RoboCop & Play Action Football retrospective: Gridironman | Game Boy Works

[@eretreterterter]

Been into this channel for about a month, and I can't overstate how refreshing it is to find a reviewer who takes their work seriously. No zany persona, no cutaway gags, no over the top ranting. Just extremely well researched and insightful content. It feels good to be treated like an adult and not like I'll get bored if there isn't a cringe inducing skit every two minutes.

[@CardCaptorKaren]

Random fun fact about the Game Boy Robocop theme, it was used in an advert for Italian appliance maker Ariston in the 80s.

[@lmeeken]

Yeah, that's definitely the game's most lasting legacy. The theme was used in the Ariston ads, and appropriated in a series of 00s-era Dilbert-themed web memes/animations, which gave it more staying power than the game alone ever would have.

[@RyumaXtheXKing]

And the creator of Black Mirror said, if he were to only talk a few things to an island, this tune would be among them. And on...

[@Spoocecow]

I'm very glad you gave the RoboCop title track a shout out #wow #whoa

[@MarcBarkyMarta]

Quick note on Robocop - the reason why you don’t see the Data East anywhere is because Ocean had the sole rights to make games for any platform, consumer or coin-op. Data East had to get the sub-license from Ocean to make the arcade and NES games. If you look at the copyright/legal info screens of the arcade & NES Robocop games from Data East, you will see Ocean’s name as a licensor.

[@ZergRushJohnny]

It's still the perfect game for whenever you want to DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO BLOODSHED

[@schweedy1985]

Straight up remember a road trip to Chicago circa 1992-ish, playing Robocop in the car getting frustrated by the janky hostage holding boss, and then just chilling listening to that title music for more than an hour straight(I didn't have a portable tape or cd player yet) til the batteries died. I have little love for that game, but I've looked up that title music on youtube several times for a soothing nostalgia bomb.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

Man, Robocop's theme sounds like it's playing on a home computer! I'm impressed! And, speaking of new music, love the new outro!

[@KuraIthys]

Well, I mean, by and large a lot of 8 bit systems, the game boy included had pretty similar capabilities. Arpeggios are stereotypically associated with the C64 above all else, but it was certainly possible on other systems. The soundtrack for the NES Robocop is legendary, and was the work of a noted c64 composer named Jeroen Tel. You should look up the robocop theme under his name some time. It's amazing. Unsurprisingly the c64 soundtrack for Robocop is also his doing, though ironically it's a port of the NES soundtrack. Anyway, using fast arpeggios to represent chords is possible on almost anything. The reason it happened so much on microcomputers and the c64 in particular is because they typically only had 3-4 sound channels. (sometimes less). And since a basic song is a chord + melody line, which is typically 4 notes (and then you'd want sound effects too), it became an issue. It's a habit of European microcomputer musicians to write music this way...

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

@@KuraIthys I'm frankly surprised that 8 bit Home Consoles could run sound at the same level of the C64, but I'm not particularly sure why.

[@FloatingSunfish]

The image of RoboCop stopping to eat a jar of baby food to regain health is killing me. 😂

[@Kj16V]

But he actually did in the movie though! -Well, okay he wasn't hungry at the time and used the jars for target practice, but still. Baby food!

[@jasonblalock4429]

3:28 "It's all kinda the same." I'd say that's why no one remembers old sports games. They were generally very interchangeable, and one had to REALLY stand out in some way to actually rise to notability. Like Basewars is memorable because it's baseball with robots, even if it was mechanically identical to dozens of other 8-bit baseball games. But without a strong gimmick, there's nothing to make most sports games stand out at all. They just blur into a mental pastiche of Blockbuster rental nights.

[@SeekerLancer]

Some standouts aside like RBI Baseball and Tecmo Super Bowl, sports games didn't really start coming into their own until the 16-bit era. There are plenty of standout old sports games that are fondly remembered, but most gamers aren't that invested in them.

[@Cetega]

I was one of those kids who played a significant amount of Play Action Football in the backseat on car trips. Hearing that music again brings back all the memories.

[@TheTacticalRPGOdyssey]

"Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you I always loved you."

[@TheMaskedheel]

One of my most vivid gaming memories is from NES Play Action Football. I was losing in the final seconds of the game returning a kickoff with Bubba McDowell and he ran it in for a Touchdown as time ran out. I still remember zig zagging for 80 yards.

[@stardogbillionaire]

I loved Robocop Gameboy. It was a fun distraction. That and Elevator Action were my jam.

[@DarkFlame0wns]

That Robocop theme sounds incredible! Sounds like something someone would make today on chiptune software.

[@hazy33]

The uk 8 bit music producers were extraordinary and had lots of experience developing on c64.

[@SoulSlappy]

Ranch... or Cool Ranch?

[@CatsGamesWhatever]

That RoboCop chiptune intro is magical!

[@SimplyAustins]

The arcade by Data East was a port of the RoboCop from Ocean on home computer. One of the rare occasions. It's why the license thing was so weird It was so popular, they couldn't resist. Although apart from fantastic grapohics, the arcade version is an awful coin muncher

[@RonnieBarzel]

I didn't realize the Game Boy could host such great music as that Jonathan Dunn (Dunne?) menu music. It actually reminds me of the classic "high score" song by Rob Hubbard for "Monty on the Run" on the C64.

[@Hafk]

Ranch...... or Cool Ranch?

[@erniebeutler3864]

Cooler Ranch.

[@audieorlandolilybassoff4069]

I haven't played Gameboy RoboCop and at this point I don't really feel any need to, but I absolutely love the soundtrack. The iconic theme filtered through C64-style programmed arpeggios is just so good.

[@Larry]

Did Batman not release on Gameboy before Robocop in the US? But Ocean had the rights to Robocop, Data East sub let the arcade and NES rights from Ocean (check the title screen) it's also why the arcade game is loosley based on the Amstrad version of the game. But that title screen music is iconic in the UK, it was even used in a series of TV adverts for Ariston washing machines and fridges. There was also a petition to put it in the reboot. It's also the second longest title to remain in the top twenty charts, over three years, second to Simpsons Hit and Run. Also, the C64 version is impossible to beat legitimately, the fourth level is an unfinished graphical mess, so they made the time limit in the third level impossible to beat (without cheating)

[@JeremyParish]

Yep, I researched the GB version but didn’t look deeply into the bigger picture. But that’s what the videos are for... they’re the trial run for my books, to make sure I don’t get anything egregiously wrong in print.

[@Larry]

@@JeremyParish Aah, fix your errors with "Ackushally..." comments, I getcha ^_-

[@pferreira1983]

Yeah I noticed something was up as well.

[@pferreira1983]

@@JeremyParish Man I hope you're reading those KZbin comments before you work on the book.

[@jarrelledson5301]

"And on......and on.....and on.....and Ariston....and on..." yeah I discovered that commercial here on youtube a few months ago (I live in USA so it never aired here that I know of) but damn I love that Robocop theme and the commercial itself will probably be stuck in my head for years now just playing on and on and on (and ariston).

[@TheHidestHide]

I unfortunately have those lukewarm memories of long car trips with play action. I’ll never forget the music from it, for better or worse

[@kingextreme88]

Yikes, those bugs and glitches I saw in that NES Play Action Football gameplay is enough to give anyone epilepsy. By that, I meant the messed up numbers and letters that unexpectedly showed up down there.

[@Dark.Shingo]

Yeah, I was wondering why the video stutters and the characters glitches. I was about to blow the cartridge.

[@Dwedit]

Looks like it was emulated using the wrong type of cartridge board. NES Play Action Football uses the MMC3, but it's wired in a special way so that it can use single-screen mirroring instead of Horizontal or Vertical mirroring. So instead of showing the status bar, it's showing part of the playfield with the wrong graphics.

[@mt-ks7nx]

Speaking of banging chiptunes, love the new preview music!

[@Bt3615]

A lot of errors on the Robocop account, maybe you should just take a look at Kim Justice's Ocean retrospective. The Data East arcade was a joint with Ocean from the beginning. Also the Gameboy version is based on the ZX Spectrum one which is one of the most celebrated in the long history of that micro computer.

[@Noreillay]

Yeah, that was downright amateurish on his part.

[@SEGAClownboss]

10:00 Damn, Jeremy... ;_;

[@SmashBrosOdyssey64]

Jeremy: Kids loved Robocop. (shows actual police brutality) This is why I love you Jeremy. Your stealth jabs at current events are to be envied.

[@MikeChimeri]

As someone who leans right but would rather avoid politics* and be everyone's friend, I'm relieved that there was only a short burst of clips and no sound from them. *I followed regularly until 2015 and semi-regularly until 2018.

[@WaddleDee105]

@@MikeChimeri Ok, coward.

[@shazang0]

Mike Chimeri Avoiding politics is a fool's game if you wish to participate in human culture. What if instead of "leaning right," and avoiding the uncomfortable reality that props up first world luxury, you could search inside your heart and ask yourself "can I really ignore hundreds of years of ongoing racialized conquest, enslavement, and violence, or... should I practice empathy and make better choices every day since we're all people in this shit together?"

[@lmeeken]

@@shazang0 "Avoiding politics" means "actively affirming the politics of the status quo, and throwing a tantrum if anyone does otherwise." Which is, admittedly, a pretty common sneak tactic of folks who "lean right," since none of their political positions are ethical, rational, or defensible when directly addressed.

[@yellowblanka6058]

@@MikeChimeri Police brutality is not a matter of politics, but of decency.

[@steviecomebacks5541]

I'm so glad you mentioned the title music of Robocop. It's tremendous and even made its way into a commercial in the UK I believe

[@duckofalltrades]

I have GREAT memories of Play Action Football for the Gameboy. At the time, it was great! I’ve probably played 100 + games. Took it with me everywhere. It really was a good came for its time and deserves respect. The gameplay was there, simple but addictive. Once you learned it’s tricks, you could really run up the score, which was fun.

[@SECONDQUEST]

Man I love this format, get to see some stuff I would never see otherwise. Oh and that robocop transition was DOPE

[@OnslaughtSix]

That Robocop theme is sampled by Mega Ran and D&D Sluggers for their song Infinite Lives, also. Probably a top 5 Mega Ran song.

[@pferreira1983]

Wow wow wow. That's not right. Ocean owned the development rights. They collaborated with Data East on the arcade version, that's all. Ocean were responsible for most of the Robocop games back then.

[@starlightwitch12]

FYI The GameBoy theme of Robocop is later used in Ariston commercials in the UK.

[@jaketaur]

I started scrolling through the comment section to see if someone brought this up. Thank youuuu!

[@absolutezeronow7928]

Great review of RoboCop on Game Boy. I like the ongoing little digs at current events and that RoboCop title music is a banger. Nice new outro music too

[@Kj16V]

9:55 *And on.* *And on.* *And on.* *And Ariston.*

[@Andrew_TS]

That music for GB Robocop is really more enduring than anything about the rest of the game, or Play Action Football.

[@jmporkbob]

love the outro chiptune being in gameboy style now!

[@cashnelson2306]

Hoping this includes a bit about the Robocop theme's future life in Dilbert 3 and Lil B's "in down bad"

[@KevlarGorilla]

"But nether of these games are something you'd want to go back to, or revisit." Jeremy: My life is a lie.

[@JeremyParish]

Sorry for the existential crisis so early in the morning

[@ScottALowe]

The real question is can you shoot through the lady's dress to beat that bonus stage?

[@gerikhan1]

You can! At least in the Spectrum version

[@lucentv]

At the time, as a kid, I still liked that Robocop Gameboy game. I was kind of obsessed with the arcade game and I hated that the NES version was nothing like it, so it was great to finally have something that at least felt like an arcade port.

[@cerberus144]

American Football actually gets it's name from the size of the ball. Well they round up because " Eleven and a half Inches" Ball is a mouthful.

[@BenCol]

Interesting. I’d like to think they trialled out a few other balls (Inchball, Mileball) before settling on Football.

[@flyingerasehead]

I always admired how powerful the software for Game Boy Robocop was. I mean, you could have like five of your bullets on the screen at once plus three semi-large bad guys and all their bullets with no slowdown or flicker. Things did not disappear forever once they were off screen either. You could even destroy powerups offscreen. All this on the Game Boy hardware. Plus how great that title screen music turned out. Now whether you find the game fun...

[@BenCol]

The GB RoboCop title screen theme was so good, Charlie Brooker picked it as one of his Desert Island Discs.

[@TheSuperuser49]

It was also used on a washing machine advert. Ariston I think

[@Lightgod87]

@@TheSuperuser49 "...and Ariston... and on... and Ariston..."

[@TheSuperuser49]

@@Lightgod87 yep that's the one :D

[@FloatingSunfish]

I remember when RoboCop was one of the hottest things on the block... Good times...

[@jamesmoss3424]

I like the original robocop it kick ass. 😀👍🎮

[@KuraIthys]

Best thing about the robocop games, though I can't say with any certainty if it applies to the Gameboy game, is the amazing music by Jeroen Tel. Obviously he was most at home on the c64, but he definitely also did the music for the NES game. This... I can't say, but given it shows musical characteristics that are stereotypically associated with the c64 (even though arpeggios are possible on most anything), it's reasonable to presume this is his work too...

[@audieorlandolilybassoff4069]

As Jeremy says in the video, it's actually Jonathan Dunn

[@SatoshiMatrix1]

Cart only copies of Robocop for GameBoy is priced about $15-20 on ebay. Even if it were priced around $5 it would still be too high.

[@2yoyoyo1Unplugged]

The nes football footage seems to be glitched

[@FloatingSunfish]

I think that's the game pushing the NES to its limits. Though it does look super glitched...

[@Spoocecow]

The influence of DEHUMANIZE YOURSELF AND FACE TO BLOODSHED could not be contained

[@JeremyParish]

Yeah, I don't know what that was, but there wasn't much footage available out there for me to reference.

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

Yeah, I thought it was my computer. I reloaded the page three times!

[@Dwedit]

Emulated using the wrong cartridge board, so instead of switching to the status bar, it fails to switch nametables, so the playfield is drawn with the number graphics. The game uses a specially wired MMC3 board which allows it to set the nametables directly, rather than using standard H/V mirroring modes. If it's emulated as a standard MMC3 board instead, you get the garbage.

[@mattdgroves]

2:29 what's up with this video? Choppy and glitched out--is this related to your early comments about "nobody really remembering or rediscovering these games"?

[@youngdannyaye]

I loved robocop on gb lol 😆

[@tangentofaj]

I REALLY love the new outro theme tons!

[@DeepWeeb]

HE IS A ROBERT HE IS A COP HE IS A ROBERT COP

[@TheSmart-CasualGamer]

THEY KICKED HIS HEAD IN, WHICH SENT HIM DEAD-IN'. NOW HE'S A ROBOCOP.

[@CidAghast]

Digging the new outro Man one day we will get a works episode that is actually an evangelion episode

[@JeremyParish]

Our best hope is for someone to create a video-out mod for WonderSwan... otherwise Eva games are 2 years out on GBC and 3 years out on N64.

[@GameplayandTalk]

These various Robocop arcade conversions are interesting. Not great today, but had I played them as a kid I probably would have enjoyed them.

[@BenCol]

I remember seeing an old GB commercial on KZbin where they used a lot of sports games to market the system towards adults, who might’ve been put off by the childish antics of Mario & Co. but who might be swayed by a no-nonsense version of their favourite sport. “You can play tennis on the bus, F-1 Race on your lunch break” etc. etc. So I guess the American Football game catered to all those grown-up football fans who wanted to play a game of Gridiron on their commute, get to work, and then play another round whilst hiding in the crapper.

[@SeekerLancer]

I actually really like Robocop on the Game Boy. It's a solid bite-sized portable title that I can spend a few minutes with.

[@deanolium]

I would say that GB Robocop is absolutely a conversion of the Ocean version which is 'inspired' by Data East's version. The C64 and Amiga versions had exactly the same stages, problems, and laziness of design.

[@AintNobodyAtAll]

Music from developers who primarily worked on UK microcomputers has that distinctive "wobbly" sound... Wonder if that has a name.

[@nightelf5007]

6:26 you almost made me spit out my drink, I was laughing so much

[@donttouchmystuff8709]

Good stuff again. This channel is the best kept secret on KZbin!

[@PeaceArt1]

But that RoboCop intro music. Good enough for a playthrough.

[@staguar]

The NES Play Action Football was pretty good at the time.

[@jhoughjr1]

holy shit. That means I got my copy the month it released.

[@T3hKaiser]

What the heck are those Pink Floyd MIDI riffs during the Water World clips???

[@cavauro]

chicago's logo isn't red either

[@matthewlane518]

I used to love play action football

[@joekopel]

I loved Play Action Football on the Gameboy and today I still pick it up to play, though once you figure out how the game can be exploited it becomes very easy

[@samuelchallis3420]

Football did borrow something besides the name from football: the number of players on the field

[@asasial1977]

I had play action football. Don't remember how I got it, I'm sure it was a gift because I never would have bought it on my own. Played it some out of pure boredom.

[@philipneedstowrite1799]

IIRC Ocean Software actually got the rights to Robocop during production while they were cheap, and Data East sublicensed them. Also, I think the home computer and arcade games were relatively distinct, with the ZX Spectrum version being a bestseller for years to come in the UK. Also, although Ocean are more known for their film tie-ins these days, they'd only been licensing properties for a couple of years at this point, despite being active since 1983. Regardless, this probably is a much better fit for £12 on the spectrum

[@19822andy]

Data East sub licensed the RoboCop IP from Ocean who owned the rights. I guess Ocean had no interest in developing an arcade game.

[@MichaelHeide]

Wow, that's got to be the most C64-sounding Game Boy game ever.

[@IanSane]

Play Action Football definitely exists if you've ever looked through a random pile of Game Boy carts in a retro gaming store. Where two or three carts sit in a bin, there is Play Action Football in their midst. I remember digging Robocop in the arcade at the time. Because of that whenever I think of Robocop I think of him saying "Drop It!" which is a frequent sound sample in the game. In the movie it appears once. They probably picked it for the game because it was a generic enough phrase to suit the general gameplay without context. But as a kid I thought that was Robocop's catchphrase. I did not see the movie until I was older (though I still wasn't 18 yet) so my knowledge of Robocop was from the videogame and cartoon show.

[@m__y-t-s]

I keep meaning to pick up a copy of Robocop for the real experience, but I quite often do my dishwashing with my dmg running the rom on a flashcart. Just leave it on the title screen and enjoy.

[@9ElevenGamer]

Does anyone have any idea why some cart's sample "ROBOCOP" just before you start the level and others don't?

[@mcgillaz3672]

The music from RoboCop (gameboy) reminds me of the music for Navy Seals (another movie based property by OCEAN on gameboy). Great soundtrack though.

[@utubepunk]

Spent so many hours on Play Action football. Once you knew the tricks, you could rack up amazing scores. IIRC, I got almost 100 points in one game.

[@matthamm4642]

oooooh weeee, I love that new chip tune version of the outro you added. Did you have that made specifically for GB Works?

[@JeremyParish]

No, it’s from a GBC mahjong game

[@matthamm4642]

@@JeremyParish at least one good thing is coming from playing them all, haha

[@GoldenPickaxe]

Wait is that a new version of the outro music

[@bladex2056]

1:30 mouse cursor

[@MercuryCDX]

Cops don't like me, so I don't like cops. Nananananananananananana

[@jorymil]

Funny you should mention Play Action Football. I got it for Christmas one year and played through it pretty quickly. It turned out that you could always gain 3 yards on a QB sneak, so you'd always be able to go for it on 4th and 1 and get a first down. Kinda boring, but it worked!

[@CarozQH]

There's a whole bunch of false info in the Robocop part of the video. First of all, Robocop was originally a Spectrum and CPC game by Ocean, who got all the movie's game rights at a time when the movie was still in preproduction. Data East, following the movie's success, licensed the Arcade and NES game rights from Ocean, something they could do simply because Ocean didn't make arcade games at the time. The Data East Robocop games even have "Licensed by Ocean Software Ltd" on their title screen/packaging, something you can *very* easily check by looking up any video of the arcade game. Which I'm assuming you did. Accordingly, the arcade game is sort of a conversion of the computer game, and the game boy version is derived from the spectrum game with additions such as new enemy types that make use of the added jumping. While Data East did release a few of Ocean's Robocop games, that was only in the US, and it was years later (the much later amiga port of the arcade game and NES Robocop 2). So portraying it as "Data east farming out some bad ports to a lowly british company and Ocean STEALING the good japanese game for their own Gameboy version" is just plain wrong and misleading.

[@JeremyParish]

I did not come across the Eurogamer retrospective while researching this episode, so that's my mistake. But your decision to accuse me of misrepresenting details by misrepresenting what I actually said is some A+ chef's kiss interneting.

[@deanolium]

All the enemy types in this video are in the C64 version, so I would say it's a clone of that rather than the Spectrum/CPC versions

[@CarozQH]

@@JeremyParish It just kinda bothered me that you spend like half a minute in this video making assumptions based off of sloppy/lacking research and presenting them as facts. You usually do your research better than others on youtube.

[@smokinjoesgaming2090]

Nice I actually did a Livestream of this yesterday.. I wasn't very good at it lol

[@meh6722]

Wrong time to be a robocop now.

[@elmosexwhistle]

And on...

[@ScudX]

I think you were a bit too cynical in this episode to the point of mild detriment. Case in point, I have fond childhood memories of a lot of boring times on the move made me tolerable by GB 'Play Action Football'. It was fun in a pinch, and you never forget the underdog ambition of that very early tortured 64 byte voice sample that was used for touchdowns and also first downs. Hah!

[@mattdog1000000]

Pssst... Chicago should be orange, not red. Certainly not purple though.

[@RabbitEarsCh]

There's no more accurate microcosm of UK computer game devs than a mediocre arcade conversion with absolutely stunning music. The C64 and Amiga raised a generation of sound wizards.

[@Magnero]

just starting he video now. If he doesn't say something about buying it for a dollar i will be sorely disappointed.

[@Tubewings]

Is that a new Eva theme? If so, where's it from?

[@JeremyParish]

This question is answered in the next GB Works episode!

[@BADC0FFEE]

And on.. And on.... And Ariston

[@MosoKaiser]

Oh, Robocop games... Badass franchise with potential for some really cool stuff, but sticking to being faithful to the source material makes so many of the games unbeliavably monotonous slogs to sloooowly lumber through. I remember borrowing the SNES version of Robocop 3 from a friend as a kid, getting home, playing it for 15 minutes or so and deciding it's not something I want to waste my time with. Good thing gaming magazines were a thing by then so I didn't have risk buying blind amd getting a stinker of a game. I'd have been pretty pissed off had I bought with my own money something like Robocop 3.

[@seanspear6224]

I used to own the football game on gameboy I hated it lol the robocop I couldn’t finished the matching face part I gave up I was a young kid back then when these games were out

[@mattjenkin2884]

That NES football game looks like it might need some help.

[@chanceaaronblack2792]

Two mega bangers ♪

[@indiafreedomgaming3898]

Loved it.

[@rabiroden]

ranch? or cool ranch?

[@7thangelad586]

NFL Football. Now *that* was a turd on the Game Boy.