Rise of the Robots

Moby ID: 1533
DOS Specs
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Description official descriptions

Electrocorp, the world's leading manufacturer and developer of advanced robotics ran the Leader Project to develop a multi-task, ultra-intelligent, self-aware robot to manage every aspect of the factory plant. The end result was the Supervisor Droid, a machine capable of assuming any form and accessing any database. But when an EGO virus infected the Supervisor's self-awareness it started to consider its need above of those of the company, infecting the other robots in the plant and declaring itself their leader. Electrocorp then sent its top-secret ECO32-5 Cyborg to infiltrate the plant and destroy the supervisor.

Rise of the Robots is a versus fighting game. The player controls the ECO32-5 Cyborg and must fight all the other robots in the plant until finally meeting the Supervisor Droid. The controls consist of 3 buttons for punches and 3 buttons for kicks (one for each in the Game Gear version), and jumping, moving, crouching and blocking are performed with the directional pad. The Cyborg has two super moves, the Turbo Head Butt and the Shoulder Barge. The player can choose the difficulty, number of rounds and time limit for the fights, as well as turn turn the super moves off.

The game has three modes: mission, where the player fights each robot in a fixed order; training, where the player can fight any robot in any desired order; and two players versus mode (absent in the Game Gear version), where the second player chooses any of the enemy robots to fight with. It features an AI system that reacts to the player style, 3D rendered cutscenes and the title song was composed by Queen's guitarist Brian May.

Spellings

  • ライズ オブ ザ ロボッツ - Japanese spelling

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Screenshots

Promos

Credits (DOS version)

85 People (35 developers, 50 thanks) · View all

Produced by
Designed and Directed by
Senior Programmers
Senior Artists
Character Design
Set Design
Set Construction
  • Interactive Images
Musical Coordination
Game Soundtrack
Game Music Produced by
Music Conversions
Conversions Coordination
Programmers
Marketing
Publicity
[ full credits ]

Reviews

Critics

Average score: 52% (based on 52 ratings)

Players

Average score: 1.8 out of 5 (based on 107 ratings with 8 reviews)

I wanted to like it... but It was just too bad...

The Good
Good graphics, cool looking robots, the cutscenes were decent. Cool Moves.

The Bad
Not that fun. No depth. Couldn't jump over your damn opponent!

The Bottom Line
All looks, no depth, no fun.

DOS · by Yeah No (23) · 2000

Urgh

The Good
Released after a tidal wave of immense hype, this game (also released for the Commodore Amiga) is something of a legend in 'bad game' circles. The developers had obviously spent all their time tweaking the gorgeous, rendered sprites, without spending any time writing a game.

The Bad
Problems are legion - you can defeat all the opponents with a single move, you can't turn around after leaping past the enemy, and, most damning of all, the game is less fun, less intelligent, and shallower than the old Sinclair Spectrum classic 'Way of the Exploding Fist', or the contemporary 'International Karate +' (or, for that matter, 'Mortal Kombat'). Worst of all, it sold absolutely loads, and there was even a sequel, which, astoundingly, was almost as bad. See also the similarly disasterous 'Microcosm', and 'Epic', amongst others.

The Bottom Line
Legendarily over-hyped, under-delivering graphical demo posing as a game.

DOS · by Ashley Pomeroy (225) · 2000

Probably the worst fighting game EVER in the history of gaming.

The Good
Ha! You've got to be kidding me, right? I mean, admittedly the graphics are quite good (something along the lines of Killer Instict, only a few years earlier), but it's just SPRITES, for *'s sake.

*The Bad

Arrrrrrgh! Where do I start? I mean, Rise of the Robots beats the likes of Sango Fighter, Super Fighter, Stick Fighter 2 (I'm not kidding) or even FX Fighter in the "worst game in the history of mankind" category. Dude, it's even worse than Arcade Volleyball, which actually had some kind of play value.

Well then. Shall we?

  • The worst programming in a fighting game to date. Especially considering how early of a game it is, SVGA on a 486? I mean, sure, there's The 7th Guest, but DUDE, THIS GAME SUCKS!
  • Oh, the all-so-beloved secret moves. Hmm. Perhaps it was just the demo version, with its magnificent two robots, that had so little interesting moves to keep you busy that you'd probably fall asleep before even a single round is over.
  • Music? Sound? Get outta here.
  • Story! Bwahahahaha! (did this game even have one?)



The Bottom Line
In Cartman's terms, "LLLLLLLLLAME!"

DOS · by Tomer Gabel (4539) · 2000

[ View all 8 player reviews ]

Trivia

Animation

Instinct Design, the developer for Rise of the Robots, claimed that the game would feature 100 frames of animation per robot, with a special key frame system to ensure fluidity of movement. In reality, the game utilized 3 frames of movement for the robot punching, kicking and whatever else.

Cancelled Sega CD version

There was actually a Sega CD version in development, which was going to be published by JVC, but it was never released. A preview video exists, but it doesn't show anything from that version, other than a box cover. The "Work in Progress" footage shown was in fact from the DOS version.

Cover art

Game covers mentioned that Rise of the Robots contained music by rock guitarist Brian May. While technically true, the only Brian May music you hear in the game is an approximately 5-seconds long guitar solo at the beginning. Brian May was penned in to produce the entire soundtrack, however completion was delayed and the soundtrack was not completed in time for the games release.

Extended CD-32 version

In October 2015 an extended and corrected "Special Edition" of the CD-32 version of Rise of the Robots was released. This fan made improvement by Earok is fixing some gameplay issues like the difficulty level and also adds aesthetic features like new backgrounds or the inclusion of the intro of the arcade version. This version can be downloaded for free.(Source: Unofficial CD32 Ports)

PC version differences

Rise of the Robots on PC was released on floppy disks and CD-ROM. The CD-ROM version had an animated intro instead of the stills as seen in the floppy disk version.

Information also contributed by CaptainCanuck, M4R14N0, n-n, Roger Wilco, and Verm --

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  • MobyGames ID: 1533
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Contributors to this Entry

Game added by Zhentarim7.

CD-i added by Corn Popper. Amiga added by Rebound Boy. Game Gear, Amiga CD32 added by Kabushi. SNES, Genesis added by Satoshi Kunsai. 3DO added by Terok Nor.

Additional contributors: Alaka, Rik Hideto, Jo ST.

Game added May 31, 2000. Last modified December 3, 2023.