Smash TV, Son of Robotron

[digitalpress]

One of my favorite genres is that of the "360 degree shooter". The game where you're almost always surrounded and have to shoot a path, all the while grabbing power-ups, coins, or what have you.

Probably the best known classic in this genre is Robotron: 2084. The original game, designed by Eugene Jarvis, is a brilliant example of this, one of the first and one of the best of its kind. Unfortunately, I suck badly at this game as much as I do enjoy playing it. I've watched my buddy John rip through the game so I understand HOW to play better, I just seem to lack the necessary skills to execute that plan.

A game I enjoy as much and can actually play well is Smash TV. This 1990 masterpiece is clearly inspired by the movie The Running Man, and though Mark Turmell is usually the first guy you think of when you think of the game's original design, Jarvis was on the development team as well. The similarities to Robotron are significant, and that's a good thing.

Total Carnage, the "official" sequel, is an ambitious one where the play area moves and there is more diversity in the enemies. The humor is there but the game just isn't as much fun to me.

There are others in this genre, like Gauntlet, Soldiers of Fortune, Charge 'N Blast, Loaded...

What's your favorite of the genre? Which game(s) are you really good at, and if you have strategy tips, share those too!

[EnemyZero]

i always like Machine Head, i had it for the pc a long time ago...i dont now why, but i guess the relentless killing and blood splanter made me smile :P

[Graham Mitchell]

Dungeon Explorer for the TG-16 is probably my favorite. It's the "surrounded" style of gameplay mixed in with an adventure game to keep it fresh, and the presentation is pretty much flawless. Tons of replay value is in there with all the different characters you can pick, and you can even find a password for a secret character (the princess).

Robtron 2084 is a VERY close second. I actually play Robotron more than DE because I don't have DE anymore. Like you, Joe, I suck at Robotron for as much as I play it. Back in Seattle they used to have Pinball and video game competitions put on by Larry Reed (owner of Shorty's; music promoter in the '80's who brought Big Black to Seattle for their last show ever!) I got pretty good at Robotron on my Playstation, so I looked into competing. When I saw people that were actually good at that game, I wanted to run home crying. These guys can play one game for 4 hours or more...they can get so many extra lives that they can go to the bathroom, let the game keep killing them repeatedly, come back and still have about 15 lives left. It's insane, but amazing to watch.

[Oobgarm]

I was a Smash TV fan back when it first hit the scene. I was totally unaware of Robotron at the time. The DP event at Cedar Point was the first time I actually got to see a working Robotron game, and I immediately hooked it up on the PSX at home. I love it now. I'm still shocked at how good Bargora is at it--and the guy we saw there playing it.

I'm gona have to say that I like Robotron better, just because it's got more of a 'challenge' since you can't buy-in(unlike Smash TV) after you lose your stock of lives.

[E Nice]

I first played Smash TV on NES, even had some speech. Snake boss is different here. Didnt get a chance to play the real deal till on that PSX Arcade party Pak, excluding roms.

[Griking]

Would Sinistar fit into this catagory?

I used to love Space Dungeon as well.

[NESaholic]

Remember playing Smash TV in the arcades, i rented it when i was a kid a few times, now i still have to get it for the nes, saw one boxed, maybe i'll buy it (want complete though),i love the game and genres like this one,my hands are itching i might buy the boxed one just to own the game so i can play it again!

[fishsandwich]

Nobody mentioned the official sequels... Robotron X and Robotron 64!

Well, maybe it's because they aren't that great, but they certainly aren't bad. They didn't add much more than polygonal graphics and some different playing perspectives.

Robotron 64 is better than Robotron X... it seems to play quite a bit faster and smoother. I think it came out a good while after the PSone game.

I like it, anyway.

Cheers

:D

[AB Positive]

Would Loaded and Re-loaded fall into this genre? I remember playing Loaded as my first PSX rental back in the day and loving it.

-AG

[Keir]

Demon Stalkers (C64)

On the surface, it is just a Gauntlet clone. However, I like it much more than Gauntlet for 3 reasons:
1. It has an ending.
2. It's not insanely difficult.
3. Level construction set!

[Arcade Antics]

Nobody mentioned the official sequels... Robotron X and Robotron 64!

Well, maybe it's because they aren't that great, but they certainly aren't bad. They didn't add much more than polygonal graphics and some different playing perspectives.

Robotron 64 is better than Robotron X... it seems to play quite a bit faster and smoother. I think it came out a good while after the PSone game.

I like it, anyway.

Cheers

:D

Actually, neither one of those games is an official sequel. They're "name only" sequels. They aren't canon.

The official sequel to Robotron:2084, for those keeping score at home, is actually Vid Kidz' own BLASTER. (Then Smash TV and Total Carnage). 8-)

[Lady Jaye]

Know what? I love Robotron AND Smash TV (maybe that's because I really liked the movie The Running Man, which I saw in a theater when it first came out).

In a way, it's not that different from space shooters, except that your targets are people and monsters instead of spaceships and other space oddities. :D

And I find that Robotron and Smash TV are great games to let off steam after a tough day.

[Tetsu]

Big Money! Big Prizes! I love it!

I dig smash tv, with its catchy music, its cheesy announcer, and fast-paced gameplay. It oozes "Midway", with its midgame advice and ugly, but charming, artwork. I had the snes version for a while, and now I usually bust out the mame version when I want to kill everything in sight.

Robotron, too, is one of my favorites, but man is it hard. Whatever strategies there are for getting above stage 15, I haven't mastered them yet.

No one's mentioned Gauntlet Legends on Dreamcast. It's alot of fun, a great update to the original.

Oh, and Loaded ihas some dungeon-crawling elements, like finding the right colored key for the right door.

[it290]

Well, I think Gauntlet-style games and Robotron-style games are fundamentally different, but of the former, my favorite would be Zombies Ate My Neighbors, and my favorite of the latter would be...err. Robotron.

[stuffedmonkey]

I just love the sayings in smash TV. I'd buy that for a dollar :)

[davidleeroth]

I loved Super Smash TV on the SNES. I remember reading mags with Loaded for the PlayStation and thinking this is gonna be even better than SSTV! Well, as it turned out, I was bitterly disappointed.

[whoisKeel]

does Bangai-O count? that one's pretty fun.

i'd have to say i like robotron a bit more than smashtv, although the first time i ever played smashtv was on the midway arcade treasures disc. a friend of mine and i continuted all the way through it, gets a little crazy :) i'd love to play robo or smash with some twin sticks someday.

[bargora]

I like Robotron 2084 the best. While Smash TV is really really cool, Robotron's 2-D presentation and brilliant raster sprites allow greater speed of play and cleanliness of presentation (well, as clean as you can get with 100 killer robots after your ass) than I've seen in any of its sequels, official or spiritual. IMHO.

And oobgarm, :embarrassed:

I'm a piker, really. But maybe one day...

[Mayhem]

I grew up playing Smash TV, but progressed to Robotron as I got older (and found places that had it still!). Both do their best to kick your arse as hard as possible. Robotron is the purer, more hardcore game, but Smash TV always has a place in my heart here...

[k8track]

Combing through the thread, I don't see any mention of Berzerk and Frenzy. Any 5200 owner will tell you that the 5200 version of Berzerk is one of the essential games for the system. It rocks. And I've never played the voice-enhanced homebrew/hack of Berzerk for the 2600, but I'm sure it's pretty cool as well.

But I really prefer Frenzy, for Colecovision. I love the fact that you can keep shooting Evil Ottos and destroying them--to a point. And when you shoot the huge Otto in the center of one of the rooms, the way his enforcers take you out is priceless (the boss Otto gets an extremely pissed expression on his face as 3--or 4?--smaller Ottos form in the corners and pulverize you at transwarp speed).

I'm biased towards Frenzy (as well as a lot of my other Coleco games) because it always takes me back to my Freshman year of college, when I purchased a huge Coleco lot at the time and would spend many a Friday evening in my dorm room, watching Alien Nation, ST:TNG, and playing Colecovision. Those were the days.

[NE146]

I agree with Bargora.

Smash TV is so awesome.. but it ENDS! And you can get tired of the game after a while. But it's so sweet while it lasts. Robotron definitely has more staying power in my opinion... and, it's FASTER :D

Strategy for Robotron?

1. Keep moving and run along the wall perimeter shooting inward, but NOT right up on them! This is because the sparks the Enforcers shoot at you will tend to slide right along the walls as well. You have a much better chance of avoiding them if you run about a centimeter or two AWAY from the perimeter.

2. Best way to tame an Enforcer.. is to ignore your instinct and run right up to them! They and the sparks they shoot get slower the closer you are. But if you're far away, they'll shoot those things at lightning speed.

3. SAVE HUMANS. With a free man at every 25,000 points on most machines, you need save only seven humans to win an extra man. This is easily done on most any stage.

4. Tank stages: best I can say is.. shoot their shots :P

[mauigamer]

Was there much difference between smash tv and total carnage? I never played tc only smash tv. Total carnage was a sequal to Smash Tv? anybody know?

[it290]

Yes, Total Carnage is the 'sequel', although it has a completely different setting. It's kind of a 'Gulf War' style thing, and nowhere near as good as Smash TV, IMHO.

[Cantaloup]

Was there much difference between smash tv and total carnage? I never played tc only smash tv.

Probably the biggest difference between the two in terms of game play is that in TC you have a button for dropping bombs. These let you take out mines and some other obstacles that usually you can't blow up; they also make you invincible for 1 second. TC also features a scrolling play field that will stop occasionally, rather than the room system in Smash TV. There are some other features, like a password system, secret areas, and more bonuses and extra stuff to do.

BTW, you can get both Robotron 2084 and Smash TV on Midway Arcade Treasures; Total Carnage is on Midway Arcade Treasures 2. If you liked Smash TV you will probably also like Total Carnage. It's very similar, just with more stuff.

[Sotenga]

TOTAL CARNAGE! I LOVE IT!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh... music to my ears. I have been playing Smash TV for as long as I can remember, and it is still an excellent game. There's just so much going on at once, and it's still an insane challenge for me... too insane, as a matter of fact. I still suck at it... I often have to peg in my first continue after beating only a mere three rooms in Stage 1. The limited ammunition for weapons never works to my favor. It's just like, "DIE, MOTHERFU... oh, wait, I'm back to my peashooter. This suc... *insert club/explosion/fire/electricity here*," and then I die. A LOT. As fun a game as this is, it's too berserk for me at times... which might actually portray it as one of the earlier "manic shmups." Could this be the godfather of such games as Dodonpachi and Guwange? Might as well be, since I use way too many credits to beat all of them. Regardless, I still love Smash TV... I mean, it's a game where you get to kill things just for the glory of it all! No survival, no mission... just money! And prizes! In big quantities!

I'll buy THAT for a dollar! :wink 2:

[Flack]

If we're including Gauntlet-esque games, do I get to count Commando? :)

There was a great game for the Commodore 64 called Druid. It was essentially a Gauntlet clone except it took place outdoors so there were a lot more open areas. If I remember correctly, players could switch between a wizard and his golem.

[Keir]

There was a great game for the Commodore 64 called Druid. It was essentially a Gauntlet clone except it took place outdoors so there were a lot more open areas. If I remember correctly, players could switch between a wizard and his golem.
Ooh, I forgot about Druid! Druid II: Enlightenment was even better than the first. And yes, the golem could be controlled with a joystick in port 2 so you could even have a second player control it (which my brother and I often did).

[Lady Jaye]

Flack how do you consider Commando to be a Gauntlet-like game? Commando... the only game whose 2600 version had such a catchy tune that I can still hum it just like that, over 15 years later!

[Balloon Fight]

I absolutely love Robotron but I do love Smash TV also. Luckily an arcade close to me has a well kept Smash TV, which is set up for free play. :D

Whenever I go down there I see how far I can get on one start. So far I've been able to beat the whole first "level". (The first board to the boss, mutoid man) and I can beat 2 levels of the second level on just one start. I usually play it at home on the PS2 (Midways Arcade Treasures) if I have a few minutes to kill.

Heres a few tips for the game:

1. Always keep shooting. There are some times when you want to conserve some special ammo but 98% of the time you want to keep shooting. If you run out of special ammo just wait until another special pops up.

2. Try to stay in the lower left portion of the screen. Its easier to get out of tight situations down there and specials seem to pop up a little more often on the left side of the "board".

3. On snake boss keep moving. Don't stay in one position because they'll hone in on you. ALWAYS keep shooting them. Their head is the weakest spot but every 3-5 (forgot the exact number) of shots on their neck does damage to the head.

[Flack]

Flack how do you consider Commando to be a Gauntlet-like game? Commando... the only game whose 2600 version had such a catchy tune that I can still hum it just like that, over 15 years later!

Hey, it's running, it's shooting ... and it's one of my favorite games, so I work it into every conversation possible?

"What's for lunch?"
"How about pizza ... like COMMANDO would eat!"
"What???"

Sorry. Back to Druid.