Atari Smash Hits: Volume 7

Atari 800 - Released - 1987

A compilation of previously released titles: Alley Cat, Colossus Chess 3.0, Elektra Glide, and Blue Max.

Blue Max

Atari 800 - Released - 1983

The storyline is based on a fictional pilot, Max Chatsworth, being (in-game) one of Britain's Flying Aces. Chatsworth's fame began in battle, when he was out on a reconnaissance mission, and his squadron was decimated by enemy planes. The pilot survived, and in the process shot down seven enemy fighters. He shot down thirteen more the next month. For these actions, Germany offered their Blue Max medal to anyone who could shoot Chatsworth down—and Chatsworth got a new nickname—Blue Max. As Blue Max, you go out on sorties—flying missions—attacking assigned targets. Targets include bridges, buildings, enemy planes, tanks, bridges, anti-aircraft batteries, vehicles and ships. You progress to new missions as you take out your targets. Various settings can be adjusted before beginning play including control type (normal or pilot), skill level and whether gravity will affect the plane. You must drop bombs to take out the ground targets, and this action also represents a key danger for you. Unlike the modern bombers that drop bombs on targets far below, early aircraft engaged in semi-suicidal bombing runs. The pilots started at high altitude, then tipped the planes nose downward towards their ground-based target, and pulled up before they hit the ground. In the middle of the dive and pull up process, they released the bomb. There were problems of coordination, found in the game as well—if you time it wrong, or start too low, you will crash. You only have one life in this game. If your plane is destroyed or you complete a mission a ranking is given which ranges from Kamikaze Trainee to Squadron Leader. This game has aroused some controversy too, which supposedly caused it to be banned in Germany. In the course of your missions, you end up bombing houses. (The actual Blue Max/Blauer Max, is a nickname for the Prussian medal 'Pour le Mérite', first given to the pilots Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke. It required downing 8-20 enemy planes, with requirements increasing as the war progressed.)

Blue Max

Atari XEGS - Released - 1987

Blue Max is a video game developed and published by Synapse Software, originally released for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers in 1983. In 1984 it was ported to the ZX Spectrum by U.S. Gold. in 1987 Atari Corp. published it in cartridge form 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 the diagonally scrolling terrain. It has strong similarities to the arcade game Zaxxon. 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 called Blue Max 2001 with a futuristic sci-fi setting, but otherwise similar in style to the original game.

Blue Max 2001

Atari 800 - Released - 1984

In this sequel to Synapse's Blue Max, it is the year 2001 and you are flying a flying saucer. You're trying to bomb enemy targets while not getting shot (or rammed) by enemy saucers or shot by ground cannon. If the border is red, you are hitting the ground. If the border is gray, you are flying low but not TOO low. If the border is light blue, then the enemy ship is a the same altitude as you.