Robocop versus The Terminator

PRESS START

An Introduction To Today’s Game

Two million dollars. That's what Virgin Games paid for the rights to adapt a four-issue Dark Horse comic that dared to ask: what if RoboCop's technology birthed Skynet?

In 1992, Frank Miller (yes, THAT Frank Miller), writer of Sin City, 300, The Dark Knight Returns, and fresh off writing RoboCop 2's script, brought together two of the 1980s' most fearsome enforcers.

Dark Horse was chasing another crossover hit after Aliens vs Predator's success a few years earlier, and what better pairing than RoboCop and Terminator?

If you're rolling your eyes at the concept, I wouldn't blame you. But find a copy and read it. It's surprising how well you can add RoboCop into the Terminator mythos and it actually works. Especially with how Hollywood has fumbled the Terminator series with what feels like a dozen reboots and restarts since the 90s.

When the game was announced, my friends and I nerded out over the anticipation of playing through the comic. Let's go behind the pixels on these two cybernetic powerhouses.

BEHIND THE PIXELS

Let’s Dive Into The Game

RoboCop versus The Terminator drops you into Officer Alex Murphy's titanium boots for a ten-level gauntlet through dystopian Detroit and Skynet's nightmare future. It's a run-and-gun platformer, though calling it running feels generous since RoboCop walks with the deliberate pace of a man encased in several hundred pounds of metal. 

Here's the basic premise: Skynet becomes self-aware and starts obliterating humanity after connecting to RoboCop's brain. The human resistance in the future knows this and sends back a soldier to destroy RoboCop before the connection happens. Skynet, being aware of the plan, sends back multiple Terminators to protect its future host. Chaos ensues.

You'll blast through streets, construction sites, and the OCP building before the game throws you decades forward into a Terminator-infested hellscape. The goal is simple: shoot everything that moves, grab better weapons, and somehow survive long enough to take down Skynet's CPU.

Adapting the story is a pretty large task, and the Genesis version doesn't really try, which is my main knock on the game. You get maybe a line or two between levels, but without any context. If you haven't read the comic, you'll be completely lost. One minute you're in 1990s Detroit, the next you're asking "Why is RoboCop in the Terminator future now?" The SNES version includes cutscenes that actually tell the story and has a better soundtrack, but when it comes to graphics, gameplay, and challenge, the Genesis version wins out. 

Combat revolves around RoboCop's ability to carry two weapons simultaneously and switch between them on the fly. You start with the Auto-9 pistol, which features unlimited ammo but feels like throwing pebbles at tanks. Still there’s something cool about using Robocop’s iconic gun. In 2023s Robocop: Rogue City, I mainly used the starting weapon for the majority of the playthrough because it’s so fun to use. Sadly, in the game, you’re going to want to upgrade it, especially for the last four levels. 

The violence isn't subtle, and it was one of the big differences between versions. The SNES version had no blood. The Genesis version? Well, let's just say this game was ground zero for mid-90s parental panic along with Mortal Kombat. Human enemies explode in fountains of blood when shot, their bodies disintegrating in ways that would make David Cronenberg, one of the creators of the body horror genre, very happy.

Boss battles punctuate each level, forcing confrontations with ED-209, RoboCain, and various Skynet constructions in confined, single-screen arenas. This design choice becomes problematic since RoboCop's jump is basically a slight hop, making it nearly impossible to avoid damage when fighting room-filling bosses.

The graphics showcase Virgin's technical prowess. RoboCop animates with movie-accurate detail, from his distinctive walking gait to the way muzzle flashes reflect off his armor plating. The effect looks really good and his model looks so much better in the Genesis version. 

The soundtrack is going to be hit or miss for new players. Doing my research, I saw comments split down the middle, some love it, some don't. I fall into the latter camp and actually prefer the SNES soundtrack. Still, both games use an original soundtrack instead of the movie themes, which feels like a miss. When composer Basil Poledouris gives you something as iconic as the original RoboCop score, you use it.

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WHERE TO PLAY

• The original copy or emulation will be your best bet for tracking this down.

• Original Copies of the Game (All prices in USD)

  • Loose: $30

  • Complete: $73

  • New/Sealed: $340

GAME INFORMATION

Cover Art

RETRO NEWS

Here’s a quick roundup of the latest retro gaming news we’ve dug up.

• Soulja Boy Denied Retroid Rights
  Retroid confirms rapper Soulja Boy isn’t authorized to sell or rebrand its handhelds.
  Read more at Time Extension

• The Last Ninja Collection Announced
  A new compilation revives the beloved Commodore 64 series with modern restorations.
  Read more at Retro News

• Vectrex Mini Kickstarter Launches
  A compact reboot of the vector-display classic brings retro charm to crowdfunding.
  Read more at Time Extension

PREVIOUS POLL RESULTS

Which stresses you out more?

• Fixed camera angles - 20%

• Escort missions - 20%

• A water level - 0%

• A timed mission - 30%

• Inventory full - 20%

• A boss with a second health bar - 10%

Reader comments from the poll:

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GAME OVER

Why You Should Play This

RoboCop versus The Terminator remains worth experiencing for its audacious commitment to ultra-violence and technical achievement, but approach this with realistic expectations about its brutal difficulty. The first half delivers exactly what the license promises: you're an unstoppable force of justice reducing criminals to abstract art. 

Then stage six arrives and the game transforms into a war of attrition where even infinite lives feel insufficient. Boss fights drag on for minutes, turning spectacle into tedium. I thought my game had glitched with how long I was shooting some of these guys. The lack of story transitions between past and future is baffling. Yet something compelling persists beneath these flaws. 

The Genesis version specifically earned its place in history by refusing to compromise on gore when other platforms censored the blood into oblivion. It's not perfect, it's occasionally infuriating, but it's authentic to both franchises in ways that feel increasingly rare. With developer Teyon making Terminator: Resistance and RoboCop: Rogue City in recent years, both really great games, hopefully a rematch is on the horizon.

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AMAZON AFFILIATE LINKS

Terminator: Resistance

Robocop: Rogue City

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