Robotron Engineering Prototype #1

Mfr. Date:  1981 - Williams

Type:  Upright / Raster (Engineering Prototype, 1st of 2)  In other words, this is the very first Robotron ever made!  See Unique Special Features below.

Summary & Gameplay:  What will life be like in the year 2084?  Will you be fighting for the survival of the human race against evil robots that have taken over the entire planet?  If Robotron represents the future, then we're in trouble!  The object of the game is to save the last human family (although it seems they had a really big family) and kill anything or anyone who gets in your way. Two joysticks are used for play control; one for movement and the other for firing.

The enemies in the game are called Robotrons and there are five different kinds of them: Grunts, Brains, Enforcers, Tanks and Hulks. There are also three different kinds of human family members who must be rescued including women in pink dresses, men in blue suits, and boys in red shirts.

Each kind of Robotron has a different way of attacking you and also different point values.  During each wave, you must destroy all the Robotrons (with the exception of the indestructible Hulks) and rescue as many human family members as possible in order to proceed to the next wave. When you complete wave 255 (you are a Robotron god if you can do this) it will appear as if you just started the game and wave one starts all over! Your score will be unaffected.

Interesting Side Note:  Robotron was programmed by Eugene Jarvis.  The unique dual-joystick control was created because of two occurences: Jarvis liked the game Berzerk, but hated the joystick-and-button run-and-shoot configuration; and the fact that Jarvis's right hand had been broken in a car accident shortly after he finished creating Stargate.

Unique Special Features:  This is the first Robotron ever created, and was used as a test platform for Williams engineers (i.e. engineering prototype)  After a discussion with Eugene Jarvis, we found out that two engineering prototypes were created, but we're not sure where the second machine wound up, or if it still exists at all...

While most Robotron's have red, blue and grey artwork, this Robotron has grey, black and white artwork (which was the original concept) but was changed later.  Additionally, this machine has a custom boardset and pause button on the coin door, which allowed software engineers to freeze the game to debug code.  (Yes it actually works!)  Plus, you'll find a white power supply not found on any production model.  Own one of the rarest arcade games ever!