It's funny how one's taste in games changes while growing up. You become pickier about what you play because you have less free time, tend to pay more attention to technical specifications, and develop loyalty towards preferred companies.
Just like with movies, there's no right or wrong, only opinions. Because ultimately the most important thing is how much fun you have.
There is one rule most of us follow though. One that is slowly absorbed as you grow older, and that hardcore gamers automatically agree on sometimes even unknowingly: AVOID titles based on movies or tv shows. These titles (most of the time of the platforming genre) are at best unpolished, rushed products corporations quickly spit out to cash-in on the newest franchise or license.

Comic-book cover

The Robocop and Terminator licenses though have always been decently exploited at the arcades. I'm sure you still remember "Robocop", "Robocop 2" and "Terminator 2: Judgement Day", three undeniable hits. Console owners rarely got that lucky.
Although technically based on the Dark Horse comic-book by the same name, "Robocop vs.The Terminator" is a welcomed cross-over to both franchises. Interplay managed to put out two almost completely different versions for both 16-bit Nintendo and Sega followers, the latter one being the one this article focuses on due to its superiority both technical and gameplay-wise.
Despite its inferior hardware, this Genesis title is an impressive platforming arcade that also offers a perfect insight of what the videogame industry was going thru around that time: blood, girls in leotards, and their respective secret codes.

European Megadrive cover

The plot, although maybe predictable, is an interesting one. In the post-apocalyptic future, the human resistance force discovers that the technology used in building Robocop is responsible for the creation of Skynet. They decide to send a soldier back in time to destroy Robocop, but Skynet counters this action by sending Terminators to take care of this soldier.
Back in Robocop's present and confronted by the resistance fighter from the future, Robocop learns of his influence in mankind's extermination and so decides to travel in time to take on Skynet himself.

Genesis cover

There's not much to explain about the mechanics. You can only play as Robocop, collecting powerful weapons and keeping that trigger button down at all times while jumping, climbing on ladders and hanging from pipes. Life gauge, big bosses and killer weapons are all standard.
So what's so cool about it? Well, first of all the trigger happy feeling of this game is a wonderful thing, specially with all of Robocop's destructive weapons. Never look back while annihilating every sprite that moves before it even has a chance to appear on-screen. Primitive, I know, but still the heart of the fun!
And secondly, the game looks and sounds amazing, which keeps pushing you forward thru the stages just to see what's coming.

Some of the features the best cheat code unlocks:
	Robocop catches fire when hit by molotov cocktails. Shoot a nearby water hydrant and walk into it to extinguish the fire.	Robocop short-circuits as he lays on the ground dying.	Pamela Anderson clones are the most noticeable change, and the best one too!

Thru one of the many cheat codes you can access some of the now hidden features the game originally possessed but were censored by Sega's then newly established Videogame Rating Council. Sexy female enemies, Robocop short-circuiting as he dies and a different "Game over" message are some of the secret things that this cheat code would allow you to see, overriding in the process its original MA-13 rating. Since games around that time started stepping over their lax V.R.C. ratings thru cheat codes like these, in 1994 (and with the advent of Mortal Kombat) the more strict and controversial ESRB was born.

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The ambiance is excellent. Every stage looks darker, loomier and even more "mature" than the SNES', catering perfectly to Sega's target audience. Levels are usually set at night, using the Genesis' color palette in a clever and excellent way to depict every little detail. Robocop's sprite looks great, like taken right out of the movies. His animation is also very smooth and controls almost perfectly.
The soundtrack is composed of techno/industrial tunes, which fit perfectly with the theme. Extra cool points to the awesome voice samples inserted in them, they really add to the cool factor.
The more you play them, the more you realize that each version was tailor made for each system. Maybe even by different development teams.

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Now, one could think that the obvious step to take for Interplay would be to make the SNES version and then port it to the Genesis. But luckily they must have felt like breaking the norms and being more fair this time around by delivering two almost complete different versions. On Nintendo's side, Robocop vs. The Terminator reflects the company's "family friendly" policy of the time by delivering a "cleaner and lighter" experience free of blood, gore and naked thighs. This version also takes advantage of the hardware's capabilities thru almost completely different, brighter looking levels, more frames of animation for both enemies and our robotic police-man, and even the use of Mode-7 in a FPS mission where you guide a futuristic tank. The final product is more faithful to its source both visually and plot-wise, with lots of comic-like cut-scenes that follow the story very closely and were omitted in the Genesis version.

Robocop vs. The Terminator SNES

The SNES version shows off Mode-7 effects on this FPS stage against Skynet forces.

Unfortunately the game's difficulty is very frustrating. Unlike its Sega counterpart, "features" like being returned to the beginning of the stage when you lose a life, only one extra weapon slot, constantly re-spawning enemies, and being knocked off of platforms ala Castlevania made me lose interest during the second level.
And then the music. Oh man... How can they get the soundtrack on the SNES so wrong, with the Genesis' soundtrack being so cool.

Comic-book cover

The Master System and Game Gear ports are, as is often the case, almost identical between one another. As direct downgrades of the Genesis version they control and play very good, but of course suffer because of the lesser hardware.
The other Nintendo consoles didn't do that good though...Believe me when I say AVOID the GameBoy cart AT ALL COSTS. A look at those bad-hairdo Terminators should suffice as an explanation.
The NES version, had it been released, looked a little bit more promising. It controls really good and has some of the comic-book elements of the SNES, but compared to previous NES Robocop titles the graphics shrunk considerably.

Robocop vs. The Terminator Genesis

Here's a picture of the developers, unlockable through one of the many cheat codes.

Gregg Tavares worked on the NES game in 1993. He was told that although the title would probably not get a U.S.A. release, it most likely would be available in Europe. Unfortunately this never happened.
Here's a little excerpt I found at robocoparchive.com where he talks about the experience:

"I made Robocop Vs. Terminator for Interplay. It was a very very bad game. The artists on that game couldn't deal well with the limits of the NES so it looks very bad and the designer was a recently promoted playtester and he didn't really know what he was doing. My attitude was that I would pretty much do what I was told (since I was doing it as a contract) and so I didn't push any design issues. At the time they told me it probably wouldn't ship in the United States but it might ship in Europe. " / Gregg Tavares.

Gregg Tavares
	Nowadays Gregg is a programmer at Sony Computer Entertainment Japan, with his resume reflecting achievements like lead programmer role for M.C. Kids for the NES, and work on Gex for the 3DO and CTR: Crash Team Racing for the PlayStation.

This game's ROM can be found on the internet, and although the original isn't complete, there's also a fan finished copy out for grabs.

As an absolute MUST if you are a fan of this game, be sure to check out the Genesis' beta version of the ROM. You'll be able to experience scrapped stages (including two "Choplifter" missions), enemies, boss attack patterns, and "I'll be back" Terminator samples among other things. Very cool.

Soundtrack (in .vgz, all playable through winamp):
	Flight Term
	Angel
	Victory

Sources:

robocoparchive.com is a very complete site about everything Robocop, including movies, games, comics and tv shows.