RoboCop (1988)
The story of Alex Murphy in games began with Ocean Software, a company that specialised in porting arcade games to computers, while also actively producing licensed products.
The studio acquired the rights to adapt RoboCop even before the first film was released.
The script for the future film attracted the attention of developers with its science fiction setting, dark locations, action with an emphasis on shooting, and memorable characters. In addition, the licence for the character was inexpensive compared to other heroes of those years.
Having resolved organisational issues, the British entrusted the development to their business partners from Japan, namely Data East Corporation.
Thanks to their efforts, RoboCop was released on arcade machines in 1988. Alex Murphy slowly moved around the city, destroying enemies with his gun and jumping with difficulty. The gameplay was interspersed with vertical levels, where the cyborg climbed up floors, platformer elements, and mini-games.
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As for the plot, the authors limited themselves to transferring individual scenes from the film. To do this, Data East employees visited the film set several times and were able to gain access to unique materials. Otherwise, the project was a series of unrelated urban locations.
Robocop 3 (1991)
By the time the third film was released, the developers were operating in their usual manner: they released a number of games for different platforms, which differed from each other not only in appearance but also in genre.
Moreover, the Amiga and Atari versions went on sale even before the film was released.
RoboCop 3 was a shooter with 3D graphics, where you had to kill enemies, rescue hostages, arrest criminals, and find their secret hideouts.
One of the main features of the third instalment was the need to repair different parts of the body. Special points were spent on the procedure, which meant that it was not possible to restore the entire body at once.
The most popular versions among gamers were Robocop 3 for Amiga, Atari ST, and DOS. These were fully three-dimensional games with a first-person view and a variety of missions.
The plot was presented in short briefings between levels, during which familiar characters from the films appeared.
RoboCop vs The Terminator (1993)
After the failure of the third film, Robocop did not appear on the big screen for two decades. But the character himself continued to live and evolve in other media. In 1992, a comic book by Frank Miller himself appeared on store shelves, telling a loose story of the emergence of Skynet, with Alex Murphy fighting the Terminators.
This storyline formed the basis for the 1993 game of the same name — in keeping with the tradition of those years, each platform received a separate game from different teams.