Blue Max (video game)

For the 1990 video game, see Blue Max: Aces of the Great War.
Blue Max
Developer(s)Synapse Software
Publisher(s)Synapse Software
U.S. Gold
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: Atari 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 published Blue Max as a cartridge styled for the then-new Atari XEGS.

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. Its theme song is "Rule, Britannia!".

In 1984, Synapse released a sequel, Blue Max 2001. While the original was well received, the sequel was considered disappointing.

  1. ^ a b Plotkin, David (February 1984). "Atari Blue Max". SoftSide (47): 65.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference lemon was invoked but never defined (see the help page).