Developed and published by by Virgin Games in 1994.
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Based somewhat loosely on a comic-book crossover of the same name, Robocop Versus The Terminator is a side-scrolling platform-shooter that brings together two much-loved sci-fi series in an orgy of robot-stomping, bullet-shooting violence.
The timelines of the Terminator and RoboCop universes collide where cyborg cop, Alex Murphy, exists in a world where Skynet rules and humanity clings to existence by a thread. Aiding the human resistance in it's battle against the machines, RoboCop must fight his way through numerous levels in an attempt to gain access to Skynet's bunker and to destroy it.
Each of the game's stages requires the player to guide RoboCop to a designated exit, all the while destroying a plethora of bad guys from both RoboCop and Terminator universes. Certain levels introduce additional objectives, such as locating/rescuing hostages, or destroying Skynet infrastructure, but there is nothing particularly complicated about this game.
Although the game might be somewhat lacking in originality, it makes up for this by possessing some top-notch shooting action and violence. In fact, the game boasts some surprisingly gory death animations, no doubt as a result of being released in the wake of Mortal Kombat, with enemy thugs evaporating in a curdled red slop of flesh and gore.
RoboCop is initially equipped with his trademark Auto-9 automatic handgun, but is able to retrieve and store up to two additional weapons from the battlefield. The arsenal on offer is suitably expansive with homing missiles to bad-guy atomising laser guns fleshing out our hero's arsenal.
All of the weapons have unlimited ammunition and is something I wasn't prepared for. I kept looking for an ammo counter or expected the weapon to run out after a certain time, but it never came. Instead, the game robs you of the weapon you had selected if/when you lose a life; this isn't too much of a problem in the early levels, but it serves to make things very tough indeed in later levels, especially when it comes to fighting certain bosses.
As is the staple for the genre, each level culminates in a showdown against an iconic foe from the RoboCop or Terminator universes and this is where the game's difficulty can take a sudden upswing. I chose, perhaps somewhat foolishly, to play the game on "Killer" difficulty (the hardest) and found some of the boss fights, particularly the ED-209 and final Skynet encounters to be particularly punishing on one's fingers.
The game features some very solid graphics with the main RoboCop sprite looking great and boasting some very solid animation. In fact, I would go to say that this game features probably the best looking 2D rendition of RoboCop in any game for a home console. The rest of the enemy sprites are nicely detailed, although the majority of the enemies are static and don't move, which is something of a shame.
Things are pretty strong in the audio department too. Music was never the Mega Drive's strong point and this game doesn't buck the trend, but the sound effects are generally of a very high standard and sound just like their original movie counterparts. The iconic Auto-9 gunfire is particularly impressive, plus there are some reasonably clear speech effects, one of which sounds suspiciously like Linda Hamilton.
My main issue with the game is one of thematic styling rather than anything to do with the game mechanics (which are all pretty solid). Just about every interpretation of the Terminator universe shows the US as little more than crumbling remains following a catastrophic nuclear war, yet none of that is really evident here. Instead, the game seems to shoe-horn Skynet and the Terminators into RoboCop's crime-infested Old Detroit/Delta City, even going so far as to have RoboCop rescuing executives from the OCP offices; somehow I don't think that people would be worrying about going to work when legions of sentient man-killing droids are roaming the streets.
The other slight niggle is that, despite being a robot made of titanium and weighing several tonnes, RoboCop is possessed of the athletic abilities akin to most Olympic gymnasts. I get that this is a platform game and that the game would feel pretty restricted without the ability to jump or climb, but RoboCop was always a lumbering force of nature, not an acrobat.
Fortunately, neither issue manages to overshadow what is an uncomplicated, yet surprisingly decent action romp. If you're in the market for some solid 'droid-stomping action then you could certainly do worse than to pick up a copy of RoboCop Versus the Terminator.
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