Rise of the Robots (prototype)

Rise of the Robots is a two-player versus fighting game released in 1994 by BFM/Mirage. This upright cabinet title presents players with a one-on-one battle experience, pitting robotic characters against each other in arena-style settings. The game represents an interesting experiment from Bell-Fruit Manufacturing, a UK company primarily known for slot machines, as they attempted to utilize a PC architecture for arcade hardware. The gameplay involves direct combat between the two selectable robots – players control their chosen character and use attacks to deplete their opponent's health bar. Character designs were crafted by Sean Naden, with set design handled by Kwan Lee. The soundtrack features music composed by Brian May, adding an unexpected element of recognizable talent to the arcade title. While ultimately unsuccessful in establishing a long-term platform for BFM, Rise of the Robots demonstrated an attempt to bring PC game development techniques into the arcade space, drawing from a pre-existing DOS version developed by Mirage Technologies.