"A fun, though difficult side-scroller based on the movie."

I'm sure most of you have seen the movie, but here's the basic plot: you are Robocop, formerly Peter Weller. You were gunned down in the line of duty by some pretty nasty folk. The company OCP, looking for a new product, grabbed your corpse and placed your mind in their newest cyborg, Robocop. They programmed you to fight crime and erased your memory, but you begin remembering your death and swear revenge on the creeps that took your old life away.

This is where the game begins.

You lead Robocop as he punches, shoots, and basically blows the crap out of the thugs that murdered his old self. You pick up various power items, such as three-way spread bullets, armor-piercing bullets (they go through multiple enemies at once), baby food (for health), and repair kits (also for health). One of the coolest powerups, though, is the Cobra Gun that trenchcoat baddies drop. This weapon can destroy things your regular bullets can't!

GRAPHICS: 9
Robocop looks like Robocop. The level design looks different (until later in the game when you start going through the OCP offices, then two levels look very similar), but the baddies are all pretty generic. The only cool looking enemies are the bosses and the chainsaw maniacs,

SOUND: 8
No music to speak of except when you start up a game, but the sound effects are pretty good. A motorcycle screeches as it goes into a wheelie, Robo's punch gives a satisfying thud, his gun sounds like something mounted on a battleship, and ED-209's voice is properly creepy.

CONTROL: 9
Robocop can turn on a dime, punch on command, and his shots aren't too bad either. His jump is a little funky, and it's hard to aim real well on the bonus sequences (every two levels you have a chance at a shooting gallery...get as close to 100% destroyed targets to earn more health back), but otherwise the controls are tight and responsive.

GAMEPLAY: 8
The game is rather a joy to play, what with the fast pace, dangerous enemies, cool weapons, and graphically impressive bosses. If you manage to beat it, there isn't much replay value. Of course, it's an arcade game, so what do you expect? The thing is, the game is wickedly hard with the right settings (some machines are set that you have one life to play through the whole game with no continues allowed. Now THAT'S difficulty!), so chances are that you'll be playing this thing for a long time. You know, just to see that elusive ED-209 Mark II.

This game is pretty old and probably pretty hard to find, but if you happen to see it in an old bowling alley and are waiting for your turn, go up and give it a try. Even if you don't like Robocop, you'll at least keep yourself entertained until the next frame.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/01/99, Updated 11/01/99