The player starts off with no weapons and must collect them as the game progresses.
MSX Version
The MSX version was developed by Klon and is an action-platformer. The player takes the role of Dutch Schaefer. He can use his fists, a submachine gun, or mines as weapons, with each weapon containing a limited supply of ammunition Every time the player exits a level, a map screen appears, in which they may enter levels adjacent to their current level.
NES Version
The NES version was developed by Pack-In-Video, and is based loosely off the MSX version, even borrowing most of its graphics and music. The player takes on the role of Dutch Schaefer and must make it from the beginning to the end of the level. The player starts out with his fists, but can also collect a machine gun, laser gun, and fragmentation grenades. Unlike the MSX version, the player has infinite ammo for each weapon he carries, but unlike the MSX version, can only carry one weapon at a time. Also unlike the MSX version, the player loses any weapons they carry from the previous level into the next. The laser and grenades can be used to break away non-solid walls and ground. Some levels have two exits; one of which will warp the player ahead several levels. At the end of every few levels, a Predator will appear in which the player must neutralize it before proceeding to the next level. Exclusive to the NES version is the "Big Mode", named after the larger sprites than in the normal action stages. Here, the game takes place in an auto-scrolling environment where the screen scrolls to the right. Arnold must shoot blue and red bubbles to collect weapon powerups, whilst avoiding touching them and getting damaged. At the end of each level, the Predator appears, in which Schaefer must drain its energy bar entirely to proceed to the next level. These levels also act as "save points", as after the player loses all their lives, they may continue from the last Big Mode. The Japanese version has some gameplay differences from the USA/AUS release. The levels have been either completely redesigned or are in a different order. For example, the Japanese version starts on the Big Mode, whereas the USA version starts on a normal action stage. The game was negatively received by critics; due to several flaws with the graphics, as well as the enemies and the gameplay having nothing to do with the movie, and poor controls.
Reception
Predator received mixed but largely positive reviews across all the platforms, including the accolades of CU Screen Star from Commodore User for the Commodore 64 version and C+VG Hit! from Computer + Video Games for the ZX Spectrum version. Rachael Smith of Your Sinclair gave the latter version of the game a score of 7/10, opining it has "great graphics, but too tough to get to grips with when sudden death sneaks up at every opportunity." In Germany, Predator was put on the "Index" by the Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien, which made it illegal to sell or make the game available to minors in Germany, as well as making it illegal to advertise the game in any form.
