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Preview  Robocop [GBC]
- By Mike Schneider [Editor In Chief]


Fresh off the heals of their 2xS gaming promotion, I got the chance to begin logging some time into a 100% complete Robocop for GameBoy Color. Whereas the GBA Robocop impressed me with some frantic side scrolling action, this little bugger is starting to do the same for me as an overhead shooting adventure.

In Robocop, you are to help maintain order and protect citizens through 8 dangerous missions, eliminate and neutralize hostile characters, search for clues and evidence, and interact with other game characters to extract information. Progressing though the different levels will get you closer to revealing a terrible plot against humanity. By neutralizing the mastermind of this hideous plan, you can finally restore peace to Detroit’s citizens…

Thus far, the gameplay has been very straight forward: shoot at and kill the enemies, and don’t shoot at the civilians. Fortunately, as a person comes into your sights, a little menu flickers on the screen that tells you whether the person is a friend or foe – very helpful considering the size of a GBC screen, although I’ve had little to no trouble distinguishing good from evil.

It’s also refreshing that enemies follow random routes, which makes for much more interesting pursuing of them. Pursuing, in the sense that once you get them lined up and start firing lead into their guts, they then stop moving and will return a little fire at you, which leads to one of the game’s noticeable flaws… There is no strafing. Thus, while you’re firing at the enemy and they start firing back, you’re biting their return fire. That, or you move out of the way, resulting in you becoming disorientated and facing some other direction, and no longer being in a firing line at all.

With that said, the game’s other flaw that I’ve seen thus far is the size of the levels – they’re much too big. I spent in excess of 45 minutes just going through the first level, and even then, that wasn’t enough time to complete the level’s two objectives. If people complained about this factor in Turok, a console game, just imagine what can be said about a handheld game that features too large of levels.

With the exception of these two gripes, so far there’s nothing else but positives to say about Robocop. It has a solid engine with good graphics, very catchy music that actually enhances the atmosphere, and controls that are easy to pick up on (and would have been awesome if there was a strafe option).

Lastly, a list of game features:

- World famous license!
- Original varied graphics for each level.
- Between missions, player watches TV News and visits the Detroit Police HQ where some of the original movie characters can be met.
- 7 weapons and 6 upgrades to discover throughout the game ensuring replayability.
- 3 vision enhancements (Thermo, electromagnetic, photon) to detect traps and enemies.
- Intelligent enemies that play hard to get.
- Varied mission objectives, real investigations and an interesting plot as new elements of conspiracy unfold within the story, throughout the game.