The 1989 MS-DOS version of RoboCop is part conversion of the Data East arcade game, and partly does it own thing, with level structures that connect rooms above and below, with staircases that instantly flip the screen, rather than scroll it. The majority of levels do scroll horizontally, though, although the scrolling is very jerky.

There’s a lot wrong with MS-DOS RoboCop. I couldn’t figure out how to shoot diagonally (if indeed you can); the ED-209 boss fight is ridiculous, in terms of actually damaging it; the music in the game is pretty awful and seems to be PC speaker only; the cut scene graphics are terrible, and RoboCop is also a very low-scoring game (and I’ve never really understood why devs make low-scoring games).

On the plus side: the ED-209 graphics and animation look great (by far the best ED-209 in any of the home ports), and the way some enemies fly backwards when you shoot them is nice. And… well, that’s about all I can think of…

I guess we can just be thankful that there is at least the option to run the game in EGA mode, which uses sixteen colours, rather than only four-colour CGA (although you can run the game in CGA, if you want to). Having said that, the graphics in RoboCop are pretty poor overall, and lack details that were in the arcade version, and most of the Ocean home ports. Like – for example – RoboCop not looking up, when he’s shooting directly upward. Which is a small thing, but it’s noticeable, and it looks awkward when he’s doing it.

Overall, this is a very poor version of RoboCop, with few redeeming features. Playing it now would be a fool’s game, unless you’re curious to see just how bad it really is.

Note: I looked into the development and release of RoboCop for MS-DOS and indications are that the game was only ever released in Spain, by Erbe Software, and was coded by Astros Productions. I could find only one source for that, and have to question whether it’s reliable information or not. The same source credits Dawn Drake for having produced the graphics, and Ocean‘s Jon Woods for having produced the game, but to me that seems unlikely (because neither have had any previous association with Astros Productions, and Ms. Drake‘s graphics work has previously been better than this). The site I got this information from (which I won’t name), often has verifiably incorrect information, so I’m not sure if I can trust it. If anyone knows for sure about the development and release of this version of RoboCop, please leave a comment below, as it’s always best to have the correct information! 🙂

More: RoboCop on Wikipedia