arstechnica.com— Robotron 2084 helped create the genre of twin-stick shooters, and it still stands as one of the best examples of the art form. Robotron 2084 is a masterpiece.
Jul 2, 2010View in Crawl 4
My favorite classic arcade game! Too bad the player in this video can't play worth a damn.. he died at least 5 times before the first tank level. Pathetic demonstration of an exceptional arcade game. They must be demonstrating the game from MAME because his game was over before his first free guy.
Man, they used to have one in top condition at an arcade in Orange County called Reagan Years. Amazing how damn fun that thing still was. BTW, a real Robotron cabinet had sticks that were practically indestructible. People would lean all their body weight on the movement stick as if it would somehow, someway give them that little extra bit of speed. And then, of course, the double-palm punch of both sticks after dying on the level with all the mommy clones, when they were still a bunch wandering around at 5000 each. Didn't get to submit this story, I was two minutes too late, so I submitted a wtf pinball thing instead: http://digg.com/arts_culture/puppets_pinball_cough_syrup
If you think Robotron was intense you should play another of Eugene Jarvis' games: Blaster. That was a beast and a half.
I read an interview with Jarvis many years ago in a video game magazine ("Joystiq"?)... he was asked why, in Defender, the Smart Bomb would destroy a pod, but not the swarmers inside. He admitted it was a bug, but because it seemed cool he left it in.
Wait, an article on the amazing Robotron 2084 that doesnt mention the whole reason why it is played with two joysticks?
The creator, Eugene Jarvis's was in a car accident and his hand was in a cast, so it was difficult for him to press buttons.
They made one joystick for moving and the other for shooting for that reason.
Atari had a game very similar to Robotron called Black Widow. Dual sticks, color vector monitor, same insane gameplay. I should know, I own one. They are even more rare than Robotron.
Easily my favorite classic game. I got pretty good at it back in the day, and the swarming level 9 (and level 19, level 29, etc.) could draw a nice crowd in an arcade back then. Huge fun.
If you can't get a full-size cabinet, there's a version for Gamecube that works pretty well. The Gamecube controller replicates the dual sticks better than many consoles.
Defender was excellent once you caught up with it (then Williams tossed out Stargate with the extra Inviso button...agh!)
But no doubt Robotron totally rocked. It's was a rip-roaring time with no stopping, no sneezing, no pausing, just a non-stop sprint of a time.
The game that gets my nod for stress though is Berzerk. Everything on the screen...killed you.
Touch a guy - you die
Tough a bullet - you die
Touch a wall - YOU DIE!
Then there's the big boss...
You don't defeat him...you run....you RUN!
Because he's indestructible, he has no weakness, there's no strategy other than to move the feet. And the big boss gets to cheat too...he goes through the walls.
All...with his big smile.
Add to this that people actually dropped dead from playing Berzerk.
But you did have this ace up your sleeve: a shot from a robot could pass through the gap between your head and body without harming you. It's a one pixel gap, but still...
And "Smiley" wasn't a "boss", that was the game's way of keeping you from parking behind a wall and going off for a sandwich or something while the robots just sat on the other side and spun their scanners helplessly.
Actually Berzerk was based on an ancient text-based computer game that people played on teletypes, before there were graphics at all. Each "turn" would print out a little diagram showing the room you were in, pillars (which didn't move), robots and you. Each turn you could move one character in one of eight directions. The robots always moved in the direction that would get them closer to you (no brains), so your only strategy was to maneuver so the robots would hit each other, walls or pillars, and destroy themselves in the process.
We were much more easily entertained back then :) Berzerk had a sequel, "Frenzy" IIRC.
I always preferred Defender to Robotron because I somehow never got the hang of avoiding being mobbed to a quick death in Robotron. But in Defender I could save planet after planet.
Being 42, this one of my all time faves. I have Robotron on my 360. It was one of the first and best of the top down two stick shooters. Berzerk, Frenzy, SmashTV, even Zombie Apocolypes try and all have a place... But Robotron 2084 just has something. Sinistar is my 2nd fave. They need to bring that back.
Got a guilty nerdy pleasure getting the second highest score on the Robotron machine at Barcade in NY a few months ago. I know I could've gotten the high score if only my companions were willing to stay another hour or so. Lightweights.
This is REALLY dating me but... I must have pumped $1000 in quarters into Robotron in High school. It was, bar none, the best game of it's era, and I would say it still holds up.
The trick is, get to the outside of the screen the run around in circles around the whole screen. The bad guys will try to follow you, but wind up just bunching themselves up in the center of the screen. They you can just spray bullets into them as your circle.
thoughtsonthisJul 2, 2010
And I thought Super Mario was difficult!
theinformerJul 3, 2010
This was the first game I played after I had put together my MAME machine. It's a classic, both in terms of game play and difficulty.
The second game I played was Crazy Climber, which is a totally different game. Hearing the guy yell "oh no!" is classic too.
thoughtsonthisJul 3, 2010
I can imagine!
misslindadeeJul 2, 2010
Looks really COOL!
santeJul 3, 2010
Robotron is the s**t!
thenazzJul 2, 2010
My favorite classic arcade game! Too bad the player in this video can't play worth a damn.. he died at least 5 times before the first tank level. Pathetic demonstration of an exceptional arcade game. They must be demonstrating the game from MAME because his game was over before his first free guy.
/Dugg anyway just for being Robotron 2084
Closed AccountJul 3, 2010
It's like you reached into my mind to write this comment. f**king love Robotron 2084.
Closed AccountJul 2, 2010
THIS GAME OWNS!@!!!!!!!!
kat20lJul 2, 2010
true that!
rogerdonaldsonJul 2, 2010
Man, they used to have one in top condition at an arcade in Orange County called Reagan Years. Amazing how damn fun that thing still was. BTW, a real Robotron cabinet had sticks that were practically indestructible. People would lean all their body weight on the movement stick as if it would somehow, someway give them that little extra bit of speed. And then, of course, the double-palm punch of both sticks after dying on the level with all the mommy clones, when they were still a bunch wandering around at 5000 each. Didn't get to submit this story, I was two minutes too late, so I submitted a wtf pinball thing instead: http://digg.com/arts_culture/puppets_pinball_cough_syrup
schwartzloenardJul 2, 2010
YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!! I remember this game it took a long time to get the whole dual-joystick thing down, it's a lot harder than it looks.
Closed AccountJul 2, 2010
I'd say any game with "tron" in the title is definitely a masterpiece.
sonnysaysJul 2, 2010
I have lost a lot of quarters to this game...a fortune even.
isnyJul 3, 2010
Snagglepuss?
doshindudeJul 2, 2010
The story behind this game is creepy as hell, fantastic game.
doctechnicalJul 2, 2010
If you think Robotron was intense you should play another of Eugene Jarvis' games: Blaster. That was a beast and a half.
I read an interview with Jarvis many years ago in a video game magazine ("Joystiq"?)... he was asked why, in Defender, the Smart Bomb would destroy a pod, but not the swarmers inside. He admitted it was a bug, but because it seemed cool he left it in.
ageofmasteryJul 3, 2010
I didn't know the same guy designed this and Defender. Both took a lot of my time and quarters back in the day
hastyboomJul 3, 2010
DUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!111111
hastyboomJul 3, 2010
Bury me!!!!!! Because I love this damned game!
thubanJul 3, 2010
I put so many quarters into this and "Joust" that looking back it l could have financed my education with what I spent.
vegetablelambJul 3, 2010
I financed my Joust and Robotron playing by cutting lawns.
ageofmasteryJul 3, 2010
I didn't know the same guy designed this and Defender. Both took a lot of my time and quarters back in the day
burrduggJul 3, 2010
Incredible graphics. I hope my quad-core processor can run that game.
gorftronJul 3, 2010
If Defender was a blended scotch, Robotron would be a corker of a single malt.
dgendreauJul 3, 2010
Wait, an article on the amazing Robotron 2084 that doesnt mention the whole reason why it is played with two joysticks?
The creator, Eugene Jarvis's was in a car accident and his hand was in a cast, so it was difficult for him to press buttons.
They made one joystick for moving and the other for shooting for that reason.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robotron_2084
theinformerJul 3, 2010
Thanks for that bit of trivia. I never knew that, and I was a teen during the late 70s/early 80s arcade craze.
mikejgrantJul 3, 2010
Atari had a game very similar to Robotron called Black Widow. Dual sticks, color vector monitor, same insane gameplay. I should know, I own one. They are even more rare than Robotron.
gnoolyJul 3, 2010
LOVED Black Widow!
lokee73Jul 3, 2010
I loved Robotron when I was a kid!
Old school gaming at it's best; it just got harder and harder and faster and faster until you died.
Closed AccountJul 3, 2010
Easily my favorite classic game. I got pretty good at it back in the day, and the swarming level 9 (and level 19, level 29, etc.) could draw a nice crowd in an arcade back then. Huge fun.
If you can't get a full-size cabinet, there's a version for Gamecube that works pretty well. The Gamecube controller replicates the dual sticks better than many consoles.
spritomJul 3, 2010
Defender was excellent once you caught up with it (then Williams tossed out Stargate with the extra Inviso button...agh!)
But no doubt Robotron totally rocked. It's was a rip-roaring time with no stopping, no sneezing, no pausing, just a non-stop sprint of a time.
The game that gets my nod for stress though is Berzerk. Everything on the screen...killed you.
Touch a guy - you die
Tough a bullet - you die
Touch a wall - YOU DIE!
Then there's the big boss...
You don't defeat him...you run....you RUN!
Because he's indestructible, he has no weakness, there's no strategy other than to move the feet. And the big boss gets to cheat too...he goes through the walls.
All...with his big smile.
Add to this that people actually dropped dead from playing Berzerk.
equinox2o12Jul 3, 2010
Smiley Sucks! Berzerk also had the catchphrase "Intruder Alert! Intruder Alert!" and "Stop the humanoid! Stop the intruder!"
doctechnicalJul 3, 2010
But you did have this ace up your sleeve: a shot from a robot could pass through the gap between your head and body without harming you. It's a one pixel gap, but still...
And "Smiley" wasn't a "boss", that was the game's way of keeping you from parking behind a wall and going off for a sandwich or something while the robots just sat on the other side and spun their scanners helplessly.
Actually Berzerk was based on an ancient text-based computer game that people played on teletypes, before there were graphics at all. Each "turn" would print out a little diagram showing the room you were in, pillars (which didn't move), robots and you. Each turn you could move one character in one of eight directions. The robots always moved in the direction that would get them closer to you (no brains), so your only strategy was to maneuver so the robots would hit each other, walls or pillars, and destroy themselves in the process.
We were much more easily entertained back then :) Berzerk had a sequel, "Frenzy" IIRC.
bosskeyJul 3, 2010
I always preferred Defender to Robotron because I somehow never got the hang of avoiding being mobbed to a quick death in Robotron. But in Defender I could save planet after planet.
santeJul 3, 2010
I play my Robotron every chance I get. Just picked up a really nice Joust recently though, and it's been cutting in. :)
vegetablelambJul 3, 2010
I have a hard time 'flapping' with Joust emulators, the original arcade button setup seems to have made it ergonomically easier for me
equinox2o12Jul 3, 2010
Being 42, this one of my all time faves. I have Robotron on my 360. It was one of the first and best of the top down two stick shooters. Berzerk, Frenzy, SmashTV, even Zombie Apocolypes try and all have a place... But Robotron 2084 just has something. Sinistar is my 2nd fave. They need to bring that back.
vegetablelambJul 3, 2010
there's a good version of Sinistar on a Williams games collection for the PS2
vrillcoJul 3, 2010
You can hardly call it a genre when there are about 3 known games that use twin joysticks in Robotron fashion.
1. Robotron
2. Geometry Wars
3. Llamatron (uhm...)
I mean, seriously it's a novel gimmick that fell flat.Comment is buried, click here to see the rest.
spamcanJul 3, 2010
Actually it's a fairly large genre on the iPhone where games like Minigore are extemely popular.
greenpuyoJul 3, 2010
4. `Smash TV` (Williams, 1990)
5. `Total Carnage` (Williams, 1991)
6. `Alien Syndrome` remake (part of `Sega Classics Collection`, 2005)
<< I mean, seriously it's a novel gimmick that fell flat. >>
Novel gimmick? Maybe. But there's no question that the `Robotron` dual-joystick setup is one of the best control schemes ever devised.
theinformerJul 3, 2010
Don't forget Crazy Climber and Battlezone.
zoomigoJul 3, 2010
Dont forget crazy climber used two sticks also
playuhhJul 3, 2010
Anyone else really enjoy Robotron 64?
spectre77Jul 3, 2010
Once you see it...
http://www.significant-bits.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/robotron2084_title.png
http://simondirect.com/store/images/motorola-logo.jpg
dig1xJul 3, 2010
You can get Robotron on Xbox LIVE Arcade:
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/r/robotronlivearcadexbox360/
I got it free during a promotion (cant remember which...? preorder bonus maybe?) but, it's only $10.00
doctechnicalJul 3, 2010
Or if you "look around" you can find the ROMs, download MAME or some other emulator, and play it on damn near anything.
orbityJul 3, 2010
ROBOTRON 2084... F**K YEAH!
vegetablelambJul 3, 2010
Got a guilty nerdy pleasure getting the second highest score on the Robotron machine at Barcade in NY a few months ago. I know I could've gotten the high score if only my companions were willing to stay another hour or so. Lightweights.
mohrtJul 3, 2010
may as well watch someone who knows what they're doing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7HkaqmSCxw
best. game. ever.
cosworth99Jul 3, 2010
I have a Stargate stand up in my laundry room. I'd love to complete the "set" with a Robotron beside it. One day.
shawnfromnhJul 3, 2010
This account has been closed by the user
Closed AccountJul 3, 2010
Loved all of Williams Electronics games, Defender, Joust, Robotron. They were my favorites (Stargate not so much)
roguegeniusJul 4, 2010
This is REALLY dating me but... I must have pumped $1000 in quarters into Robotron in High school. It was, bar none, the best game of it's era, and I would say it still holds up.
The trick is, get to the outside of the screen the run around in circles around the whole screen. The bad guys will try to follow you, but wind up just bunching themselves up in the center of the screen. They you can just spray bullets into them as your circle.