Play Rise of the Robots Online

Rise of the Robots is one of those early '90s fighting games that looked ridiculously futuristic at the time—all those blocky 3D-rendered bots clashing in dim factory corridors. You play as Electrocorp’s last hope, a cyborg sent to take down a rogue AI supervisor that’s turned the whole robot workforce against humanity. The setup’s cheesy in the best way, like a lost episode of a Saturday morning cartoon.

Gameplay’s straightforward: three punch buttons, three kick buttons (though the Game Gear version cuts that down), and the usual jump/crouch/block moves. The cyborg’s got two flashy super moves—a Turbo Head Butt that looks like it should hurt both you and the enemy, and a Shoulder Barge that sends smaller bots flying. You can tweak the fights with round counts, time limits, or just turn off the specials if they feel too cheap.

What’s neat is how the AI adapts—if you keep spamming the same move, the robots start countering it. There’s a mission mode with a set order of enemies, a training mode to pick your fights, and a two-player versus mode (missing on Game Gear) where your friend can control any of the rogue bots. Oh, and the title track? That’s Brian May from Queen shredding over your robot brawls. It’s janky in places, but the vibe’s undeniable.