2000AD Special

2000AD is a famous, British science fiction comic that was first launched in 1977 (26th February 1977 to be precise), and I distinctly remember getting and reading the first issue and being hooked from that moment on. 2000AD pulled no punches, with its hard-hitting fantasy storylines and stand-out characters, and it made a big impression on anyone who read it.

From the outset the publication was graced with some of the best comic writers and artists of all time, such as Dave Gibbons, Carlos Ezquerra, Massimo Bellardinelli, Mike McMahon, Brian Bolland, Ron Smith, Ian Gibson, Alan Moore, John Wagner, Alan Grant, and many others.

The fantastic artwork and shocking stories hit a nerve with Seventies schoolkids, and their parents alike (my Dad always read and enjoyed 2000AD), and it rapidly grew into a successful weekly periodical, growing and evolving throughout the Eighties and Nineties, and eventually into the new millennium.

Each individual issue of 2000AD was called a ‘programme’, or a “prog”, and was numbered sequentially, so they are relatively easy to keep in order.

2000AD was originally published by IPC Magazines and changed hands a number of times in the late 20th century. In the year 2000 the rights to the comic were bought by British video game developer Rebellion, who continue to publish the comic to this day. Rebellion also sells collected works from individual stories on its website, and the popularity of 2000AD still endures, which is good to see.

2000AD characters such as Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, Rogue Trooper, Nemesis the Warlock, and Sláine eventually made the transition into video games and various titles were produced, based on these characters. Some of these adaptations were more successful than others, but in our special this week I’ve decided to list every video game based on a 2000AD character that I could find, and present some screenshots (and a write-up) to show exactly what they were like.

Here are links to what was published:

Games based on 2000AD characters. Listed chronologically.

Strontium Dog: The Death Gauntlet, C64 – Quicksilva, 1984
Strontium Dog: The Killing, ZX Spectrum – Quicksilva, 1984
Rogue Trooper, ZX Spectrum – Piranha/Design Design, 1986
Judge Dredd, Commodore 64 – Melbourne House, 1986
Judge Dredd, ZX Spectrum – Melbourne House, 1987
Sláine, Commodore 64 – Martech, 1987
Sláine, ZX Spectrum – Martech, 1987
Sláine, Amstrad CPC – Martech, 1987
Nemesis the Warlock, Commodore 64 – Martech, 1987
Nemesis the Warlock, ZX Spectrum – Martech, 1987
Nemesis the Warlock, Amstrad CPC – Martech, 1987
Judge Death, Commodore 64 – Piranha, Unreleased (1987)
Judge Dredd, ZX Spectrum – Virgin Games, 1990
Judge Dredd, Atari ST – Virgin Games, 1990
Judge Dredd, Amiga – Virgin Games, 1990
Judge Dredd, Commodore 64 – Virgin Games, 1991
Rogue Trooper, Amiga – Krisalis Software, 1991
Rogue Trooper, Atari ST – Krisalis Software, 1991
Judge Dredd, Super Nintendo – Acclaim/Probe, 1995
Judge Dredd, Megadrive/Genesis – Acclaim/Probe, 1995
Judge Dredd, Game Boy – Acclaim/Probe, 1995
Judge Dredd, Game Gear – Acclaim/Probe, 1995
Judge Dredd, PlayStation – Gremlin/Activision, 1997
Judge Dredd Pinball, PC – Pin-Ball Games, 1998
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death, PC – Rebellion/Sierra, 2003
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death, PlayStation 2 – Rebellion, 2003
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death, GameCube – Rebellion, 2003
Judge Dredd: Dredd vs. Death, XBox – Rebellion, 2003
Rogue Trooper Redux, PC – Rebellion, 2017

If you’ve never heard of 2000AD before, and want to know more, I’ve included examples of some of the past issues below. There’s also a really good feature-length documentary about the history of the comic that’s worth watching, called Future Shock: The Story of 2000AD. 2000AD also has an official YouTube channel that regularly posts videos about its characters, and interviews the people behind the comic.

Final note: “What about Dan Dare?” you may ask. Technically Dan Dare was an Eagle Comic character, although he did feature in 2000AD from issue one onward, for a number of years. There are a number of Dan Dare-related video games that I’ve already covered on this website. See: Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future, Dan Dare II: Mekon’s Revenge, and Dan Dare III: The Escape.