Rise of the Robots

Rise of the Robots is a fighting game released by Time Warner Interactive in 1994. Originally developed for the Amiga and DOS by Mirage's Instinct Design, it was ported to various video game consoles, including the Super NES, the Mega Drive, and the 3DO Interactive Multiplayer. The game includes a single-player mode in which the player assumes the role of the ECO35-2 Cyborg as he attempts to stop the Supervisor who takes over Electrocorp's facilities in Metropolis 4, and a two-player mode in which the second player controls a character chosen from among EC035-2's enemies.

Developed by a team of five people, including former Bitmap Brothers member Sean Griffiths, Rise of the Robots was intended to use a high level of artificial intelligence (A.I.) that was never seen in any other fighting games at the time. The game features music from Queen's lead guitarist Brian May, although it only uses "The Dark" and "Resurrection", both tracks taken from his solo album Back to the Light, while the in-game music was done by Richard Joseph.

Mirage's claim of unprecedented A.I. were augmented by screenshots circulating in the press which exhibited the game's use of pre-rendered graphics, a new technology of the time. As a result, Rise of the Robots became one of the most hyped games of its time. However, reviews were negative, as the promised cutting edge A.I. failed to materialize and critics discovered that the demands of the impressive graphics came with the trade-off of choppy animation and overly simplistic combat, with each character having a very small set of moves. The game's high profile failure led it be regarded as an illustrative example of how impressive screenshots can deceive consumers because poor gameplay and animation which may be in the game are not apparent from them. A sequel, Rise 2: Resurrection, was released in 1996.