Each player takes control of either the red Robot (the "Red Rocker") or the blue robot (the "Blue Bomber"), both of which are standing on a platform reminiscent of a Boxing Ring . By pushing buttons on a pair of Joysticks at the base of the platform, players make their robot punch at their opponent's robot. If a robot's head gets hit with the sufficient force at a suitable angle, its head will pop up, signifying that the other player has won.
The game is remembered for the phrase "Knock his block off!", which refers to the act of causing a robot's head to pop up. This phrase was used on the game's box as well as in Television Commercial s promoting the toy.
Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots has enjoyed far-ranging success in the United States, selling in the hundreds of thousands and becoming something of a minor pop-culture phenomenon. The game was also available in the United Kingdom during the 1970s, where it was sold under the name .
In the late 1990s a reissue of the classic version was developed by Mattel, at approximately half the size of the original model. In addition, an action figure line, a PlayStation game, electronic handhelds, a head-to-head plug and play and bobble head dolls have been recently introduced.
For a period of time in the mid 1990s the blue robot was changed to a darker shade of blue and given a head more like that of Robocop . The red robot was changed to a grey (Though the instructions referred to him as "silver") color but retained his classic head. Their respective names were changed to "Bolt Crusher Bob" and "Gear Grinder Greg". Aside from the cosmetic changes the game remained the same.
In the new GameBoy Advance game, more robots were added, including:
"Yellow Yahoo", "Brown Bully", "Orange Oppressor", "Silver Stretcher", "Purple Pyro", "Green Grappler", "Pink Pummeller", and the "Black Bruiser".
- Beavis And Butt-head saw a game during a Primus video. Beavis encouraged one robot to kick another one in the " Nads ". Beavis also stated that he puts makeshift nads on all his robots, using glue and raisins.
- In the episode of '' The Simpsons '' titled " Simpson Tide ", when Homer joins the Navy, Marge expresses her concerns for Homer, who laughs and says "How could a game ever hurt me?", before reminiscing to a time he put his head in between the two robots and beat himself up with him saying "Damn you, Rock-em Sock-em Robots! Can't we all just get along?" Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots were later parodied in the episodes " Hungry Hungry Homer " and " Fat Man And Little Boy ". In the latter episode, they are called "Sock-Em Knock-Em Cyborgs". Another episode had two mafia guys playing the game with one of them saying "you knocked his block off"
- In the Pixar animation film sequel '' Toy Story 2 '', the main toys are searching in 'Al's office' in 'Al's Toy Barn' for Woody . A character, Slinky Dog , comes across a set of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots and asks them if they had seen Woody(Slinky describes Woody as 'a cowboy doll with a bad arm'), only for the two to argue about who was being asked, and fight, with the blue one defeating the red one. This is also a reference to the infamous Tyson-Holyfield Fight , where Mike Tyson bit off part of Evander Holyfield 's ear.
- In the TV series '' Beast Wars Transformers'', Rhinox and Inferno fight in a manner like the game. Rhinox wins and is knocked out by Megatron, Inferno's head is pushed back down by Megatron.
- In Much Music combat zone used to have the toys as a logo.
- The band Tenacious D also sings about Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots on their debut album on the track "City Hall."
- Towards the end of Sierra's Space Quest III computer game is an arcade sequence called "Nuke 'Em Duke 'Em Robots" and featuring two gigantic boxing robots very reminiscent of Rock 'Em Sock 'Em.
- On an episode of Home Improvement Tim had a wedding cake with Rock'em Sock'em Robots sharped like a bride and groom on the top.
- In the movie '' Santa Clause 2 '' a scene features Scott Calvin giving adults in the faculty Christmas party the presents they wanted. One of the adults gets Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots "in mint condition!" and is seen playing with them when everyone is playing with their presents.
- In a 2006 Dodge TV commercial, a life-size Blue Bomber defeats the Red Rocker, then unsuccessfully attempts to destroy a red Dodge Ram by punching the grill before knocking himself out with the force of his final punch.
- In the "Moon Zero Two" episode of MST3K , Joel plays Rock'em Sock'em Robots with Servo and Crow .
- In the nick show, " Zoey 101 ", two characters were seen playing each other with them.
- In an episode of " That 70's Show ", Hyde and Kelso take a Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots set from a church bingo game, and are later seen playing with it, until Kelso loses repeatedly and storms off.
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