Robotron: 2084 on Xbox Live Arcade

It's been 25 years since I first played Robotron: 2084, and there's something almost surreal about that figure. There aren't a lot of pop culture elements that stay on the radar for nearly three decades and maintain a continued, devoted fan base. When you think of it that way, Robotron is up there with the Rolling Stones for sheer longevity and stylish cool.

A Little History
Introduced in 1982 by Williams Electronics, Robotron: 2084 was the most recent creation of their star designer, Eugene Jarvis, and his team which created their breakout hit Defender. The game—originally tentatively named Robot Wars: 1984—was the result of a concept in which the designer, Jarvis, wanted to design a dense action game which incorporated a strong backstory, and which would use a unique control setup that went through several evolutions during the design, including the use of trackballs.

A staple of the eighties arcades.

Most gamers encountering Robotron for the first time in arcades were immediately surprised by the twin joysticks on the front panel of the cabinet—even most two-player games didn't require a pair of sticks, but instead had players alternate turns. Both sticks were used in a control scheme in which you were able to move and fight in different directions simultaneously, something close to Eugene's original vision for Defender, which started off in his mind as a version of Space Invaders in which you could shoot in any direction.

Xbox Live Arcade recreates that sense of walking
into those darkly-lit arcade halls in the early eighties.

The setup on the original cabinet demanded that you engage and attack the machine—it was a full-body experience. The inspiration for the dual-joystick control (left to move, right to fire) apparently came from an injury Jarvis sustained to his right hand in a car accident, making repeated tapping of mutiple buttons awkward and impractical.

Get in the Zone
Jarvis' games are about speed and action, and rather than a frenzy of random button-mashing, are known for drawing you into "the zone" where keen focus, concentration, quick reflexes, and microsecond timing are brought out and reward you with a spectacle worthy of a master performance. A year later, he developed a quasi-sequel called Blaster, but unfortunately it didn't follow the success of its predecessor. Some people took to calling it Robotron: 2085!

In the game, you moved through a field of enemy robots, or Robotrons, dodging their attacks and returning fire while weaving through tighter and more densely packed groups of enemies. The enemy robots took different forms, from lumbering Hulks impervious to your weapons fire, to hordes of massed Grunts, to Brains, easily recognizable with their oversized, vein-ridden heads.

Save the humans!

In an added twist, self-preservation was no longer the primary goal of the game—where most games of the time simply overwhelmed you with more and more enemies until you were eventually destroyed, Robotron for the first time had you defending "the last human family." Scattered through the field amidst the robots were human figures you had to fight your way to, rescue, and then escape without being destroyed.

Non-stop Action
The appeal of the game is undeniable—it's still a favorite of retro gamers and collectors after 25 years, and the gameplay and action are frenetic and charged enough to appeal to the current-gen gamer who may not have even been around back in 1982. The action, which had you diving into massive packs of enemy robots, throwing fire in a 360-degree arc, and retrieving a human in the nick of a half-second before weaving out through the enemies, laser blasting all the way, was a huge charge of adrenaline. Played by the skilled, the game is incredible to see.

The game is a longstanding favorite of arcade enthusiasts and collectors, and with the massive number of Robotron cabinets manufactured, shipped, and played in the early eighties, it's been relatively easy for the devoted retro gamer to secure a genuine Robotron machine to own and play. The ongoing fan base of the game has prompted its release on home platforms in different generations of hardware over the last decade—an attempt to bring the game into 3-D was made on the PlayStation ten years ago.

As the levels progress, they get more and more intense.

Shortly thereafter, the developers retooled the game for the upcoming N64 console, as they felt the hardware was finally available to render the game in the way they'd originally wanted. It's ironic that the game went back to its most original 2-D incarnation, but on the most powerful hardware available at the time. After resurfacing on Xbox three years ago on Midway Arcade Treasures™, Robotron: 2084 has come to the next-generation via Xbox Live® Arcade.

Xbox 360 Enhancements
The newly refreshed version of the game is part of a suite of revitalized Midway and Williams arcade classics, punched up in high definition, and enhanced with Xbox Live features and connectivity. The clearly visible high scores of those on your friends list is like walking into a video arcade twenty years ago and seeing your initials kicked off the high score board by another set of familiar initials—grab some quarters, fire up the machine, and prepare to defend your honor and pride.

Those high scores are visible worldwide, as are your achievements within the game—score points for objectives such as surviving a set number of attack waves within the game, or for finishing levels without losing a single human under your protection. The global reach of Xbox Live means your arcade experience could have you playing to knock down the score of someone in Sydney, Australia one minute, and in the next be trying to work out a friendly co-op strategy through a language barrier with an enthusiastic teammate from Kyoto, Japan.

Robotron has a new co-operative play, with one gamer controlling movement of the fighter and the other directing the laser fire. This, with the players shouting instructions at each other over their headsets, is like a sci-fi version of a three-legged picnic race and is hilariously fun. Unlockable achievements also award unusual performances such as "Dodge" (remaining in a single level for a preset amount of time without dying, which in a fast-paced game like this is quite a feat) and "Glue" (remaining in one place without movement and only firing at the enemies from a static location—literally, beating the level with one hand tied behind your back).

The return of classic games like Robotron and the sense of community fostered by Xbox Live and Xbox Live Marketplace recreates that sense of walking into those darkly-lit arcade halls in the early eighties. When pizza, Pepsi, and REO Speedwagon are available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace, we'll have the ultmate expression of that experience. In the meantime, enjoy Robotron!