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.
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 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", two tracks taken from his solo album Back to the Light, while the in-game music was done by Richard Joseph.
The contemporary and retrospective reviews towards Rise of the Robots were negative, with much of the criticism targeting its crippling gameplay and controls, despite being praised for its good graphics. The sequel, Rise 2: Resurrection, was released in 1996.
The game is divided into a single player mode and a two player versus mode. In single player mode the player controls the ECO35-2 Cyborg as he confronts the Supervisor's minions across the vast facilities of Electrocorp. The order in which each droid is fought is fixed, with each next adversary more difficult than the last. The sixth and final level is a confrontation with the Supervisor droid itself. Each character is introduced by a short pre-rendered 3D sequence, followed by an analysis of potential weaknesses.
In two player versus mode, one player controls the ECO35-2 droid by default, while the other chooses between one of the five droids seen in single player mode (a special cheat code can enable the Supervisor as well). Players then battle out against each other in two to seven rounds. In the arcade version, the players select eighteen characters but each six characters has a different colour palette.