RoboCop Longplay (Spectrum 128k) [50 FPS]
51Developed and published by Ocean in 1988
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Game Start: 03:28
For today's video I decided to check out the Spectrum version of Ocean's movie tie-in with RoboCop, one of my favourite classic 80's action films. I've played the C64, Amiga and arcade versions, so I was curious to see how the Speccy edition stacked up.
The game broadly follows the plot of the movie and sees RoboCop waging his war against crime, as well as a more personal vendetta against the executives of OCP. The game is split into a number of side-scrolling, shoot 'em up sections where Robo must dispatch numerous waves of thugs, bikers and chainsaw-wielding criminals whilst reaching the end of the level before time runs out.
Despite being made of Kevlar-laminated titanium, Robo can take only so much punishment before he falls to bits. What is most irksome about getting hit by enemies is the way it stuns you, leaving you open to even more attacks. The principle strategy is to preempt exactly where the bad guys appear and to time your shots so they hit the bad guys just as they appear.
On the subject of shooting, it's worth noting that even your starting weapon has limited ammunition and it's very easy to rattle through your reserves if you're not careful. Extra bullets (and even additional weapon types) can be found during the levels, but you really don't want to be left in a situation where your only means of attack is punching - conserve your shots ad make them count!
In addition to the side-scrolling sections, there's the famous photo fit scene where Robo must complete a photo-fit to get a lead on Clarence Boddicker's gang, as well as a couple of first-person shooting galleries where the player must take down take down an attacker without wounding their hostage. The first of these sees our hero trying to protecting a women from a street punk (who famously cops a bullet in the nether regions in the film), whilst the latter sees him trying to rescue the OCP CEO from Dick Jones.
I was pleased to note that the Speccy version includes a few extra little details that aren't present in the C64 version, such as the way holding the fire button down causes RoboCop's gun to fire a 3-round burst (trivia: his Auto 9 is modelled on the real life Beretta 93R), as well as getting to use the Cobra assault cannon.
Perhaps the greatest advantage Spectrum owners had was this version could actually be beaten, unlike the C64 edition that shipped with a crippling bug on the drug lab stage and corrupted graphics that made the game unbeatable (amazing quality control).
In terms of visuals, the developers side-stepped the colour clash completely by using black sprites over backgrounds containing a single colour. It means that the game isn't exactly the most appealing game you'll look at (the first couple of levels remind me of an ice lolly that's had all the juice sucked out of it...), but I guess it works. Unlike other Spectrum games, it's always easy to make out exactly what's happening on screen.
128k owners get some excellent music, courtesy of Jonathan Dunn, as well some digitised speech samples right out the movie itself! I'll admit that I was left a little open-mouthed when I heard it because it's remarkably crisp and clear - quite an achievement for a humble 8-bit!
The Spectrum version of RoboCop is a solid game, being better balanced and more fun to play than the C64 version. Prospective players shouldn't be put off by the monotone colour scheme as this is definitely one of the better movie licenses out there and is definitely worth a look.
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