You can consider this article as the complete opposite of the Sailor Moon one. Both are about arcade games based on licensed properties, but there's a key difference between the two; I know dick all about Sailor Moon, but I absolutely love Judge Dredd in a way that's probably unhealthy. I usually refrain from talking about myself on the site, but I'm a big Dredd fan, and nothing pleases me more than to leaf through one of the great Dredd epics every now and then. I heartily recommend buying The Complete Case Files collections, they're a great introduction to the series.

Although pretty well known in his home country of Britain, there's every possibility that our American viewers won't know who Judge Dredd is, perhaps only vaguely remembering the 1995 movie, or the song Anthrax wrote about him. I'm really not in a place to assume how well-known he is on the other side of the pond, but bear with me. I could bore you with a very intricate explanation of his comic book roots in 2000 AD, or about how over the years the strip has evolved from a blackly humourous bit of escapism into a dark bit of political satire while retaining the gung-ho action of the earlier strips... But I won't. Instead, I shall share with you this single image. Remember, this is the epitome, the very essence if you will, of Judge Dredd:



Says it all, really.



So, in 1993 (well before the film, you'll note) Midway developed an arcade game based on the license, utilising a digitised graphical style similar to Mortal Kombat (it even runs on the same hardware as Mortal Kombat II). A bit strange, really, as Midway were, of course, an American company, but I really shouldn't assume how well-known Dredd was at this time in America- I really doubt it was that big, though. Regardless, Midway actually seem to have done a nice job here, and not only does it actually tie in fairly well with the comics (with a few changes here and there) but there's also some really awesome fan-service that made me giggle like a schoolgirl when I spotted it... Then I died a little inside, because it made me realise I know far too much about Dredd's world.

However, there's something very odd about the arcade Judge Dredd- it was never released. Midway playtested it, with a grand total of 3 levels completed (and a teaser for the next at the end) but obviously it didn't do as well as expected at the locaction test, and we never got to see the later levels. I suspect unfamiliarity with the license is to blame for the poor location test, but there could be other reasons, as we'll find out shortly. It's only through the miracle of emulation that we can actually play this game at all... A Dredd arcade game was eventually developed in 1996 by Gremlin Interactive, which was ported to the Playstation, but this is the Dredd game we never saw!

The general plot of the comics- and, as such, the game- is cheerfully outlined in the attract mode:



As Dredd, you hit the streets and bring your own brand of justice. Remember, he is the law- and you'd better believe it!



The nature of the original comic books make them ideal fodder for a lightgun game, seeing as Dredd loved to use his Lawgiver to dispense justice with wanton abandon- this is the form the Gremlin game took- but naturally, Midway made it a scrolling brawler. You should be familiar with what's gonna go down by this point- just fight through waves of enemies, and beat the boss character at the end of the stage. In fairness, it's a rather sophisticated one for its time, as each stage is different in some major way, be it the controls or the mission objective. It's definitely a different approach than the norm, although not all of it works... The controls are odd too, as the game has not 2, not 3, but 4 buttons, very unusual for such an early beat-em-up. The Jump and Crouch buttons are universal to each stage, but the other two change depending on the mission- sometimes they're for punching and kicking, other times for firing Dredd's Lawgiver.

The controls are a little awkward, truth be told. This is mostly because, unlike games like Final Fight and Sailor Moon, Dredd can attack enemies in 4 directions- left, right, towards the screen, and away from the screen. This is a nice idea, in theory, but it not only means that the enemies have 2 extra directions from which to attack you, it also means that trying to judge (arf! arf!) whether you're going to hit the enemy when attacking towards/away from the screen is a bit difficult. You can avoid this problem most of the time, though, as the screen's relatively uncrowded, and it stops being a problem on Stage 2 when you've got your gun.

Another problem is the 'Crouch' button, which you'll need to pick up items, unlike every other beat-em-up ever made. You can also use the Crouch button to perform a Mortal Kombat-esque uppercut (press Punch) or drop a grenade, killing any enemies nearby (press Kick or Jump). The only other 'special' move is a jump kick, which you can perform by pressing either Kick or Jump while in the air. You'll get used to it eventually, but what baffles me the most is the apparent layout of the buttons on the cabinet...



I hope you caught all that, it won't be repeated.

I don't think I really need to point out how hideous that control layout is, but I'll do it anyway- that control layout is hideous! Why is the Jump button all the way at the top? Why is the Crouch button so far away?! Fortunately, MAME is a forgiving mistress, and so playing it on a SNES pad is a little easier... Having the Crouch button on the shoulder buttons is a bit of an improvement, although not perfect. Anyway, as I said, the controls actually change depending on which stage you're on, so what we'll do is deal with them on a stage-by-stage basis. As for the items you can pick up, there's three that show up on Stage 1 and 3, four that show up on Stage 3 only, and no items on Stage 2 at all. We'll deal with the Stage 3 items on the relevant page, but here's the generic ones:


Judge's Badge
This item gives you temporary invincibility. It's an overpowered item, as the invincibility almost lasts forever...


Judge's Helmet
This gives ol' Stoney Face a boost to his health. You'd assume it was an Extra Life item, but noooo...


Grenade
There's two types of Grenades available- Yellow and Red. Picking up a Yellow Grenade gives you another grenade (although the grenade counter only ever shows one grenade, you can carry more). Grabbing a Red Grenade kills everything on screen instantly.

There's very little else to say, to be honest, as the game's short because it's unfinished- 3 main stages, and a bonus stage after each mission. Fortunately, I'm not going to let you people down, as there's a lot of extra stuff to deal with after the main game's over. So, let's hit the streets of Mega-City One- let's play Judge Dredd!

The game starts on the next page, so you'd better read on, drokk it!