Bad Max

Bad Max is an Adventure game, published by Transoft, which was released in Europe in 1985. The game takes place in the Mad Max universe.

3D glasses were supplied in the game packaging to view some of the graphics (!)

A 3D adventure game! It's the very first. Time to dust off your anaglyph glasses, one red eye, one blue eye; remember, Dragon of the Black Lake, on TV! Luckily, there's a pair in the game box. Ducos du Hauron, the French inventor of the process (in 1858), is honored. It takes several minutes to adjust and "really" see objects in 3D... Then you can start playing. The storyline is, of course, inspired by the hero of the streets and screens, Mad Max. Here, you're Bad Max. In the glassy plains of this post-apocalyptic world (violins, please), life's a nightmare. Your "V8 Interceptor" is out of commission; your shotgun is sawn off, and you're out of ammo. You're dead! Caught between punks (red mohawk style) and super-mechanized cops, you're trying to survive. That's all that's required of you (100 health points to start, 200 to win). As in all so-called "classic" adventure games, the player types a verb followed by a noun to take an action. The game is quite difficult, as mistakes are rarely forgiven. The traditional "you're dead" prompts you to start a new game...

At the end of the game — you have to earn it — you can escape this hell.

Besides the terrain, this adventure game has a notable innovation: there are two ways to win, by being "fair" or "corrupt".

The details are also gruesome: don't be surprised to have to cut off a piece of a corpse to tame a ferocious dog, then offer it to children (they've got to eat, after all!). As for the irradiated Coca-Cola, it does the trick where it hurts... by disinfecting wounds. Good to know. Don't say there's nothing to eat! What about the rats, the herbs, and the dog food, eh? The whole program is accompanied by tracks by Allan Parsons (to be listened to on stereo headphones, plugged into an Amstrad). The authors, Bruno Césard and Michel Martin, have gone all out with the dark humor. Not to be missed (in French, slang, and Franglais).