''Techno Cop'' is a 1988

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for "Colour Personal Computer") is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the ZX Spec ...

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, and ZX Spectrum. It was subsequently ported to the Sega Genesis, Genesis in 1990. The gameplay combines pseudo-3D driving in the graphical style of ''Out Run'' with side-scrolling action as the player controls a police officer driving to and then moving through various seedy locations in a one-man war against crime. The game was the first game on the Genesis to have a warning label due to its violent content. The game was panned by critics for its simplistic graphics, sound, and the fact that many of the levels looked too similar. A Sega Genesis sequel, ''Techno Cop: The Final Mission'', was planned but never released. A

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

version was developed by

Probe Software Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game publisher from Long Island, active from 1987 until filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy on September 1, 2004. Through a series of acquisitions between 1990 and 2002, Acclaim built itself a large portfo ...

, planned for a 1992 released by Tengen, but was cancelled.

Plot

In the single-player

side-scrolling A side-scrolling video game (alternatively side-scroller) is a video game viewed from a side-view camera angle where the screen follows the player as they move left or right. The jump from single-screen or flip-screen graphics to scrolling grap ...

game the player is a cop in a seedy futuristic urban city. Armed with a pistol, the player has to kill various thugs, before the timer runs out. While the game has several levels, the background in the game does not change often. The other half of the game is a driving sequence, similar to other computer games such as ''

RoadBlasters ''RoadBlasters'' is a vehicular combat game released in arcades by Atari Games in 1987. The player navigates an armed sports car through 50 different rally races, getting to the finish line before running out of fuel. Ports were released for ...

''.

Development

''Techno Cop'' was one of the first games made for the Mega Drive/Genesis from a third party developer and was part of an attempt by Razorsoft to test what sort of content would Sega allow on a game made for one of its systems. Both Nintendo of America and Sega of America insisted upon previewing games made for their system, prior to release, to check for bugs and potentially controversial or offensive content. Sega allowed ''Techno Cop'' to be released without requiring RazorSoft to remove or tone down the game's violent content. Along with the blood, when the playable character shot at another character, they would be blown apart.

Reception

Computer Gaming World ''Computer Gaming World'' (CGW) was an American Video game journalism, computer game magazine that was published between 1981 and 2006. One of the few magazines of the era to survive the video game crash of 1983, it was sold to Ziff Davis in 199 ...

'' gave the game a positive review, saying "despite occasional boredom in the driving segment, the game is extremely absorbing".

References

External links

* * {{WoS game, id=0005163 1988 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Apple II games Atari ST games Commodore 64 games DOS games Gray Matter (company) games Punk Development games RazorSoft games Sega Genesis games Single-player video games U.S. Gold games Video games about police officers Video games developed in Canada Video games scored by Jeroen Tel ZX Spectrum games