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Techno Cop

This was truly one of my most favorite games on the Amiga. In 1988 the game was released for a number of platforms including the Commodore 64 and MS-Dos. In 1990 it was released for the Sega Genesis by Razorsoft.

Developed by Gremlin Graphics, Techno Cop was a single player side scrolling action game where you played a hardcore cop in a futuristic city. You began each mission in your vehicle where you drove to the hideout of the suspect you were to kill or capture. During the driving stage you would be attacked by enemy cars which you could shoot at, if in front of you or ram off the road. The driving part of the game looked at lot like your classic Outrun view with a Spy Hunter feel to the action. You had a time limit to reach the hideout and one you did you would exit you car and the side scrolling action shooter part of the game would begin.

In the side scrolling part of the game you would make your way through the various hideouts of the bad guy you were after. Most of the time you were placed in a rundown building of some kind blasting away at the bad guys as the approached you or popped out of closed doors. Strangely enough there were also kids jumping and playing in these criminal infested builds right next to the toxic waste barrels. Sometimes you would also come across nude or semi-nude women (in the Sega and future versions this was edited to full clothe the women).

Truth be told the graphics were pretty bad even for the late 80’s. Both the driving and side scrolling part of the game used the same backgrounds over and over with very little changes. Each level was the same, drive shooting at cars until you get your next subject then get out and traverse a rundown building until you find the boss and either kill or capture him. Your H.U.D. or heads up display took up 40% of the screen in the form of your arm and a predator-like wrist device which displayed your target, score, health, time limit, lives and an option to switch between a net or your gun.

What made this game fun was the blood and gore factor. Let’s face it, to find a game in the late 80’s where when you shoot a bad guy and they turn to chum was just awesome and the fact that there were nude ladies in the game just sealed the deal. You could also shoot the jumping kids, but who would do such a thing? Even with the horrible sound effects including a slurping sound whenever you picked up the giant money bag, this game had the kind of mindless violence and action that any kid of the 80’s would enjoy.

Techno cop was one of those games that you had to play over and over even once better side scrolling shooters were released. I mean it had a warning on the box which at the time was unheard of, what kid would not want it? Simply put, if you had a computer you had to have this game. It was the kind of bloody fun we would not see again until Grand Theft Auto was released. Yet, another reason the age of the Amiga and Commodore 64 was the gold age of PC gaming.

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