Robotron: 2084

Robotron: 2084 (also referred to simply as Robotron) is a twin-stick shooter video game developed by Eugene Jarvis and Larry DeMar of Vid Kidz and released by Williams Electronics for arcades in 1982. The game is set in the year 2084 in a dystopian future where robots have turned against humans in a cybernetic revolt. The player's goals are to defeat endless waves of robots, rescue surviving humans, and earn as many points as possible. Jarvis and DeMar drew inspiration from Nineteen Eighty-Four, Berzerk and Space Invaders when designing Robotron: 2084. The pair designed the game to instill panic in players by presenting them with conflicting goals and having many on-screen projectiles coming from multiple directions. A two-joystick control scheme was implemented to provide the player with more precise controls, and enemies with different behaviors were added to make the game challenging. Following its release in arcades, Atari ported the game to several home platforms in the 1980s. It was later included in many retro gaming collections. Robotron was critically and commercially successful. Praise among critics focused on the game's intense action, control scheme, and colorful visuals. While its challenging gameplay proved popular, commentators acknowledged it catered to select players. Though not the first game with twin joystick controls, Robotron: 2084 is cited as the game that popularized it in the 1980s; the design later saw a resurgence in the 2000s. Jarvis used the same control scheme later in the 1990 Smash TV. Robotron was ported to numerous home systems, most of which lacked the arcade's control hardware. It is frequently listed as one of Jarvis's best contributions to the video game industry.