Developer: Interplay Publisher: Virgin Release: 1993 Genre: Action
After the Alien vs Predator comics from Dark Horse I suppose it was only a matter of time before further versus battles would occur. Robocop vs. the Terminator makes so much sense you wonder why it did not happen sooner. The limited series was awesome and the following Sega Genesis game was similarly good, even bordering on excellent. Something went terribly wrong with its SNES debut. In nearly every category it pales in comparison to its Sega counterpart.
In the future humanity fights a losing battle against Skynet and its army of Terminators. A resistance fighter named Flo discovers that Skynet’s technology is based on the cybernetic policeman known as Robocop. She travels to the past to destroy Robocop before Skynet is created but instead sets in motion the events she was trying to prevent. Robocop must now clean up the mess that he unwillingly created. The story unfolds between levels using comic book style cutscenes but sadly that goes away once you reach the future.
Although they are based on the same source material the two versions of Robocop vs. the Terminator are distinct games. The framework is largely the same but how they put the pieces together differ. Robocop has his pistol by default and can carry an additional weapon. This version is more restrained in terms of secondary weapons until its second half unfortunately. These include ED209’s rail gun, plasma rifles, seeker missiles, and the combo gun. It is a change that goes hand in hand with the game’s focus.
This is still an action game but there is a heavier focus on platforming. And in this respect the game’s faults become noticeable. Robocop is sluggish in his movements and at times clumsy. It is not as bad as Robocop 2 and 3 on the NES but still not where it should be. The controls can be unresponsive which makes the later parts of the game aggravating. Collision detection is suspect; Robocop falls through platforms and refuses to grab pipes consistently. Hit detection is also dodgy; I have had multiple shots pass through enemies several times in a row. Considering how strong the Terminators are in the later levels it is becomes incredibly frustrating fast. The game clearly needed another pass to iron these issues out. If they did the framework for a decent game is here.
But there are other problems that hold Robocop vs. the Terminator back. The Super Nintendo game is longer than its Sega equivalent and not for the better. The game is repetitive and lingers in one place longer than it should. Once you enter the future the environments are identical for multiple levels in a row. It would not be an issue if they were at least interesting to look at but they are bland. Enemy variety is also very limited. I hope you like Terminators because that is all you will see for the majority of the game. The one interesting diversion is a vehicle based Mode 7 3d stage that tasks you with killing multiple hunter killers. But that is not enough to save the game.
This is a difficult game for many of the reasons I previously described and many more. Your weapons are weak; Terminators take far too long to kill and if you linger too long they respawn. Life power-ups and extra lives are common but you will blow through them quickly. There are no checkpoints so death sends you back to the beginning of the level. Some of the later stages are unbearably long making this especially cruel. The difficulty spike is not as severe as the Genesis game but it comes close. At least that game was good enough that it was worth using cheat codes to see its content. I cannot say the same here.
The Genesis game is the original and this version uses some of its backgrounds and environments. Yet they lose something in translation. The SNES version of Robocop vs. the Terminator has a vibrant look that is more akin to the comic. The grittiness that made the Sega game so distinct is gone and replaced by a generic color palette more in line with other SNES titles. It is a damn shame as that game looks fantastic. It reminds me of Mindscape’s version of the Terminator which is not good company to be in. The sprites are large but the animation is poor, especially on Robocop himself. While I do not particularly care about blood and gore its absence here is notable. Both properties were incredibly bloody so seeing enemies’ poof into a cloud of smoke is comical. This was disappointing all around.
In Closing
I do not know what happened here. I respect Virgin and Interplay’s attempt at creating a unique version of Robocop vs. the Terminator for the SNES. But it is not good. While it is not an outright terrible game it should have been better.
