Robotron 2084

[bergbros]

I got this game for the Lynx and I love the graphics and sound however I really am disappointed with the firing controls. It is very hard to get used to and it really is disatisfying considering that Robotron is the ultimate twitch game. You shoild be able to fire anywhere in any direction at the flick of a button and with these controls I have to constantly think of how to fire and it only sweeps in a clockwise or counterclockwise motion. Robotron is hard as it is without having to worry about a flawed firing concept. Too bad they didn't make the lynx with two touch pads.

[Jess Ragan]

If you think you've got it bad with the Lynx version of Robotron: 2084, try the Game Boy Advance version sometime! It gives you omni-directional fire, but ONLY if you're standing still. Anyone familiar with the game knows that standing still is an invitation to die.

I thought I'd also mention that there are multiple control schemes in the Lynx version of Robotron. The best one is forward and reverse fire... it's not as good as full range firing but it does let you defend yourself from the sneakier androids and their weapons.

The Nomad's probably the best way to play Robotron: 2084 on the go, since its six button layout lets you roughly approximate the double joystick layout of the arcade version. However, you have to turn on six button joystick support the moment you start the game. Plus, the Genesis/Nomad version of Robotron (on Williams' Arcade Classics) is mercilessly tough, much more so than the arcade version.

 

JR

[Adrian M]

Great game! They got the graphics and sounds down PERFECTLY. Yes, the firing system kind of sucks, but in time you do get used to it.

 

Joust is another great Williams arcade Lynx port that is just as good!

[NE146]

quote

Yes, the firing system kind of sucks, but in time you do get used to it.  

 

I don't know... moving in one direction and firing in another freely and independantly was pretty much the entire POINT of Robotron gameplay. Anything other than that (as well done as the game sounds and graphics may be) just simply isnt the same game

[goatdan]

Personally, I thought that the Lynx version of Robotron is one of the best ever. The firing takes a while to get used to, but there aren't any systems that have ever really faithfully reproduced the feeling of the arcade.

 

The N64 version isn't too bad either, and one of the few reasons I actually keep that system around.

[+Sauron]

Speaking of Robotron...wouldn't be great to see Llamatron on the Lynx? ;^) I definitely think it could be done...it'd just be a matter of either talking Jeff Minter into doing it or allowing someone to port it.

[JagChris]

On 3/26/2002 at 2:54 PM, Adrian M said:

Great game! They got the graphics and sounds down PERFECTLY. Yes, the firing system kind of sucks, but in time you do get used to it.

 

Joust is another great Williams arcade Lynx port that is just as good!

Not perfectly. The protagonist is a little oddly done. If it wasn't for the controls though the Lynx would be one of the best versions.

 

Dies anyone know what Atari's licensing deal was with Williams? The early 80s licensing deal seemed to last in perpetuity into the 90s.

 

Of course no jag version of Robotron.

 

 

[Lostdragon]

1 hour ago, JagChris said:

 

 

Of course no jag version of Robotron.

 

 

Well... 

 

Jeff Minter did comment on how he personally would of liked to of done a Robotron game on the Jaguar, but decision wasn't his to make:

 

 
(Yak):'.... As for what's next, well, I will have to talk to the bossdude come the end of D2K. There was talk of Major Havoc.. (although I wouldn't mind the Robotron thang... and Sinistar... yeah... *I HUNGER!!!!* '.

 

 

Also, didn't the the well established idiot, currently masquerading as the Atari expert, with his made up claims (an annoymus source told him..) once claim N64 Robotron 64, started life on the Jaguar and  reached 50% completion? 🤔

 

(funny how all these games he can't provide credible proof were ever started, just happen to be 50% complete, before being canned/moved to other platforms..). 

 

Even a shred of proof to this claim?. 

[JagChris]

1 hour ago, Lostdragon said:

Well... 

 

Jeff Minter did comment on how he personally would of liked to of done a Robotron game on the Jaguar, but decision wasn't his to make:

 

 
(Yak):'.... As for what's next, well, I will have to talk to the bossdude come the end of D2K. There was talk of Major Havoc.. (although I wouldn't mind the Robotron thang... and Sinistar... yeah... *I HUNGER!!!!* '.

If he was so gung ho for that he could have ported Llamatrin over fairly easy. And it would have been more income on either platform.

 

Did he not like the Lynx I wonder. No Jeff anything on it.

[tripled79]

I don't mind the controls really. I still think it's a great port.

[JagChris]

1 hour ago, tripled79 said:

I don't mind the controls really. I still think it's a great port.

Graphically I think it's almost perfect. I just don't know why the protagonist got short changed or why Atari allowed it.

[Lostdragon]

11 hours ago, JagChris said:

If he was so gung ho for that he could have ported Llamatrin over fairly easy. And it would have been more income on either platform.

 

Did he not like the Lynx I wonder. No Jeff anything on it.

Jeff LOVED the Lynx. 

 

You could often find him praising the platform, raving about his latest game purchase on it, in his columns in the UK Games Press at the time. 

 

The reason he didn't do any  development on it, he explained at the time. 

 

Jeff talking to Tal Funke-Bilu, about why he never did any Lynx development (sadly):

 

 

'Jeff:At the time it came out I would have killed to write Lynx games.
However Llamasoft wasn't a big enough company to sustain the cost of
developing and publishing our own games on ROM, and I didn't know of
any larger companies who would let me do the kind of games I wanted to
do - so I carried on with the ST.'

 

You talk about Jeff being Gung Ho... 

 

Read his comment again, he mentions the BOSS DUDE. 

 

 

He worked for Atari. 

 

They made the decisions as they controlled the purse strings. 

 

 

ST Llamatron was shareware, Jeff wrote it, put it in the public domain, if folks liked it, he'd welcome a donation. 

 

 

When it came to Jaguar development Jeff could only put his hand up for the titles Atari offered him. 

 

He'd never played Major Havoc before Atari showed him the coin op.. 

 

I believe he pitched his Defender II (ST/Amiga) to Atari UK as a possible contender for converting to the Lynx, Atari wasn't interested. 

 

Jeff talked of how an updated version of Virus, would work on the Jaguar....

 

You'd often find him talking of how he saw updates of classic titles running on much newer platforms, 

 

It was just pure wishful thinking, if you can't find development funding and a publisher, your not going to write a title, when your the size Llamasoft was.. 

Edited June 17, 2023 by Lostdragon

[Lostdragon]

On 6/16/2023 at 7:04 PM, JagChris said:

 

 

Of course no jag version of Robotron.

 

 

So far, only talk of Jaguar Robotron i found :

 

 

 

 

 

 

SUNNYVALE, CALIF. (Sept. 26) BUSINESS WIRE -Sept. 26, 1994--Atari and Williams
Entertainment have agreed to work together to bring vastly enhanced versions of
Williams' popular, classic arcade games to the Atari 64-bit Jaguar system and
high performance PCs.
According to the licensing agreement, Atari will exploit the Jaguar system's
64-bit power to create new versions of such Williams' hits as Joust, Defender
and Robotron. These new games will offer features such as first-person
perspectives in a realistic, three-dimensional environment. Atari will then
market these games for its Jaguar system, while Williams will license the new
versions to market them for high performance PCs.

"64-bit power will make our best games even better by creating a compelling,
immersive, experience for players," said Byron Cook, president of Williams
Entertainment. "We are very excited about the Atari Jaguar 64-bit platform and
are happy to support it with our finest titles."
This is not the first cooperative venture between Williams and Atari.
Williams and Atari have been promoting the Jaguar 64-bit system with Williams'
Troy Aikman NFL Football through radio promotions in 25 top markets nationwide.
Williams will make the game available in November on the Jaguar. Williams also
is publishing a Jaguar version of its popular game Double Dragon Five, which
also will be available in November.
Williams Entertainment Inc. is the new home video subsidiary of WMS
Industries, the company that created Mortal Kombat and NBA Jam video games.

[Lostdragon]

On 6/16/2023 at 10:24 PM, JagChris said:

If he was so gung ho for that he could have ported Llamatrin over fairly easy. And it would have been more income on either platform.

 

Did he not like the Lynx I wonder. No Jeff anything on it.

More from Jeff on his love for the Lynx:

 

Look at how the Lynx - a technically brilliant system with an utterly
optimum graphics chip - is struggling in the face of Sega's Game Gear
onslaught. Sega released as many games in the first month as Lynx has
had over its entire lifespan. We need a lot of new Lynx software
right now. The Lynx is technically streets ahead of the Game Gear,
which is basically just a handheld 8-bit Sega console, but it could
get buried in a tidal wave of cute Japanese software. This is
infinitely galling to me, 'coz I love the Lynx dearly.

[JagChris]

Atari Atari Atari. They never learned.