Robotron

[hnugz]

I've heard of this game a bunch but never really knew anything about it until my friend came over and said it was his favorite arcade game.  Wow that game is fun and addicting.  I could really see people pumping in quarter after quarter to play.

Nothing of real importance here just glad to find a new addicting game.

[Luigi]

Full Ack!!

I never used to play Robotron. I've read about it but I didn't know it was played with two sticks so playing at my Mame-Cab was rather annoying since  couldn't shoot.

I bought a Robotron cab a few months ago. The 2nd stick has been removed and two ugly green buttons have been added.......for playing Moon Ranger 

I took a closer look at the game and configured Mame so I could play it with my Two-Player-Panel....and hell....that game rocks 

Luckily I don't have to spend quarters to play 

[Gunstar Hero]

How can you guys just be discovering ROBOTRON??

While you're at it, here's a few more you better be sure to try....

Pac-Man
Donkey Kong
Joust
Dig-Dug
Moon Patrol
Galaga
Pole Position (360 driving wheel or trakball)
Defender
Sinistar (if you have a worthy stick)

There, that should get you on the right path. 

[TOK]

Robotron, Donkey Kong and Gyruss were the main reasons I ended up building a cabinet.
If you like the twin stick play mechanic, also check out Black Widow, Smash TV, and my favorite "unknown" game Rescue by Stern (needs two sticks and one button for bomb).

[davieboynj]

I dig on double stick games, thanks for pointing out rescue!

[Stingray]

How can you guys just be discovering ROBOTRON??

Good question. That's like not knowing about water.

-S

[Luigi]

How can you guys just be discovering ROBOTRON??

While you're at it, here's a few more you better be sure to try....

Pac-Man
Donkey Kong
Joust
Dig-Dug
Moon Patrol
Galaga
Pole Position (360 driving wheel or trakball)
Defender
Sinistar (if you have a worthy stick)

There, that should get you on the right path. 

Of course I know all the games you listed.....I was born 1968!! 

Well, I guess there are still a lot of rocking games that I don't know.

We got another two stick game....Rescue Raider (Williams). It was installed into a dedicated Rampage-Cab. Well.....it's ok but we will have the original Ramapage re-installed. http://www.thludwig.de/pics/arcade/halle/rampage_2.jpg

I'm trying to "re-build" Robotron but since I cannot afford the pcb-set I will have a PC installed....booting Linux and starting Mame with Robotron. I hope to get a working pcb-set one day 


btw: what is "water" ?   


@davieboynj: look here http://fe.donkeyfly.com/controls/gamesbycontrol.php#Dual%208-way%20Joysticks

[97thruhiker]

Robotron, oh yeah!  Speaking of two stick games Crazy Climber is pretty addictive.  Didn't play it much back in the day but I'm always playing it now.

[deadkenndys1105]

I love robotron but my cabinet cant play it because of only having one stick.  I have been thinking about building a second control panel with 2 sticks. I need to get a job soon building custom ddr pads and fixing computers isnt cutting it.

[Hiub1]

Man, Robotron. Just broke 500,000 yesterday! So much fun. Black Widow is also very cool, I love the zooming effect when you pick up the bonus dots.

[ArtMAME]

I knew about Robotron back in the day, I did not play it much because it was a very hard game . 

I had a ripoff version of Robotron called "Cyborg" for my Atari 800 computer.  I played that on a lot.  I even made a control panel using two Atari 2600 original joysticks so I could play that Cyborg game. It was much better that one joystick and a fire button , which you could do on that game. 

Back in '96 or '97 I bought Williams Arcade classics CD-ROM and it had Robotron on it.  I used a Gravis Gamepad for it.  I ended up modifying the Gravis gamepad by attaching little drawer pull handles on the gamepads buttons and directional pad so I had two little thumb joysticks on the Gravis gamepad.  Pretty cool, but a little flimsy. 
Later I bought a PC gamepad with two analogue thumb joysticks but I could never get it set up on my PC at the time.

Then in '99 or 2000 I discovered MAME, and shortly after that, I bought some Happ parts to build a control panel.  It wasn't until 2003 that we finally moved into a house with a garage so I could set up my woodworking shop and actually build a control panel. 

Awesome  , I was able to play Robotron like it was supposed to be played!!!  Or so I thought... because as I read more threads on the subject... I found out that the Happ ultimates were not very good performers in the opinion of many BYOACers.   I found out that Wico leaf switch joysticks were the way to go for Robotron and most other old-school games. 

So then I had to go out and find some Wico leaf-switch ball-tops.  I found some when I went to a SuperAuctions event.  I bought a Williams High Impact Football cabinet with 4 Wico Joysticks in it.  I then MAMEd the cabinet and made a control panel from the Wicos.

Here is that project thread:

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=54556.0

So that is what Robotron is supposed to feel like!!!  Much better!!!

Now, Andy has to come up with the Ultrastick 360, so now I have to go and get some of those and build another control panel...

...well you get the picture...

Oh yes... and  ROBOTRON RULES!!!

[delta88]

Did someone say dual joystick games batman!!!

[RayB]

Hey your Wacko is falling apart!

;-D

[Hiub1]

Is that cab crooked?!

[ArtMAME]

Yeah man... I remember now!!!   The last time I saw a Wacko cab was back in THE DAY!!!

That cab is supposed to be crooked.

BTW, I would love to have that junk in my basement!!!   

[spidermonkey]

One of my personal favorite two joystick games is "Cloak & Dagger" aka "Agent-X".

[Crowquill]

Despite being included in lots of classic collections that I've owned I could never get into it. Then two weeks ago I got my second-player stick and buttons wired up. Now I just keep going back to play it. I die in no time, but have a blast doing it. It's also a good test of the Wico leaf sticks I put on my cab.

I first started hitting arcades around '86, so I missed out on Robotron in it's original cabinet. It was a very popular cabinet for conversions (unlike Wacko).

I'm not sure why I'm surprised I like it so much considering how much I liked to play Smash TV in it's day.

[horseboy]

This is a smidge OT, but if you guys haven't ever played Robotron 64 you have to give it a try. It is a really sweet updated version of the original. A whole lot of fun.

[(+_+)]

Robotron. What can you say about it. I remember tossing in my first quarter and cursing it to oblivion and back again for having died in a matter of seconds and swearing to never ever play it again. A few years later while "Joust"ing (Another Williams great) a guy I met vacationing in Florida taught me some of the Robotron ropes in exchange for my Joust knowledge. Never looked back and it became, for me at least, my personal favorite game of all time. We got so good at it, that a friend and I started to play one hand each (I moved, he fired) and we're able to roll the machine 10,000,000 points. Believe it or not.

"Save Mikey"

Speaking of Robotron 64, there is another very cool game by PomPom call Mutant Storm. It is a very modern, slick looking Robotron type game.

[NightGod]

When I was growing up there was a bar/pizza joint in town that always had a game or two in it, and for about six sweet months, Robotron was that game, followed immediately after by Moon Patrol. A friend and I always went up there and spent hours and piles of quarters we begged off our parents playing those games.

Honestly, it's the main reason I didn't bother taking that Midway Classics cabinet I picked up a month ago back once I decided to go MAME. Once I was able to play Robotron, I couldn't be without it =x