The History of Robocop versus the Terminator videogame documentary

happy little games the era of the crossover the general public have been enjoying these since the 1940s with movies such as the wolfman vs dracula abbott and castello meet frankenstein and jesse james meets frankenstein's daughter in the 1970s comic book fans witnessed an epic team-up between the two rival companies dc and marvel when it produced superman versus spider-man since then we've had various other crossovers including some downright strange ones such as superman vs muhammad ali batman meets the teenage mutant ninja turtles archie meets the punisher and archie versus predator today though we are going to talk about two box office behemoths that would clash in an epic battle to determine the fate of mankind no i'm not talking about the bollywood version of superman meet spider-woman [Music] i'm talking about robocop versus the terminator the video game from virgin games what famous run and gun franchise helped inspire the design of this game so reload your weapon because it's your move creep this is the history of robocop versus the terminator the year is 1993 and virgin games have secured a license for the comic book robocop versus the terminator according to tim williams who was one of the members of the development team the license was staggered for a measly two million dollars let's stop right here and step back in time to 1984 with the release of the terminator this sci-fi classic starred arnold schwarzenegger as a cyborg assassin sent from the year 2029 to eradicate sarah connor whose unborn son will help stop the machines from rising and becoming self-aware skipping ahead a few years sees the release of robocop in 1987. this is another sci-fi classic set in the futuristic crime ridden city of detroit and sees police officer alex murphy murdered while on the job he is rebuilt by omni consumer products as a cyborg police officer robocop both movies were extremely successful and garnered not only a number of film sequels but many video game adaptations as well ocean software released one of their best selling games in the company's history which was the very first robocop this introduced five separate mini-games into one package which is a template they would use for later games such as the untouchables batman the movie and even terminator 2. after the success of terminator 2 judgment day interest in the terminator franchise was at an all-time high robocop 3 was currently being filmed when dark horse comics obtained their rights to both franchises and decided to create a four-issue mini-series entitled robocop versus the terminator which was written by the dark knight returns author frank miller the story involves skynet sending three terminators back in time to protect robocop after they discovered his technology is partly used to build skynet in the future realizing what's at stake robocop's consciousness enters skynet's system and laid dormant undetected for decades until an opportunity presents itself so he can stop the future from ever happening saving mankind in the process the comic series would prove to be pretty successful for dark horse comics so in 1993 the license was snatched up by virgin for 2 million dollars for video games across all the major platforms there was one limitation on the license and that they couldn't use any of the plot details from the original comics so they had to create a storyline from scratch although to be honest it is quite similar to save on time and money mr williams used an enhanced version of david perry's mega drive engine which had been used in cool spot [Music] and global gladiators [Music] the design team would spend late nights analyzing contra 3 the alien wars to see what made the game so addictive and implemented that into the game's design mr williams said once other co-workers started hanging around playing the title and becoming a bit addicted to it they knew they were on the right track they wanted to include many backdrops from the movies such as ocps headquarters the streets of detroit and of course the future they also wanted to include as much blood and gore as possible without letting the bosses know during development they actually implemented switches into the game so the bosses did come around to check on the progress they could flip a switch and not as much blood would be shown the weapons are also a big part of the game and the designers wanted each one to feel different pistols laser guns flame throwers and bazookas are just some of the artillery robocop has at his disposal not to mention the gatling gun he confiscates from ed209 [Music] oh [Music] robocop versus the terminator was released in 1993 for the sega genesis as the story goes cyber dying systems have won the contract to develop sky net defense system the scientists discovered the best way to develop the supercomputer was to model it after robocop's neural networks since robocop is the only successful link between humans and computers after skynet becomes fully aware they realize mankind is the enemy in attempt to obliterate them the rebels send someone to the past to execute alex murphy but skynet sends three terminators back to protect him robocop has his own agenda as he plans to uplink himself into the main computer and regenerate himself in the future after doing so you have to make your way to the sky net complex to take down the skynet cpu core you take on the role of the futuristic tin man himself robocop as he blasts his way through 10 levels of hardcore blood and guts run and gun action in this game you shoot whatever moves all the while moving from left to right or right to left advancing through the levels thankfully your video game character doesn't move like his big screen counterpart meaning he doesn't have rigor mortis your character can jump duck slide along wires climb ladders descend ladders enter doors and fire his big weapon thankfully there are three difficulty settings available which also increases the number of lives you have for each game wimpy which is seven lives normal which is five and killer which is three thanks to mortal kombat coming out at about the same time this game was in development they decided to up the blood and gore factor with tongue firmly planted in cheek but it seems pretty tame compared to more modern titles this resulted in some over-the-top moments such as robocop spinning his gun blood-stained windows exploding bloody enemies and more the graphics and animation are phenomenal with plenty of detail and little touches that make it stand out papers blow by in the winds like tumbleweeds windows will shatter if you shoot them along with exploding fire hydrants that actually serve a purpose robocop will catch on fire and the only way to put him out is to either shoot the sprinkler system or the fire hydrant also worth mentioning when you encounter a terminator and blow him away for the first time he lies on the ground for a couple of seconds before his red eyes come back on and he stands back up to continue the fight it's very similar to what happens in the movies and it's really well done neat little touches like these go a long way as i mentioned robocop can climb and descend ladders he can also pull himself across cables as well not only is he pretty spry for a metal guy he also has a killer arsenal to boot you can carry two weapons at once but if you pick up another one it will replace the current one you're holding the weapons at your disposal are the pistol laser gun grenade launcher plasma rifle ed 209's gatlin gun bazooka flamethrower and homing missile gun they all pack a wallop and each gun has its own strengths and weaknesses so strategy is a must certain levels also have hostages you can rescue there are a few power ups tucked away behind certain walls or inside objects such as a robocop head which will give you an extra life baby food jar which will increase your energy and a shield which will make you invulnerable as long as your character is flashing the 10 levels you need to complete are the trainer level [Music] streets of detroit delta city under construction the toxic farm ocp office complex terminator outpost [Music] underground complex underground bunker [Music] the wall to skynet and finally skynet some of the bosses you encounter are the t-800 [Music] kane from robocop 2. [Music] battle tank [Music] ed 209 giant terminator terminator with the machine gun finally skynet email with this big gun from robocop one even makes an appearance attempting to take you out once you make it through all the levels and defeat the bosses you are treated to a brief ending explaining that the terminator invasion has been prevented and history has been altered you have saved humankind from mass destruction congratulations the graphics are absolutely phenomenal with large detailed sprites and smooth scrolling the music and sound effects are fantastic as well with heart thumping sound effects and excellent use of digitized voices all throughout thankfully it plays well too with you having tight crisp control over your character there are a number of cheats available including ultra violent mode which sees robocop able to be set on fire leather clad female humans which is always a plus in my book a new game over a message and being electrocuted after your death there is also a cheat allowing you to start with 54 lives and a weapon select there are also a few secret rooms to find which include lots of power-ups and weapons all in all it's an excellent game especially if you are a fan of either of the two properties let's go ahead and take a look at the super nintendo version which is a bit of a mixed bag the game was developed by interplay and is similar in structure to the sega genesis version but with many differences instead of the 10 levels found in the genesis version there are now 12 levels to conquer similar to what my wife tells me just because something is bigger doesn't mean it's better while the graphics and colors are a bit improved over the genesis version the animation is not it's very odd because when robocop is climbing or descending the ladders it's very smooth other times when he's just walking or pulling his gun out it's very choppy i'm not saying it's as bad as a 1950 soviet union cartoon choppy but it's not very good either there are some neat lighting effects that i can see what the graphic artists were trying to go for but it really detracts from the gameplay and makes everything a bit hard to see at times something else that is missing along with the frames of animation is the bloody content the enemies do explode after shooting them but they turn into a fireball and fade away there is a cool mode 7 level where you have to fly around shooting terminators which helps break up the monotony the collision detection rears its ugly head especially when grabbing onto pipes and zip lines there are lots of cheap hits in this version as well and also no checkpoints so if you die it's back to the beginning of the level speaking of cheap enemies will respawn so you have to watch out your selection of weapons have been cut down considerably from the sega version for some odd reason there are now comic panels that link the levels together which helps flesh out the story the levels include detroit streets [Music] delta city construction site ocp research facility [Music] terminator outpost assault mission to skynet skynet outer perimeter skynet main tower terminator storage facility [Music] skynet inner complex the skynet computer cord a lot of the bosses were changed in this version and some of those that you will encounter include ed209 the t-800 the t-800 for the second time the hunter killer the hovering sentry and finally the skynet cpu core once you defeat sky in it a nice animated ending is shown [Music] [Music] [Music] overall the game is still fun to play but is nowhere near as good as the sega genesis version while the controls are okay something just seems a bit off i do appreciate the comic book panels in between each level that helps tell the story but everything else is a notch below the vastly superior genesis version also released that same year was the game boy version the storyline is pretty much the same as the other ones with three terminators sent back in time to not only kill robocop but john connor as well the game reminds me of the very first robocop title from ocean software but it doesn't play anywhere near as good this time robocop appears to have gone on the atkins diet because he's mean lean and full of green robocop moves and jumps like he's wearing a 200 pound metal suit which i guess makes it more realistic there are various weapon upgrades to get and plenty of platforming action there are also plenty of spiders which appear to be robocop's achilles heel the music is grade a 100 percent quaffalicious and your ears will be bleeding in no time only fans of either robocop or the terminator should check this out oh wait who am i kidding nobody should check this out [Music] [Music] let's add a little color to our lives and take a look at the sega game gear version this is basically a stripped down port of the genesis version right down to the exact same level design minus a lot of details in the background this is the case of the game gear biting off much more than it could chew because there are lots of graphic glitches on screen and also a lot of slowdown the sprites are large and reasonably well animated and it does play pretty good for a handheld title instead of eight weapons to choose from you only have four with the pistol laser gun bazooka and plasma rifle making the cut sound effects of music are pretty good and there's even a sprinkling of digitized voices in there as well [Music] so [Music] the sega master system is very good especially for an 8-bit system this is the stripped-down version of the genesis that the game gear was striving for but this one actually manages to pull it off large well animated sprites with detailed backgrounds and fairly smooth scrolling makes it a definite keeper for the humble sega master system similar to the game gear version we only have 4 weapons instead of 8 but there are 11 levels to complete the sound effects and music are really good and add to the overall atmosphere of the game this is a fantastic version while not as good as the genesis it does show off the power of the master system when given to the right developers [Music] a lot of people didn't know that an nes version was actually completed but never released apparently the developers were struggling with the out-of-date nintendo architecture and were not able to pull off what they intended to do the graphics are bland and the game looks like the original nes robocop even though that was released five years earlier playing through it reminded me of batman a movie for the nes although not quite as polished the sprites are detailed but a bit on the small side and apparently robocop has been dipped in a bottle of blue nail polish the backgrounds are detailed with some nice animation all throughout there is a nice animated cutscene at the beginning and also before you time travel into the future to take on skynet you have your usual power ups and health upgrades similar to the other home versions sound effects and music are good and are reminiscent of both the terminator and robocop in terms of tone and feel it does play pretty good although since this is a very near complete version things could have been tightened up just a bit apparently virgin had second thoughts when it came to releasing this game at the very last minute and decided against it at that particular point in time the super nintendo and genesis were going full throttle and the nes marketplace was dwindling perhaps it was this or they just weren't happy with the quality of the game the rom was leaked online so if you're curious about the game google it and check it out [Music] and there you have it folks the history of robocop versus the terminator my favorite by far is the sega genesis version as it has a much more grittier feel and superb gameplay if you've ever wanted to hang out in detroit rock city while killing some gangbangers and the occasional terminators then be sure and give this game a shot you'll be glad you did if 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Channel: PatmanQC - History of arcade game documentaries

Views: 45,594

Keywords: NES, arcade, SNES, amputee, Xbox, PlayStation, Sony, Nintendo, Sega, Microsoft, retro, video, gamesAtari, Colecovision, Intellivision, Jaguar, entertainment, system, Game, Boy, Genesis, Mega, drive, CD, X68000, Amstrad, spectrum, MSX, 2600, 5200, 7800, 400, 800, 1200, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, 360, one, switch, GameCube, wii, wii-u, Alex Murphy, Sarah, John Connor, T 800, Ed-209, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Miller, dark horse, comics, Hunter killer, Archie, punisher, OCP, Omni consumer products, Detroit, 2029, Judgment Day

Id: A0zKNDzxSPc

Length: 27min 44sec (1664 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 28 2021