Blue Max (video game)

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Blue Max
Blue Max cover.jpg
Cover art by Tim Boxell
Developer(s) Synapse Software
Publisher(s) Synapse Software
U.S. Gold (UK)
Atari Corporation
Designer(s) Bob Polin [1]
Programmer(s) Bob Polin (Atari)
Peter Adams (C64) [2]
Platform(s) Atari 8-bit, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum
Release1983: Atari, C64
1984: Spectrum
1987: XEGS
Genre(s) Scrolling shooter
Mode(s) Single-player

Blue Max is a scrolling shooter written by Bob Polin for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Synapse Software in 1983. [1] It was released for the Commodore 64 the same year. U.S. Gold published the Commodore 64 version in the UK in 1984 and ported the game to the ZX Spectrum. In 1987, Atari Corporation re-released Blue Max as a cartridge styled for the then-new Atari XEGS.

Contents

The player controls a Sopwith Camel biplane during World War I, attempting to shoot down enemy planes and bomb targets on diagonally scrolling terrain. The game is named after the medal Pour le Mérite, informally known as Blue Max. The theme song is "Rule, Britannia!".

Blue Max was positively received by critics. In 1984 Synapse released a science fiction themed sequel also by Polin, Blue Max 2001 .

Gameplay

Reception

SoftSide called the Atari version "remarkably well implemented" and "very playable and a lot of fun." [1] The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software 1984 gave the game an overall A rating, calling it "very enjoyable" with "a realistic sensation of flying," and concluded that it "has great depth of play to hold interest for a long time". [3] InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers cited it as "innovative" and a "winner". [4]

Softline praised Blue Max's graphics, describing the game as " River Raid for real and Zaxxon with meat on it ... if Zaxxon deserved to be a hit, this deserves to be a monster." [5] In 1984, the magazine's readers named the game the second most-popular Atari program of 1983, after Archon . [6]

Compute! wrote, "along comes a game that may make standard two-dimensional eye/hand games obsolete ... Blue Max may well be the best action game there is." It stated that the game improved on Zaxxon, noting the functional instrument panel and need to land, refuel, and take off. The magazine concluded, "Blue Max is head and shoulders above other shooting games." [7]

The C64 port received a similar response. Compute!'s Gazette stated that "Blue Max has far more depth than Zaxxon. It is one of those few good games that have successfully combined strategy with arcade play". [8] Ahoy! approved of the game's sound and 3D graphics, but criticized the unrealistic plane shadow. While the reviewer stated "Occasionally I found myself wishing for more action. No, not more action—bigger action", he concluded "Bob Polin has done an exceptional job; this is one game that is really addictive". [9] In 1996, Computer Gaming World ranked the C64 version of this "fun shooter" as the 142nd best game of all time. [10]

The game sold 10,000 copies. [11]

Legacy

A futuristic sequel otherwise similar in design, Blue Max 2001 , was released in 1984 for Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64. Unlike the original, it received mixed reviews.

Author Bob Polin made the assembly language source code of Blue Max publicly available in 2016. [12] [13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Plotkin, David (February 1984). "Atari Blue Max". SoftSide (47): 65.
  2. Blue Max at Lemon 64
  3. Stanton, Jeffrey; Wells, Robert P.; Rochowansky, Sandra; Mellid, Michael, eds. (1984). The Addison-Wesley Book of Atari Software. Addison-Wesley. p. 93. ISBN   0-201-16454-X.
  4. Mace, Scott (1984). InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers. Harper & Row. p. 74. ISBN   978-0-06-669006-3.
  5. Christie, Andrew (Nov–Dec 1983). "Synapse Takes Off". Softline. p. 21. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  6. "The Best and the Rest". St.Game. Mar–Apr 1984. p. 49. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  7. Gutman, Dan (January 1984). "Blue Max For Atari And Commodore 64". Compute! (review). p. 148. Retrieved 30 October 2013.
  8. Brannon, Charles (June 1984). "Horizons 64". Compute!'s Gazette. p. 92. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  9. Herring, Richard (April 1984). "Blue Max". Ahoy!. pp. 58–59. Retrieved 27 June 2014.
  10. "150 Best Games of All Time". Computer Gaming World. November 1996. pp. 64–80. Retrieved 25 March 2016.
  11. Basher, Jon (August 30, 1983). "Video firm is aiming high". Berkeley Gazette . p. 4. Retrieved June 17, 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  12. Blue Max source code for you. on atariage.com by Kevin Savetz (Mar 5 2016)
  13. "Bob Polin Interview". ANTIC The Atari 8-bit Podcast. March 6, 2016.