Not to be confused with Robowar (Premier Gottlieb, 1988).
Completing the green, yellow, and red targets as soon as possible. The top lanes spot individual targets, and the mystery from the right lane saucer can spot entire banks. Once the three colours are collected, you have 3 options to scoring: (1) shoot the left spinner repeatedly for 3,000 points a spin, which usually ends up being more than 100,000 per shot; (2) shoot the right ramp and make the jump 3 times to lock 3 balls and start multiball, where standup targets increase the jackpot and the right ramp scores it; (3) shoot standup targets when white crosshairs are lit to qualify the right ramp for a timed Million Shot.
There are three top lanes at the top of the table. At the beginning of each ball, two of the four posts that outline the three lanes will be flashing. Plunging the ball through the lane that runs between the flashing posts scores a skill shot worth 100,000 points times the current ball number. The lane that is flashing for the skill shot cannot be moved with lane change. It's rather difficult to intentionally plunge a certain lane; many Robocops will end up putting the ball in the same top lane a significant portion of the time, though it may be a different one of the three lanes from machine to machine.
Roll through a top lane to light the green, yellow, or red lamp above it. Lane change can be used on either flipper to rotate the lights; both flippers move the lights in the same direction. Lighting all three lanes advances the bonus multiplier toward its maximum of 5x. Whether lit or not, the left, center, and right lanes spot one green target, one yellow target, or one hit to the red captive ball respectively.
Many of the game's features revolve around the green, yellow, and red targets- 4 green standups on the left, 3 yellow standups in the center, and 1 hit to the captive ball in the lower right of the game. Hit a flashing target to light it. Targets score 5,000 points whether lit, flashing, or unlit. Complete a bank to qualify one of the three criminals. Qualifying the red criminal requires just one hit to the captive ball in the lower right. The top lanes, from left to right, spot one green target, one yellow target, or one captive ball hit. The mystery award from the right lane's saucer can give awards of Emil, Boddicker, or Dick Jones, which instantly light the green, yellow, and red criminals respectively.
The left spinner has a base value of 260 points per spin. Each criminal that is lit adds 1,000 points to the per-spin value of the spinner. The spinner is angled well for a strong flipper shot and often spins very well, so simply lighting and ripping the spinner is very effective as a strategy. The spinner is also the most reliable way to get back to the top lanes for more bonus multipliers and spotted colour targets.
Each qualified criminal lights a lock at the right ramp. To lock a ball, a full shot to the ramp which clears the jump at the top of the table must be made. Three locked balls starts multiball. In multiball, jackpot is immediately lit at the right ramp for 500,000 points. All switches in the game add miscellaneous points to the jackpot; green and yellow standup targets each add 100,000 points to the jackpot, up to a maximum of 1,000,000 points. A full shot to the right ramp that clears the jump scores the jackpot. Only one jackpot is available per multiball. After the jackpot is collected, further hits to the green, yellow, and red targets light the white crosshairs; lighting a certain number (5 by default) lights the right ramp for a Special.
Once all three colour target banks have been completed, one target from each bank will have a flashing white crosshairs in front of it, which moves between targets in a bank every few seconds. Hit a flashing crosshairs to light it solidly. Light a certain number of crosshairs- 4 by default- to start ED-209, where the right ramp is lit for 1,000,000 points for 15 seconds.
The only way that the green, yellow, and red criminals unlight is if multiball is played and ends.
The game keeps track of full shots to the ramp that complete the jump. Each one is worth 100,000 points, whether a lock is ready or not. Breaking the machine's record for most jump ramps in a single game scores 500,000 points and allows you to enter your initials at the end of the game. Making two consecutive jump ramp shots starts 2x scoring on the playfield for about 10 seconds.
Any shot to the saucer at the end of the right lane scores a Scanner mystery award, and lights a letter in Robocop. Spelling Robocop lights an extra ball at this right lane. Possible mystery awards include the following. This list may not be exhaustive.
Robocop has a conventional in/out lane setup. In lanes score 15,000 points. Out lanes score 25,000 points. The in/out lanes can be lit for a consolation extra ball if play time has been low when the final ball of the game begins; this extra ball can be moved with flipper lane change.
There is a kickback in the left out lane. It is lit at the start of each ball, unlights once used, and can be relit with any shot to the lower right red target/captive ball.
The game does not explicitly mention what increases bonus. I assume that top lanes, standup targets, in/out lanes, and maybe ramp jump shots contribute to bonus. The max base bonus I have ever seen is 140,000, but presumably the actual limit is 200,000 like many other alphanumeric Data East games. Bonus multiplier increases up to the maximum of 5x each time the top lanes are completed. Base bonus can be carried over to the next ball by the Bonus Hold mystery award. Bonus multiplier can never be carried over. There is no mid-ball bonus collect.
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