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RoboCop (1988 video game)

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RoboCop
North American arcade flyer
Developer(s)
Publisher(s)
Data East
    • Data East (Arcade/DOS/NES/Apple II)
    • Ocean Software (Amiga/Atari ST/C64/CPC/ZX Spectrum)
    • Erbe Software (DOS/MSX)
    • Tandy Corporation (TRS-80 CoCo)
    • Game Boy
Designer(s)Yoshiyuki Urushibara
Tomo Adachi
Programmer(s)
  • Ryōji Minagawa
  • Mr. Deco Men
  • Kenji Takahashi
  • S. Tamura
  • Masaaki Tamura
Artist(s)
  • Tomo Adachi
  • Asami Kaneko
  • Mix Man
  • Yoshinari Kaiho
Composer(s)
  • Hiroaki Yoshida
  • Hitomi Komatsu
  • Hiroyuki
SeriesRoboCop
Platform(s)Arcade, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari ST, Commodore 64, Game Boy, MS-DOS, MSX, NES, TRS-80 Color Computer, ZX Spectrum
Release
1988
  • Arcade
    • JP: 1988
    • WW: 1988
    Amstrad CPC, MSX
    Apple II
    ZX Spectrum
    Commodore 64
    Atari ST
    DOS, TRS-80 CoCo
    Amiga
    NES
    • JP: 25 August 1989[1]
    • NA: December 1989
    • EU: 25 April 1991
    Game Boy
Genre(s)Beat 'em up, run and gun
Mode(s)Single-player
Multiplayer (not in all versions)
Arcade systemData East MEC-M1[3]

RoboCop is a run & gun and beat 'em up video game developed and published by Data East for arcades and Ocean Software for home computers in 1988 based on the 1987 film of the same name.[4][5] It was sub-licensed to Data East by Ocean Software, who obtained the rights from Orion Pictures at the script stage.[6][7] Data East and Ocean Software worked in conjunction with each other to release games for the Arcade and home computers respectively for a joint release, with the home computer versions translating the sections that Data East had shown Ocean from an early unfinished build of the game which Ocean then had to expand upon.[8]

The game was a critical and commercial success. The arcade game was the highest-grossing arcade game of 1988 in Hong Kong, and reached number-two on Japan's monthly Game Machine arcade charts. On home computers, the game sold over 1 million copies worldwide, and it was especially successful in the United Kingdom where it was the best-selling home computer game of the 1980s.

Gameplay

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Arcade screenshot

The gameplay is similar to Data East's arcade game Bad Dudes Vs. DragonNinja, released earlier the same year.[9] Robocop includes elements from both beat 'em up and run and gun video games.

Release

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During development of the arcade game in 1988, Ocean worked on bringing the computer version of the property to 8-bit home computers, converting what was made available to them at the time while also adding original content to make it different from the arcade original.[7] This version was produced for the Commodore 64, MSX, ZX Spectrum, TRS-80 Color Computer 3, Amstrad CPC, and MS-DOS, meaning that home computers ended up with two different versions of Robocop for North American and European audiences.

Ports for the Apple II, Amiga, and Atari ST; ports for DOS, NES, and TRS-80 Color Computer 3 followed in 1989. The Apple II and IBM PC ports were developed by Quicksilver Software, while the Amiga and Atari ST versions were developed directly by Ocean. The NES version was developed primarily by Data East with programming handled by Sakata SAS Co, and Ocean ported and published a version for the Game Boy in 1990. A port of the game for the Atari Jaguar was planned but never released.[10][11]

Data East published the game in North America.[citation needed]

Reception

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RoboCop was a commercial success in arcades, especially in Hong Kong where it was the highest-grossing arcade game of 1988.[18] In Japan, Game Machine listed RoboCop on their February 1, 1989 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit of the month.[19]

On home computers, the game sold over 1 million copies worldwide. It was especially successful in the United Kingdom, where it was the best-selling home computer game of the 1980s.[7] The ZX Spectrum version in particular was the best-selling home video game of 1989.[20] The ZX Spectrum RoboCop was one of the biggest selling games of all time on that platform and remained in the Spectrum software sales charts for over a year and a half;[21] it entered the charts in December 1988[22] and was still in the top five in February 1991.[23] It also topped the UK all-format charts for a record 36 weeks until it was knocked off the number one position by Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in August 1989.[24]

The arcade game was critically well-received.[9] The ZX Spectrum version also achieved critical acclaim, receiving a CRASH Smash award from CRASH,[25] 94% in Sinclair User[14] and Your Sinclair gave 8.8 out of 10,[26] also placing it at number 94 in the Your Sinclair official top 100. The overall opinion was that it captures the original material, with smooth scrolling and animation, sampled speech and sound effects highlighted.

The readers of YS voted it the 9th best game of all time.[27]

The title theme of the Ocean Software versions (composed by Jonathan Dunn) has become well known for its serene, calm tune, which heavily contrasted the tone of both the actual game and the source material; the version of the theme heard in the Game Boy port was later licensed by European kitchen appliance company Ariston for use in a series of TV adverts.[28] The song was also used as the theme song for Charlie Brooker's documentary How Videogames Changed the World,[29] and was one of Brooker's selections on Desert Island Discs. It was also used as the music for the Internet short "Dilbert 3"[28] and was sampled in Lil B's song "In Down Bad" from his mixtape "White Flame".[28][30]

References

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  1. ^ "FAMICOM Soft > 1989". GAME Data Room. Archived from the original on 2016-10-20. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  2. ^ "GAMEBOY Soft > 1991". GAME Data Room. Archived from the original on 2018-09-09. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  3. ^ "Data East MEC-M1 Hardware (Data East)". system16.com. 2015-02-12. Archived from the original on 2017-09-21. Retrieved 2018-09-08.
  4. ^ "RoboCop - The Future of Law Enforcement". arcade-history.com. Archived from the original on 2018-09-12. Retrieved 2018-09-12.
  5. ^ Kenjō, Kōji (October 1988). "Video Games - ビデオゲーム新作インフォメーション". Micom BASIC Magazine (in Japanese). No. 76. The Dempa Shimbunsha Corporation. pp. 268–269.
  6. ^ Mason, Graeme (January 19, 2014). "The making of Robocop - Thank you for your co-operation". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  7. ^ a b c Mellor, Robert (January 2008). "The Making Of: RoboCop". Retro Gamer. No. 46. Future Publishing. pp. 62–65. Archived from the original on 2017-02-02. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  8. ^ "Sinclair User Spectrum Review C64 Review".at ZZap64
  9. ^ a b "Arcade Action: RoboCop". Computer and Video Games. No. 86 (December 1988). November 1988. pp. 149–52.
  10. ^ "Atari Jaguar Sector II Forum Link". jaysmith2000.com. Archived from the original on December 2, 2006. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
  11. ^ "Atari Jaguar Lost Games". janatari.de. Archived from the original on 2018-09-06. Retrieved 2018-09-05.
  12. ^ "Archive - Magazine viewer". World of Spectrum. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  13. ^ "Archive - Magazine viewer". World of Spectrum. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  14. ^ a b "Archive - Magazine viewer". World of Spectrum. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  15. ^ "Robocop". Ysrnry.co.uk. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  16. ^ "Archive - Magazine viewer". World of Spectrum. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  17. ^ "Archive - Magazine viewer". World of Spectrum. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  18. ^ "The World's Largest Arcade". ACE. No. 20 (May 1989). 6 April 1989. p. 23.
  19. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)". Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 349. Amusement Press, Inc. 1 February 1989. p. 25.
  20. ^ "The Best Games of '89". Computer and Video Games. No. 98 (January 1990). 16 December 1989. p. 9.
  21. ^ "The YS Complete Guide To Shoot-'em-ups Part II" Archived July 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine from Your Sinclair issue 56, August 1990; retrieved from The Your Sinclair Rock 'n' Roll Years
  22. ^ "Top Twenty Full Price Games". New Computer Express. Future Publishing. 24 December 1988. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  23. ^ "The YS Rock'n'Roll Years - Issue 62". Ysrnry.co.uk. Archived from the original on September 7, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2012.
  24. ^ "Indy Topples Robocop". New Computer Express. Future Publishing. 9 September 1989. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  25. ^ RoboCop Archived 2018-08-28 at the Wayback Machine review from CRASH issue 59, December 1988; retrieved from CRASH Online
  26. ^ RoboCop Archived March 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine review from Your Sinclair issue 39, March 1989; retrieved from The Your Sinclair Rock 'n' Roll Years
  27. ^ Your Sinclair magazine issue 93, Future Publishing, September 1993, page 58
  28. ^ a b c Person, Chris (February 16, 2012). "What do Robocop, Washing Machines, Dilbert & Lil B have in Common?". Kotaku. Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  29. ^ Whitehead, Dan (December 5, 2013). "TV review: How Videogames Changed the World". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on 2016-10-25. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
  30. ^ Rougeau, Michael (February 16, 2016). "Gameboy "Robocop"'s Theme Song Also Sold Washers, Made Dilbert Homicidal And Got Sampled By Lil B". Complex. Archived from the original on 2016-10-26. Retrieved October 25, 2016.
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