Platform: Atari ST
Region: PAL
Developer(s): Special FX
Publishers(s): Ocean Software Ltd.
ReleaseDate: 1990-01-01
Players: 1
Co-op: No
Robocop 2
RoboCop 2 for the Atari ST, like other versions of the movie license on home computers, combines platforming action, a puzzle mode and first-person gallery shooting, but features unique levels and gameplay mechanics. The main attraction are the platform levels. The player controls RoboCop on his way to specific goals: the primary goal that ends the level is the destruction of the Nuke drug plant or the arrest of a major villain. Secondary goals include picking up Nuke drug canisters and arresting suspects like scientists or drug process workers. Making all arrests and finding all canisters is rewarded by extra lives. Robo's progress is hindered by hordes of respawning goons coming at him from all sides, attacking with guns and grenade launchers. His standard gun can fire only one projectile at a time, but hidden in crates or dropped by enemies are gun power-ups that include three-way and five-way shots, but all with limited ammunition. No matter the gun, care must be taken because firing rapidly can overheat the gun, requiring a cooling-down period in which no shots can be fired. Besides better guns, there is also an invincibility power-up as well as clocks that extend the time limit and glasses of baby food that restore Robo's health. After every platform level, a puzzle stage and a shooting gallery follow. In the puzzle stage, RoboCop tries to regain some of his human memories. To do so, a cursor has to be moved over a circuit board, with the goal of hitting all red chips. Moving the cursor leaves a trail, and neither the trail nor any chips besides the red ones may be hit or the puzzle game is over. Completing four boards in succession (each within less then a minute) leads to extra lives being awarded. In the shooting gallery, targets appear in windows and on the street, and a crosshair must be moved to hit them. But not every target is a criminal, and care must be taken so that no civilians are hit. Good performance at the gallery improves Robo's accuracy for the following level. The last level of the game returns to the platform game mechanics, but the only goal is to defeat Cain in his "RoboCop 2" form. This takes place over several screens, with Cain sometimes recuperating while sending smaller enemies like flying drones and ED-209 at RoboCop
ESRB Rating: E - Everyone
Genre(s): Shooter