Movie Musical Madness is a computer program that was published by The Dovetail Group
Movie Musical Madness is a computer program that was published by The Dovetail Group
Movie Musical Madness is a 1-player [1] music management game in which the player takes the role of a musical film director as he attempts to create an appropriate score for, select an appropriate plot for, and direct the actions of his group of actors, The Jazz Scats. The Jazz Scats (a group of bearded actors [2] ) can be set to perform in dozens of scenes ranging from city scenes to jungle scenes to outer-space scenes. [3]
Joyce Worley from Electronic Games said that "Movie Musical Madness is a merry-madcap sort of program. Designed for kids from about age 6 and over, it will nonetheless charm older computerists just as well as they build sets, pick the music, then guide the stars through their paces. The "movies" may never win Academy Awards, but the fun is in the creating! [4]
Tom Benford from Commodore Microcomputers said that "Movie Musical Madness is my personal choice for an Oscar. And what's more, it's a great program for kids of any age, including moms, dads and grandparents as well. It's wonderful fun that provides plenty of exercise for your creativity and imagination." [5]
Braden E. Griffin M.D. from ANALOG Computing said that "All in all, Movie Musical Madness is fun, stimulating and enjoyable." [6]
The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International. It has been listed in the Guinness World Records as the highest-selling single computer model of all time, with independent estimates placing the number sold between 12.5 and 17 million units. Volume production started in early 1982, marketing in August for US$595. Preceded by the VIC-20 and Commodore PET, the C64 took its name from its 64 kilobytes(65,536 bytes) of RAM. With support for multicolor sprites and a custom chip for waveform generation, the C64 could create superior visuals and audio compared to systems without such custom hardware.
Marble Madness is an arcade video game designed by Mark Cerny and published by Atari Games in 1984. It is a platform game in which the player must guide a marble through six courses, populated with obstacles and enemies, within a time limit. The player controls the marble by using a trackball. Marble Madness is known for using innovative game technologies: it was Atari's first to use the Atari System 1 hardware, the first to be programmed in the C programming language, and one of the first to use true stereo sound.
Miner 2049er is a platform game developed for Atari 8-bit computers by Bill Hogue and released by his company, Big Five Software, in 1982. The player controls Bounty Bob through multiple levels of a mine, with the goal of traversing all of the platforms while avoiding or defeating enemy mutants. At a time when "climbing games" such as Donkey Kong had four screens, Miner 2049er had ten.
Choplifter is a military themed scrolling shooter developed by Dan Gorlin for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982. It was ported to Atari 8-bit computers the same year and also to the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, MSX, and Thomson computers.
Buck Rogers: Planet of Zoom, known as Zoom 909 in Japan, is a pseudo-3D rail shooter released as an arcade video game by Sega in 1982. The player controls a spaceship in a third-person perspective, adapting the three-dimensional perspective of Sega's earlier racing game Turbo (1981) for the space shoot 'em up genre. It uses the Buck Rogers license, referencing the space battles, though Buck himself is never seen.
Compute!, often stylized as COMPUTE!, was an American home computer magazine that was published from 1979 to 1994. Its origins can be traced to 1978 in Len Lindsay's PET Gazette, one of the first magazines for the Commodore PET computer. In its 1980s heyday, Compute! covered all major platforms, and several single-platform spinoffs of the magazine were launched. The most successful of these was Compute!'s Gazette, which catered to VIC-20 and Commodore 64 computer users.
Ghostbusters is a licensed game by Activision based on the film of the same name. It was designed by David Crane and released for several home computer platforms in 1984, and later for video game console systems, including the Atari 2600, Master System and Nintendo Entertainment System. The primary target was the Commodore 64 and the programmer for the initial version of the game was Adam Bellin. All versions of the game were released in the USA except for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions, which were released only in Europe, and the MSX version, which was released only in Europe, South America, and Japan.
Will Harvey's Music Construction Set (MCS) is a music composition notation program designed by Will Harvey for the Apple II and published by Electronic Arts in 1983. Harvey wrote the original Apple II version in assembly language when he was 15 and in high school. MCS was conceived as a tool to add music to his previously published game, an abstract shooter called Lancaster for the Apple II.
Will Harvey is an American software developer and Silicon Valley entrepreneur. He wrote Music Construction Set (1984) for the Apple II, the first commercial sheet music processor for home computers. Music Construction Set was ported to other systems by its publisher, Electronic Arts. He wrote two games for the Apple IIGS: Zany Golf (1988) and The Immortal (1990). Harvey founded two consumer virtual world Internet companies: IMVU, an instant messaging company, and There, Inc., an MMOG company.
Ballblazer is a futuristic sports game created by Lucasfilm Games and published in 1985 by Epyx. Along with Rescue on Fractalus!, it was one of the initial pair of releases from Lucasfilm Games, Ballblazer was developed and first published for the Atari 8-bit computers. The principal creator and programmer was David Levine. The game was called Ballblaster during development; some pirated versions bear this name.
Drol is a video game published by Broderbund in 1983. It was written for the Apple II by Benny Aik Beng Ngo, then ported to the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers. Versions were released for the SG-1000 in 1985 and Amiga in 1991.
Worms? is a puzzle video game written by David Maynard for Atari 8-bit computers and ported to the Commodore 64. It was released in 1983 as one of the first publications from Electronic Arts. Worms? is an interactive version of Paterson's Worms.
Temple of Apshai Trilogy is a remake of three games from the Dunjonquest series, Temple of Apshai, Upper Reaches of Apshai, and Curse of Ra.
The Dovetail Group, Inc. was one of the earliest video game developers to specialize in music video games. The Dovetail Group's products were designed for systems such as the Atari 8-bit computers and the Commodore 64. Notable games developed by The Dovetail Group include Halftime Battlin' Bands (1984), Coco-Notes (1984), and Movie Musical Madness (1984). These games represent some of the earliest examples of the music management subgenre of music video games.
Drelbs is a maze video game written by Kelly Jones for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Synapse Software in 1983. An Apple II port by Jonathan Tifft was released the same year. A Commodore 64 version followed in 1984 implemented by Miriam Nathan and William Mandel. The objective is to move the walls of the maze to make boxes. Some reviewers found the overall collection of elements to be eccentric and unique.
Chopper Hunt is a side-view shoot 'em up written by Tom Hudson and published by Imagic in 1984 for Atari 8-bit computers and Commodore 64. It was one of the last games from Imagic before the company went out of business. Chopper Hunt is an enhanced version of the Atari 8-bit game Buried Bucks released by ANALOG Software in 1982. In both games, the player files a helicopter that uses bombs to unearth buried items. Contemporaneous reviews were mixed.
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Movie Maker is a computer program published by Reston Publishing Company in 1984 which allows users to author animated visual sequences with audio. Self-playing movies can be viewed without the Movie Maker software. It was developed by Interactive Picture Systems for Atari 8-bit computers. In 1985 it was re-published by Electronic Arts, including a port to the Commodore 64.
Kid Grid is a grid capture game which borrows heavily from the 1981 arcade video game Amidar. Written by Arti Haroutunian for Atari 8-bit computers, it was published by Tronix in 1982. A Commodore 64 port from the same programmer was released in 1983. In Kid Grid, the player moves along the horizontal and vertical lines of the playfield, turning the lines from dotted gray to solid blue. If all the lines around a square are completed, it is filled-in. Deadly creatures chase the player.
Monster Smash is an action game written by Dave Eisler and published by Datamost in 1983 for the Apple II and Atari 8-bit computers. A Commodore 64 port followed in 1984. The music in the Atari 8-bit version was written by Gary Gilbertson and praised by reviewers. An earlier version of the game was published by The Software Farm in 1982 as Monster Mash.