Blue Max (computer game)

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Blue Max
Publisher
Senior Developer Bob Polish woman
Erstveröffent-
lichung		 1983
platform Atari 800 , C64 , Sinclair ZX Spectrum
genre Shoot 'em up
Subject Air raid in World War I

Blue Max is a shoot-'em-up computer game by Synapse Software , developed by Bob Polin and published in 1983 for the Atari XL home computer . Ports have been released for the Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum . Blue Max transfers the basic principle of the arcade game Zaxxon (1982), which is set in a science fiction scenario, onto a historical background.

Peter Adam was responsible for the C64 version, who also created the C64 implementation for Zaxxon for Synapse. The SID music was composed by Stephen C. Biggs.

background

The title of the game picks up on a joking name for the German order Pour le Mérite , which was called "Blauer Max" in World War I, or refers to the film Der Blaue Max from 1966, which was directed by John Guillermin . The backstory of the game ironically ironizes this name by claiming that this high honor was promised to the German pilot who would shoot down the fictional pilot Max Chatsworth portrayed by the player. This representation also takes up a well-known legend from the First World War, according to which similar honors should be given to the British pilot who could defeat the Red Baron .

The game's soundtrack is a adaptation of the patriotic song Rule, Britannia! .

game

As Max Chatsworth, the player has the task of causing as much damage as possible to the enemy with the on- board cannon and by dropping bombs . Bridges, buildings, enemy planes, anti-aircraft guns, cars and ships are destroyed. Within a narrow corridor, Blue Max flies across the diagonal of the screen with control over aileron and elevator . While the on-board cannon has any amount of ammunition, the number of bombs is limited. The latter, like the fuel, can be added to your own landing pads.

successor

In 1984 there was a continuation of the game for the Commodore 64 with Blue Max 2001. The Blue Max: Aces of the Great War by the company Three-Sixty Pacific , released in 1991 for Amiga , C64 and PC ( MS-DOS ), is a rather simple flight simulation similar to the better known Red Baron .

indexing

In Germany, Blue Max was on the list of media harmful to young people from August 1985 to July 2010 as glorifying war . It was removed from the list because 25 years had passed since it was included.

The multi-page justification for the indexing decision belongs to the collection of the Computer Games Museum Berlin .

Bugs

In the original version of the game there is a programming error that occurs when the player does not land on the runway at the end of the level, but bombs his hangar. In the version for the Atari, the graphics screen collapses. The error is also contained in the port for the C64 , but not with the ZX Spectrum .

literature

Meetings

  • Franz Mathy: Blue Max. In: Happy Computer Edition 3, March 1984, page 37. - Test of the Atari version
  • Roy D. Wolford: Blue Max. In: Antic VOL. 2, NO. 7 / OCTOBER 1983 / PAGE 90. - Test of the Atari version (English)

References and comments

  1. ↑ Blue Max: Aces of the Great War at MobyGames (English)
  2. ↑ Decision No. 3495 of August 8, 1985, List No. 5969 (Pr. 106/85). - Federal inspection agency for writings harmful to minors : Announcement No. 11/85 on writings harmful to minors. Bonn August 27, 1985. Published in: Bundesanzeiger No. 162/1985, August 31, 1985, pages 10.595-10.596.
  3. ↑ Decision No. A 159/10 of July 19, 2010 (Pr. 713/10). - Federal testing agency for media harmful to minors : Announcement No. 9/2010 on carrier media harmful to minors. July 21, 2010. Published in: Bundesanzeiger No. 113/2010.
  4. ↑ Compare §18 Paragraph 7 JuSchG : ... After 25 years, an inclusion in the list loses its effect.
  5. ^ Tilman Baumgärtel : In the cemetery of the video games. In: the daily newspaper February 3, 1997, page 17.
  6. ↑ YouTube video of the Atari version. The error appears from 1:55 minutes.

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