no matter how good or bad or average you were at this game....when you experienced one of those Im about to die yet somehow you thread the many needles and make it to the next level...there were not many games capable of producing that kind of thrill. Of course for those of us who were average or worse the excitement of surviving those moments were quickly dashed by reality. Such a freaking great game

Williams had such iconic sound design in both their pinball and video games. Defender, Robotron, Joust and The Black Knight are etched in my memory even decades since playing any of them.

I’ll never forget that in an interview, Eugene Jarvis said the proper way to play Robotron is to max out the difficulty and keep playing until you get so mad, you’re slamming the machine on the wall by its joysticks.

Robotron!!!! This game was one of the biggest culprits at taking all my quarters when I was a teenager!

New Patman! Ill buy that for a dollar!

I still find these graphics to be impressive.

This and Smash TV were two games that I just could never get the hang of in the arcades. I would put a quarter in and the game would be over in two seconds. I was and still am not ambidextrous enough, or twitchy fingered enough, to play these dual joystick games. But damn. The sound this thing had. I LOVE the sounds. This game and Defender have some of the best and most recognizable gameplay sounds throughout all of arcade history. For sounds, there's very few that can match Robotron and Defender.

I got this from the clearance bin for my 5200 (because I didn't know 5200 was a dead system) so that was my first experience . loved it

Let’s just appreciate the fact they had to actually program, there were no engines back then

Well we all love the Cadence of your voice that's the thing that keeps us coming back man

Great name for a game that's for sure.

I remember this baby from back in the day ... when I played it in the arcades, I lacked the coordination to make use of the two-stick setup and had a hard time not just pointing them both in the same direction.

And using the term Baddies is endearing as hell

WOW!! This video was fantastic! I remember playing this game in every arcade, pizza shop, and corner store that had it! This was and still is one incredible game of fight or flight survival! Had no idea there were so many home versions of this title the MS DOS version takes the cake with those sound effects!😅it sounds like "Id the Squid" This was a great video that brought back fond memories of those arcade days Thank You so MUCH! 🌟🙏❤🤖👍👊

YES!!! Me and my brother used to go to the bowling alley every Saturday and play Robotron for hours...doubles, on 1 quarter each. Love this game!

I had this game for the Atari 400, and it came with a tray that held two joysticks giving you great gameplay. I remember reading the 5200-also coming with a tray that held both joysticks. for the 400 there was no setting for dual sticks, and it defaulted that way

I'm glad they changed the name from Robot Wars to Robotron. There's something just far more iconic and pleasantly retro/clunky about slapping -tron onto the word robot, lol. There are plenty of generic sci-fi things called Robot Wars anyway. I've enjoyed Robotron ever since first playing it on my cousin's Atari Lynx. Then I used to rent Robotron 64 a whole lot as a kid. It really is just straightforward fun, and it's got that retro sci-fi charm that I personally find more appealing than Total Carnage or Smash TV.

Yes!! Finally! I’ve been waiting for your awesome commentary of the history of Robotron! Thanks again and awesome as usual!! 👍

the 2600 version is incredible- with the exception of the graphics for the grunts. maybe they achieved what they did by sacrificing some detail for the grunts, but if only they could have improved the look of the grunts instead of rendering them as multi-colored blocks, almost like a tease to get so close and yet so far

one of the greatest games ever! When you had the priviledge of watching an expert player, it was a thing of beauty. Pure Gaming...

This was and still is one of my absolutely favorite and loved game! And your documentary is so well made and accurate! I don't know where you find all the informations, I really admire your work! This channel is, to me, a better way to understand and enjoy my youth. I grew up in arcade game malls and have been a gamer since 1985.

Do you have any history and lore on the game Gyruss? And I don't think you've yet done videos on Missile Command or BattleZone... :) :) :)

There's this new game on Steam called Brotato (free demo so far), that is a tribute to Robotron. It updates the premise by allowing up to holding 6 weapons and leveling up your character. After each level you get random upgrades, so no game is the same. The game is easier to play in that all you need to control is movement. The weapons auto-target the closest enemy.

Man I use to LOVE that game, it was my all time favorite, I was actually stopped or denied from playing this game at some arcades because I kept breaking them, atleast three of them at one location, I guess overheating the processor or something. The techs got so pissed at me because they had to continually come in to try to fix the game in that particular location or take it back to the shop, they would ask me what I was doing to this game to cause it to break, I said I would just play it for hours at a time using no more the 2 quarters, I only use two, one if I died early, I had to give myself a budget a day because when I first started playing it I would just keep dumping quarters into it like all idiot young adults who got easily obsessed with arcade games at the time, no other game just Robotron, it was in my opinion way ahead if it's time and most people didn't like to play it due to the two joystick setup I guess or they just got frustrated because they could only incorporate one side of there brain at a time and would die constantly who knows. I literally flipped the high scoreboard on this game several times, even the arcade state champion at the time, atleast he was at Defender from my knowledge and he couldn't beat me, that made me feel good about myself, you know when we're young we're small minded like that. Funny though I sucked at Defender. 😒 I guess it must be true about being a lefty or ambidextrous because I am ambidextrous which I guess is why the game came so easy for me. Anyway after third new Robotron 2084 I burnt out I was the only person at that location not allowed to play that particular game. 🙃 I told the techs it's not my fault the company can't build a reliable game, actually I was just pissed because if I wanted to play Robotron I had to go somewhere else. Anyway that was my experience of the best arcade game at the time in my opinion ever made.

Robotron2084 really *REALLY* deserves either an Arcade1up cab or New Wave Replicade version!

I’ve been waiting for you to cover this game and it was well worth it. Great job and please never stop.

This, Joust, & the Gorgar pinball machine all had the same sound palate. Williams must have liked it!

Robotron is an killer arcade game and I will play it. 😀👍🎮

Such a fun and fast paced game. The main reason I go my AtGames Legends Gamer Pro.

Excellent video and voice comments! Loved Robotron since the first time I played it on its original arcade cabinet back in 2012/14 at the Musee Mechanique in San Francisco, CA. Sounds, colors and the attitudes you have to take to play the game make it unique and hypnotizing. Thank you!

You said in your older videos if anyone likes your videos. Well I'm here to say I love your videos, Patman. LOVE them. Almost done going through your playlists. Slowly going through the big playlists as I'm marathon gaming GTA.

Love it! Thank you for all the hard work!

Vera from Superman 3 literally gave me nightmares as a kid... I remember falling asleep to this movie when I was like 4, and that part combined with being half-asleep in that hypnogogic state was terrifying.

One of my favorite games of all time. If I had free play, I'd still be playing. Another great video!

I'm glad I found your channel again. I really enjoyed your videos. Robotron is one of my top favorite arcade games. Mikey needs to be saved otherwise he can't enjoy his Chex cereal.

I still remember putting my quarter up on the Robotron 1984 cabinet and waiting my turn to play. It was so popular that it wasn't in only all of the local arcades, but grocery stores, convenience stores, and laundromats. The noisy sound the Enforcers made used to drive me crazy!

like always good work Patman!!!

i was visiting my cousins house & they had a good old Commodore 64 & they had Robotron 2084 on it! i don't think i really visited my cousins once i sat down to play this game! Ha-Ha! A cook at our airport loved this game & it was in front of the restaurant where he worked. Robotron 2084 was set up so you could play without needing an airline ticket. We would ride our bikes to that airport every weekend just to play that game! It's one of those games where it is fun to watch & play! To this day i still listen to someones longplay on KZfaq just to listen to it.

Such a vivid, fun game. I remember I'd play this with my little sister a lot, in fact whenever we found a machine we'd play it - I could never figure out how she was so good at it, but she's left handed so that might be solved now. It's a game I often come back to, but mostly I play Llamatron on the Atari ST, a fantastic version of the game with a traditional Minter twist... it's not quite so tricky and quite light hearted really. Anyway, another awesome interesting video, thank you for making these - I always make time to watch them front to back.

As a kid I remember playing this and lasting only about 10 seconds, but would still love watching the older kids play because it was so intense and the colors are absolutely amazing.

Thank you Pacmanqc great work Sir

Superb video! Great to see the respect for the crazy genius of Eugene Jarvis, not forgetting Larry DeMar either (wow, the sounds of this game and Defender!) The sound takes me back to UK the UK south coast arcade of Bournemouth pier in the 80s, but I was a kid and couldn't get far on it. I finally got it going on MAME in recent years then on the PS2 (not sure you mentioned the perfect port on there on the Midway collection). Love how you made sure to play the sound of each port (aside from ZX Spectrum for some reason?!) and showed so many versions. One of the very greatest games of all time and you did it justice here, great job!

Great work on this video, PatmanQC. Easily the best about Robotron 2084.

Thanks for another amazing piece of video gaming history Patman, as your vids are some of the best on YT. Yeah, I'm always amazed at what can be done on classic gaming consoles, and the 2600 game is one of the best. The best games of these types are the ones that use the original cart sizes of 4k, as you see what could have been back then if the proper talent and time was applied. Pac-Man 4k for the 2600 is insane, and makes the official released game look even worse by comparison.

Excellent video - loved the history. I also bought a Midway 12-in-one arcade machine (used) that was originally sold exclusively at Sam's Club retail stores I think in like 2005-2006 time. It includes Robotron 2084, Defender I and II, Joust, Rampage, Wiz of Wor, Satan's Hollow, Sinistar and others.

Thank you for the Robotron PatQC History! A very challenging game that I can only last for about 5 minutes before game over. So much stuff going onscreen at one time! I agree, the game attacks much faster after the first 2 waves.

Great video. I’m always looking for Robotron info. I was fortunate to get the original arcade machine and it will never leave! IMO it is the best arcade game ever created and really should be experienced on the arcade machine with the original Wico joysticks.

For some reason, this game have a special place in my heart and mind.

Robotron.....how I love this game. When I discovered MAME and figured out the dip switch allowed up to 20 men to start with, I play this more than any other arcade game. Btw, each level has a prescribed amount of robots but their positioning is randomized. The robots move by jumping pixels when they move, especially the grunts which is why sometimes when you die you can see your shot going through the enemy. Such a fast, fun game. Got to save the wee ones!!! I live this game. Tanks for the memories.....going to go play after work. Come on, arcade1up, make this!

This was merciless and incredibly challenging game, which is why it's the BEST ARCADE GAME OF ALL TIME!

Nice Video! this game has the BEST sound effects! Classic indeed!

Cameron Philips from the sarah connor chronicles was a scarey robot. Another awesome video PatmanQC.Please keep these "Happy little games" going. Thankyou Sir.

I used to play Robotron all the time with a couple of friends. We would put in a quarter and last forever. It was later in the 80's but we were all really good at the game.

One of my all-time favorites! Different storyline and controls from other videogames from the same period. All Williams consoles had a great speaker! Had a chance to replay it for years again on the PS2 version. Had no idea about the connection to Orwell's 1984.

One of the most high octane, chaotic games out there.. I blame Robotron on some of the gray hairs I have . I will say that whoever is playing the demo is good..

Another great video! I can't believe I actually have this game as I got it in the Midway Arcade Origins on Xbox One. The fact that everyone could have a different experience is an amazing concept. I will have to play it and give it a shot.

Another tremendously entertaining history lesson!

keep up the good work, pat man. I would love to see a video on Team Zero. That was an arcade game I played back in the day and I would love to learn more about it.

Did not know there were so many conversions of this game!! Wow that was a lot. As much as I was so intrigued with this game as a kid probably because of the dual sticks to control and fire was so cool, this was one of the hardest games in the arcade back then!! Lol. I don''t remember getting past like level 4 ever haha. Awesome video

You have the perfect narrator voice, I believe you should ask for a job in the voice over work of Disney or ilm

Was at a classic arcade bar the other week and I was still loving this game. Still classic today.

Llamatron 2112 by Jeff Minter is one of my Favourite games on the Amiga

no joke on the warning at the end... this game always raises my heart BPM. no other game i've ever played does this...

I remember playing this on DOS when I was a kid - that squelching noise it makes when you are captured came right back to me! 22:20 That sound entered my nightmares lol

I've probably played this game 1000s of times and and I still suck balls at it. The fact that I keep coming back for more is a testament to how awesome a game it is.

The game was released in 1982, but the events took place 102 years later.

Thanks for this! This game was up there with defender as the king of quarter munchers in the arcade!

When a game spawns a whole new genre, you know it is something special.

I've played this game on a PS2 collection - great video!

Greatest classic era arcade game ever, and one of the greatest video games of all time! It’s definitely my personal fave of all time, and not just because I have a full arcade version in my house which I bought in 1999 for only $450! Here are some fun facts that would have been nice to include in your awesome video… Eugene Jarvis wrote a short screenplay for Robotron back in the 80’s and he called the hero protagonist, Johnny Psycho. Other people have called him Ron Robot since Eugene put that on his name tag at a convention in 1982📍🤖📍

This control scheme to this game would later be used in Total Carnage.

My favorite early pure arcade game bar none. Thanks for the deep dive.

Nice video ❤❤ the crazy part about this game is the difficulty. It was very simple but also very hard.

This is great information and I never knew the Berzerk link to Robotron!

I had the 5200 version back when it was released. Both this and the other twin stick shooter, space dungeon, had a plastic frame you snapped the controllers into so they would be held steady. Both were great for their time.

Great video as usual sir. Back in the 1983 I had Wild West Hero for my ZX Spectrum. This was an amazing Robotron 2084 clone and was super addictive with decent graphics and sound. Check it out on KZfaq. Take care Patman!

Loved playing Robotron in the arcades. Played it a ton on my atari 5200 with the dual controller holder.

Another gem from PatManQC! Hahaha and yes, I do have to take blood pressure breaks when playing this

Love me some Robotron and its many many children. How do you hammer these videos out so fast? Keep rocking!

Robotron: Greatest video game of all time. What made it so good is, it's extremely challenging, but if you are good enough you can survive almost anything.

One of my all time favorites. The standard controllers for the 5200 are perfect for that port when used with the coupler that came with the game originally.

Great video. I don't recall playing this, but know I would've loved it. I love the older bulkiervlook of robots in fiction; now those are the ones I'd love to see in modern movies. In fact I'd like to see a game authentic live action version of this, even if just for a scene.

I only played this a few times back in the day. A game like this is not good on a tight quarter budget. I would love to play this now. 🤖👀

Simple to learn hard to master ! Great graphics and sound .

Great video, as usual.I had no idea this was released on the TI-99. I agree, Defender is one of the best games. I am strange in that I think sound is just as important as gameplay and nothing beat the original arcade version. As for Robotron, even though I'm from the '70s, I never saw this game in the wild. I first encountered it in a compilation on the Sega Saturn. I loved it when I first played it. Man, I wish I had the money to buy the original arcade cabinets of some of these games.

Love this!

Never played the game until recently when I went to one of the pay on entry retro arcades that are springing up in the UK at the minute. I was blown away by the gameplay and spent a good hour playing and next time I go back I will be making a bee line for this

Crank it up to level 10 and enjoy the chaos. Still play it today and never get tired of it!

Bar none Williams' games had the best and most iconic sound effects. This and Stargate were auditory bliss!

I have the 5200, 7800, and Sega Saturn (perfect port!) Versions, all are great fun. Thanks PatmanQC!

I have a 5200 and this game with the coupler. Despite what this guy says, it works awesome because it is one of the few that allows you to use a twin stick controller similar to the arcade, which is a must when playing this game. Of course finding two working 520 controllers is quite a challenge.

Without a doubt, for me, the scariest scene in any movie is that damn computer in Superman III turning that woman into a robot. Holy shit.

Well, it’s nice to know there are 245 levels I’ll never see. Haha. This game was way too hard. But then I was pretty young at the time. Thanks for the video. I always love the time you take showing all the janky ports.

OK don't judge, but when I was a kid I wouldn't go near this arcade machine. The brain monsters scared me really bad. To this day the game still kindof creeps me out even with its primitive graphics. Still its a great classic ahead of its time. I'm glad to find out I'm not the only one who was afraid of it on some primal level.

PatmanQC #1!

The Atari 800XL version came in a box with a plastic mould that would fit two Atari 2600 joysticks. They sort of snapped into place and this made it much easier to play.

This episode inspired me to rebuild a Stargate using the Jrock MultiWilliams system, which contains Robotron. This cost me less than the quarters I spent playing the game at my local arcade in the early 80s. However, it fails to recapture the magic of the arcade experience...😢

I do believe Adam Savage will agree

I've got a Multi-Williams arcade cab with the Williams SYSFPGA board (It has a 6809 cpu, so not emulation), and imho the best joysticks you can every play Robotron on, Original Wico Perfect 360's. They use light beams to detect the joystick movement, and are just a joy to play robotron with. The controls make this game..

Great video ! I play the new port on the Coco3 and it's one on the most impressive versions ! Lots of fin :)