Robotron 2084

Robotron 2084 is an arcade game from the early 1980′s. It’s been ported to several home consoles including the Atari 7800, which is the version I’ve played the most. The 7800 version recreates the arcade game well.

Inspired by Berzerk (where one shot robots in a maze) and Chase (where one tried to lure enemies into walking into their deaths), Robotron is notable for using two joysticks, one to control your character’s movement and the other to aim where you fired. There’s a lot going on on the screen at once and I found it helpful to get to know your enemies from its Strategy Wiki page.

The premise is a lot like Terminator: it’s the future and humans have created the robotrons, which were “smarter” than humans. Deeming humans as a threat, they aim to destroy mankind. There’s a large variety of enemies in this tough game. To clear a level, shoot all the destructible enemies. Rescue humans to earn extra points to get you to your next extra life faster.

The Grunts are the dumbest robots, but they are numerous: they just walk at you. If you touch one, you die.

Then there are indestructible Hulks which move around and hunt down the other humans. If they get to the humans, the humans die.

But beware of those enemies that spawn more enemies on the screen – get rid of those first, before you focus on the Grunts.

Every 5 rounds, the formidable Brains will appear and start shooting at you and morphing with humans. Try to get all the Brains as quickly as possible.