Rise 2: Resurrection
Encyclopedia
Rise 2: Resurrection is a computer game developed by Mirage Media and published by Acclaim Entertainment
in 1996. The game is a sequel to Rise of the Robots
. The press was quite divided about it, the game receiving both very good and very bad grades.
successfully defeated his opponents and faced the Supervisor, who used her morphing ability to defeat him and assimilate him into her own consciousness
.
Coton's thought patterns were cloned and used to bolster the artificial intelligence of the Supervisor, who also used fragments of his conscious in selected robots to imbue them with the ability to improve upon their own design.
Electrocorp scientists, fearing that Coton had been defeated and that the Supervisor would now target the city, prepared a counter-virus based on EGO from the information Coton had earlier sent them. The Anarchy
Virus was released to the main building of Electrocorp, and it successfully infected most of the robots previously under Supervisor's control - the robots waged war against each other, disconnecting from the neuronet
, quickly depleting the numbers of the Supervisor's army.
Coton used the distraction caused by the malfunctioning robots to upload his consciousness to another robot, and prepared to either escape the Electrocorp building, or to attempt another attack on the Supervisor.
At this point the story ends, and it is left open-ended - and dependent on the players ability - whether Coton is successful in either attempt.
The seven (including the hidden character Supervisor) robots of the original game return with new graphics and moves, and aside from the original Rook, all have an offspring modified robot.
As opposed to its predecessor, now that the scenario allows it, Resurrection allows the players to pit any robot against each other, both in one and two-players mode. Also, the players can choose amongst 256 different palette rotation for each robot. There are five different types of projectiles available to each robot.
The game features a far broader fighting experience than its predecessor. Each robot has its own original moves, and Mortal Kombat-inspired fatalities along with the ability of stealing and use a defeated robot projectile. Also, each of the robots has a devastating super-move that can be used when the power bar is full, similar to other fighting games of the time. The game also features a combo counter system, named Chaos. The controls are standard for a fighting game, and non-humanoïd robots adapt their moves to the punch/kick model.
In one-player mode the player would face each robot in its own rendered and raytraced stage, while two-player mode allows either the player to choose the stage or to leave it at random. Each stage is graphically tuned to its corresponding robot, and some stages feature traps that players can use to take an advantage against their opponent. The traps also tend to match their owner robot's characteristics: as the stage for Steppenwolf, the gun-wielding robot, features a trap that fires bullets, the stage for Vandal, the saw-wielding robot, features a trap with a saw.
Resurrection improves on the first games graphics, rendering and animation - hits would now give off metal scraps and electrical arcs would progressively run over the bodies of damaged robots.
The in-game music features hard-rock themed music by Tom Grimshaw at Mirage, and a theme by Queen
's guitarist Brian May
entitled "Cyborg".
The remaining 8 ones are clones of existing robots, with generally increased power and sometimes a different projectile but the same basic moves as their model. They however have quite different graphics. Anil-8 is an ant-like clone of NecroBorg; Assault is a yellow, smaller version of Rook and Sane a glowing white one; Suppressor is a Suikwan clone; Vitriol is a Steppenwolf clone with some elements taken from Deadlift; Ard one is a tank-like version of Lockjaw; Naden is a yellow clone of V1-Hyper and Rack is a Deadlift clone. The director's cut features pictures of them and they are listed in the game files alongside the others.
While in one-player mode, the player will fight the hidden characters in order if not defeated for several rounds in a row.
Rack and Naden have special requirements to be fulfilled to battle against them in one-player mode; the player must get a double flawless victory and then use an Execution (fatality) against Deadlift and V1-Hyper respectively.
Supervisor, Vitriol, Mayhem, Anil-8 and Assault are all unlockable secret characters.
and as high as 84/100 by Privat Computer PC. Criticism was similar to that levelled at the first game, with critics blaming the game for sacrificing fun and playability for great technical achievement and graphics. Many also criticized the idea of pitting robots against one another instead of human fighters, claiming that the lack of visible damage (e.g. blood) removed satisfaction from playing the game. It has been suggested by some fans that many critics may have barely even tried the game, discarding it on grounds that improved graphics would have to mean equally abysmal gameplay.
Though the core fighting action and interesting stage traps were positively commented on, other features were far weaker. There were very few fully realised 'termination moves' - likened to the Mortal Kombat series' fatalities - while others merely printed "TERMINATED" on the screen. However, unlike in the original game where multiplayer was kept true to the story - requiring one player to always be the Cyborg - Mirage came up with a scenario that would allow any fight to happen and justify mirror-matches, without compromising continuity, a positive factor picked up on by some reviewers.
Rise 2 was not a commercial success. While the game acquired a small but loyal fanbase, many buyers preferred not risking their money on the sequel of a game with as bad a name as the original.
Acclaim Entertainment
Acclaim Entertainment was an American video game developer and publisher. It developed, published, marketed and distributed interactive entertainment software for a variety of hardware platforms, including Sega's Mega Drive/Genesis, Saturn, Dreamcast, and Game Gear, Nintendo's NES, SNES, Nintendo...
in 1996. The game is a sequel to Rise of the Robots
Rise of the Robots
Rise of the Robots is a 1994 fighting style video game developed by Mirage Studios and published by Time Warner Interactive. It was ported to numerous home console and computer formats, and was also released as an arcade game cabinet....
. The press was quite divided about it, the game receiving both very good and very bad grades.
Story
The cyborg Coton from the previous gameRise of the Robots
Rise of the Robots is a 1994 fighting style video game developed by Mirage Studios and published by Time Warner Interactive. It was ported to numerous home console and computer formats, and was also released as an arcade game cabinet....
successfully defeated his opponents and faced the Supervisor, who used her morphing ability to defeat him and assimilate him into her own consciousness
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
.
Coton's thought patterns were cloned and used to bolster the artificial intelligence of the Supervisor, who also used fragments of his conscious in selected robots to imbue them with the ability to improve upon their own design.
Electrocorp scientists, fearing that Coton had been defeated and that the Supervisor would now target the city, prepared a counter-virus based on EGO from the information Coton had earlier sent them. The Anarchy
Anarchy
Anarchy , has more than one colloquial definition. In the United States, the term "anarchy" typically is meant to refer to a society which lacks publicly recognized government or violently enforced political authority...
Virus was released to the main building of Electrocorp, and it successfully infected most of the robots previously under Supervisor's control - the robots waged war against each other, disconnecting from the neuronet
Intranet
An intranet is a computer network that uses Internet Protocol technology to securely share any part of an organization's information or network operating system within that organization. The term is used in contrast to internet, a network between organizations, and instead refers to a network...
, quickly depleting the numbers of the Supervisor's army.
Coton used the distraction caused by the malfunctioning robots to upload his consciousness to another robot, and prepared to either escape the Electrocorp building, or to attempt another attack on the Supervisor.
At this point the story ends, and it is left open-ended - and dependent on the players ability - whether Coton is successful in either attempt.
Features
The game features eighteen standard characters, plus eight hidden characters. The hidden characters tend to be stronger than the other ones, and some are very easy to unlock while others are much harder. Eight of the hidden characters are clones of the standard characters with similar moves and different graphics.The seven (including the hidden character Supervisor) robots of the original game return with new graphics and moves, and aside from the original Rook, all have an offspring modified robot.
As opposed to its predecessor, now that the scenario allows it, Resurrection allows the players to pit any robot against each other, both in one and two-players mode. Also, the players can choose amongst 256 different palette rotation for each robot. There are five different types of projectiles available to each robot.
The game features a far broader fighting experience than its predecessor. Each robot has its own original moves, and Mortal Kombat-inspired fatalities along with the ability of stealing and use a defeated robot projectile. Also, each of the robots has a devastating super-move that can be used when the power bar is full, similar to other fighting games of the time. The game also features a combo counter system, named Chaos. The controls are standard for a fighting game, and non-humanoïd robots adapt their moves to the punch/kick model.
In one-player mode the player would face each robot in its own rendered and raytraced stage, while two-player mode allows either the player to choose the stage or to leave it at random. Each stage is graphically tuned to its corresponding robot, and some stages feature traps that players can use to take an advantage against their opponent. The traps also tend to match their owner robot's characteristics: as the stage for Steppenwolf, the gun-wielding robot, features a trap that fires bullets, the stage for Vandal, the saw-wielding robot, features a trap with a saw.
Resurrection improves on the first games graphics, rendering and animation - hits would now give off metal scraps and electrical arcs would progressively run over the bodies of damaged robots.
The in-game music features hard-rock themed music by Tom Grimshaw at Mirage, and a theme by Queen
Queen (band)
Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
's guitarist Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
entitled "Cyborg".
Characters
The old robots all return, with old moves and new ones. All robots also get one projectile they can use from a distance, and all five projectiles have a different range, speed and reach.Cyborg and NecroBorg
The Cyborg is still playable though much improved and now wields a plasma projectile. NecroBorg is the military-class version of the Cyborg with a different color scheme, armor, a weaponry backpack, and wields lightning.Loader and Lockjaw
Loader is a utilitary droid but got updated to use its powerful arms to a better extent and wields guns. Lockjaw is its military-class version with explosives.Prime-8 and Griller
Prime-8, the gorilla-like builder robot, uses its huge arms and strong build as powerful weapons and shield and has deadly strength, but is slow. Griller, its military-class version, is smaller, faster, and uses flamethrowers.Crusher and Vandal
Crusher is an insect-like robot with large pincers to crush metal and now wields acid. Its Supervisor-modified version is Vandal, with a reduced size but improved mobility and circular saws instead of pincers.War and Salvo
War is the low-grade, high-number military-class robot of Electrocorp and trades high agility for low power, with guns as projectile weapon. Its flame-wielding Supervisor-modified version is a plain green color named Salvo.Rook
The red, tall sentry droid can now use its jetpack to improve its agility through the stage and fire plasma bolts.V1-Hyper
This robot shares its form with the original Supervisor's feminine figure, with the addition of a whip-like ponytail. V1-Hyper is unable to shapechange like the Supervisor.Suikwan and Steppenwolf
Heavy robots with powerful weapons, Suikwan looks like a samurai, complete with kabuto and great katana, while Steppenwolf is likened to a tank, with heavy armor and guns.Chromax and Insane
Chromax floats a few centimeters above the ground, is a humanoid robot and can detach his head to hit its opponent. Insane uses two baseball bats and has an alien or reptillian style of construction.Hidden characters
The Supervisor is playable as a hidden character. Mayhem is a huge robot and unbalanced brown robot with extremely powerful moves and a funky stage on top of a huge electric guitar.The remaining 8 ones are clones of existing robots, with generally increased power and sometimes a different projectile but the same basic moves as their model. They however have quite different graphics. Anil-8 is an ant-like clone of NecroBorg; Assault is a yellow, smaller version of Rook and Sane a glowing white one; Suppressor is a Suikwan clone; Vitriol is a Steppenwolf clone with some elements taken from Deadlift; Ard one is a tank-like version of Lockjaw; Naden is a yellow clone of V1-Hyper and Rack is a Deadlift clone. The director's cut features pictures of them and they are listed in the game files alongside the others.
While in one-player mode, the player will fight the hidden characters in order if not defeated for several rounds in a row.
Rack and Naden have special requirements to be fulfilled to battle against them in one-player mode; the player must get a double flawless victory and then use an Execution (fatality) against Deadlift and V1-Hyper respectively.
Supervisor, Vitriol, Mayhem, Anil-8 and Assault are all unlockable secret characters.
Reception and controversy
Rise 2: Resurrection was met with very disparate opinion by the press. While critics were quite unanimous about the great graphics, some criticized it for bad or very bad playability while others saluted excellent playability and interest, and the game received grades as low as 2/10 by IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
and as high as 84/100 by Privat Computer PC. Criticism was similar to that levelled at the first game, with critics blaming the game for sacrificing fun and playability for great technical achievement and graphics. Many also criticized the idea of pitting robots against one another instead of human fighters, claiming that the lack of visible damage (e.g. blood) removed satisfaction from playing the game. It has been suggested by some fans that many critics may have barely even tried the game, discarding it on grounds that improved graphics would have to mean equally abysmal gameplay.
Though the core fighting action and interesting stage traps were positively commented on, other features were far weaker. There were very few fully realised 'termination moves' - likened to the Mortal Kombat series' fatalities - while others merely printed "TERMINATED" on the screen. However, unlike in the original game where multiplayer was kept true to the story - requiring one player to always be the Cyborg - Mirage came up with a scenario that would allow any fight to happen and justify mirror-matches, without compromising continuity, a positive factor picked up on by some reviewers.
Rise 2 was not a commercial success. While the game acquired a small but loyal fanbase, many buyers preferred not risking their money on the sequel of a game with as bad a name as the original.