickly switch to the gun you don’t want to keep as your death approaches, while you’ll never be unarmed, no matter what.

This is a plenty violent title, and its reputation for action and gore is well-deserved. The mythical cheat code to unlock the hidden MA-17 version does exist, but its most prominent feature is simply to replace certain male thugs with female thugs, because shooting ladies isn’t nice. The level of gore otherwise doesn’t change. Still, the regular game does a fine job of bringing the two franchises together in a platformer with solid roots, with far more action and excitement than the slower, more plot-heavy SNES version. Certainly worth your time.

 

The Good

Impressive action, impressive sound, impressive meeting of the franchises.

 

The Bad

Not much to it beyond running and shooting. Still, as it takes elements from all the movies, it ends up being one of the best Robocop games even without the Terminators.