Robotron: 2084

Robotron: 2084 is an action game first released in arcades in 1982 by Williams Electronics and later ported to many home game consoles and computers. Developed by Vid Kidz, the game is an action/shooter that takes place in the year 2084 when the Robotrons, an advanced robot species created by man, has determined that it must exterminate all the remaining humans. Players control a nameless superhuman with the goal of stopping the Robotrons and saving as many people as possible.

Robotron: 2084 utilizes a top-down perspective; each wave of the game begins with players in the center of the screen which is filled with numerous Robotrons as well as a few humans. To complete each wave and proceed to the next one, players need to destroy all of the Robotrons except for the invincible ones. Although not required to complete a level, players can rescue humans to earn bonus points (humans appear in three variations: mothers, fathers, and children called Mikey). As the waves progress, the Robotrons increase in number and become faster. Several varieties of Robotrons appear throughout the game, some of which can't be destroyed and seek out humans rather than the player, some will transform humans into enemies, and others are capable of spawning additional Robotrons. If the player comes into contact with anything (other than a human) on the screen, a life is lost. It's possible to earn additional lives by scoring points (the number of points required can vary depending on the version of the game or how the game is configured); The game ends when players have no lives remaining.

The arcade version of Robotron: 2084 is notable for utilizing two joysticks at a time to control the player's character with one joystick providing movement and the other firing (this allowed players to move and fire in different directions simultaneously). This feature didn't make it into most of the home computer and console versions; exceptions include the Atari 5200 version which required the use of two joysticks (and included a controller holder in the package to make this easier) and the Atari 7800 version which allowed players to choose between single joystick or duel joystick modes. Space Dungeon by Taito, released a year earlier, also used a similar control scheme.