Commodore MAX Machine

Commodore MAX Machine

The Commodore MAX Machine, also known as Ultimax in the North America and VC-10 in Germany, was a home computer designed and sold by Commodore International in Japan, beginning in early 1982, a predecessor to the popular Commodore 64. The Commodore...

Avenger

Avenger

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1981

Avenger is a Space Invaders variant. The player has to defend Earth from endless rows of attacking aliens. Flying saucers can be shot for extra points.

Billiards

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Bowling

Bowling

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1983

Clowns

Clowns

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Gameplay in Clowns shares some similarities with Breakout, but this time the bricks has been replaced with balloons that you get points for popping. To reach the balloons at the top of the screen you have to move a seesaw under a jumping clown. This will launch away the clown already standing on the seesaw, hopefully towards the balloons. Balloons comes in three different: yellow, green and blue. Yellow balloons are the easiest to reach, while the blue are the hardest. Therefore you also get more points for the harder to reach balloons. If you manage to clear all balloons of a color, you'll get bonus points. Balloons of that color will then be replenished. You have five jumpers to your disposal, and you will lose one every time you miss to catch the landing clown. Clearing all blue balloons will give you an extra jumper. Clowns can be played by one or two players using paddles.

Gorf

Gorf

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Gorf is a game that consists of five levels: The first level called Astro Battles has the player's ship behind a defensive shield, defending against an alien attack. The level is a top-down view, with the player's ship and shield on one side and the aliens on the other side; this level bears the most resemblance to Space Invaders. The second level called Laser Attack is made up of a formation of ships, with some that swoop down and a laser that fires at the player's ship. Bonus ships also tend to appear in this level. The third level is called Galaxians, and as the name suggests it is very similar to the game Galaxian with ships constantly dive bombing the player's spaceship. This mission only appears in the Arcade version. The fourth level called Space Warp, has the player entering hyperspace.. The viewpoint switches from a top-down view to a behind-the-ship view. One by one, alien vessels will come out and fly in a circular formation shooting at the player's ship with the players goal being to destroy each one. The fifth and final level is called Flag Ship. In this level, the player does not fight a wave of enemies, but a single one which happens to be a large Flag Ship with a weak spot which is its core. Hitting the weak spot will instantly destroy it, but the player must first shoot through a similar shield that the player had in the first level. Finishing the game increases the player's rank and starts the game over at level 1 with a faster game speed for more challenge.

Jupiter Lander

Jupiter Lander

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

You have to try to slowly land a spaceship on Jupiter. For this you have three landing platforms. If you make it to land on one of the three platforms with slow falling speed in the yellow range (meter display at the right of the screen), you get points and a refill of the tank. The game is over when the tank display shows zero. The space ship is destroyed when landing with too high speed or when touching the rock walls of the planet.

Kickman

Kickman

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

In this game, you're a clown on an unicycle who has to pop balloons that is falling down from the sky. This can be done by moving left and right to catch them all on the head. Further on, you've to form columns instead of popping them. These columns have a nasty habit by getting each time higher and will give you a lesser time to react. However, if you're close enough to the balloon you can kick the balloon and try again. Another way is to catch the 'Pac-Man' that comes down between the balloons. This will eat the balloons that falls on your head. If you miss you'll fall from your unicycle.

Le Mans

Le Mans

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

"Le Mans" is a car racing game where you need to drive as far as possible in a certain time. By overtaking other racers (which partially have a bit of an unconventional driving style, which does not make it easier) without causing a crash, points are added to your account (1000 points per 10 cars). If you reach more than 20.000 points before the time has run out, you receive further time units and you can go on driving. Next to the normal track you need to master driving on ice, in curves, at night and on motorways. If you crash you need to drive into the mobile garage (PIT), which is at the left roadside, which costs you valuable seconds. Additionally the number of cars overtaken until now is set to zero.

Mole Attack

Mole Attack

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Mole Attack is one of the earliest computerized Whac-a-Mole variants. Gameplay should be clear: Moles randomly pop out of several holes (arranged in a 3x3 grid), and you can hit them using the right keyboard key (one for each hole). The sooner you hit the mole's head, the more points you get -- but if you hit the mole's buttocks (yes, them buggers sometimes pop up that way), you lose points. After 60 seconds, the game ends and your score is shown.

Money Wars

Money Wars

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

In Money Wars, the player takes the role of a robber that has to retrieve and deliver bags of money without getting shot. The game is viewed from a side perspective. The player starts on the left side and has to move across the screen to the money bag that lies on the right side and then return to his starting position. From the top, deadly arrows are shot towards him and these he has to dodge, or he will lose a life. To his help, he has three brick barricades that he can hide behind. He can't hide too long, though, as the barricades take damage from the arrows and will after a while be gone. The player can use two special functions. One that increases speed and one that creates a force field that destroys arrows. These cost energy, and the player is awarded bonus points for the amount of energy he has left. When a bag of money has been delivered, another one appears and the game goes on until the player has lost all of his three lives. For every fifth money bag delivered, the player progresses to a new level.

Music Composer

Music Composer

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Music Composer Cartridge for Commodore Max Machine (also works on the Commodore 64). The MAX Machine was a game machine developed prior to the Commodore 64 and sold only in Japan. Commodore made about 25 game cartridges for the MAX machine, but since the system was largely a flop, few were produced and the games are hard to find. Because the Commodore 64 was designed with a MAX emulation mode, all MAX cartridges also work on the Commodore 64. As sales were poor many were slightly repackaged and later sold on the Commodore 64 market.

Music Machine

Music Machine

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Music Machine Cartridge for the Commodore Max Machine. It allows you to produce music on the MAX Machine's SID chip (same one as the Commodore 64). Some history: the MAX Machine was a game machine developed prior to the Commodore 64 and sold only in Japan. Commodore made about 25 cartridges for the MAX machine, but since the system was largely a flop, few were produced and the cartridges are hard to find today. Because the Commodore 64 was designed with a MAX emulation mode, all MAX cartridges also work on the Commodore 64, SX64, and Commodore 128. Some were slightly repackaged and later sold in C64 markets.

Omega Race

Omega Race

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Omega Race is a conversion of the arcade machine with the same name. The deficit of a black and white design on the original machine was compensated by a colored overlay over the screen. It is a vector graphics game where you can - as in Asteroids - turn your spaceship or give it a thrust by activating the rocket propulsion. Instead of asteroids you need to shoot UFOs and their mines here which gives you the corresponding points. The hostile spaceships can shoot back, hostile shots and obstacles as well as collisions with the enemies destroy your ship. The game is over when all three own ships are destroyed. In contrast to Asteroids, there are protective shields at the border of the screen, where the ship will bounce off. So you cannot fly further than the border of the screen. In the middle of the screen there is a rectangular protective zone, where the high score and the ships that are left are displayed.

Pinball Spectacular

Pinball Spectacular

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

"Pinball Spectacular" is one of the first flipper simulations for the Commodore home computers. The game was delivered on cartridge. A speciality is the controls by paddle. The flipper simulation is a mixture of pinball and breakout. The square-cut ball is rolled over the pinball table with the help of a double board similar to Breakout. As pinball elements, there are -next to walls- also two bumpers (upper right and left), the Commodore logo (in the middle of the screen), the light C O M M O D O R E with the corresponding targets, two spinners, four sideways ball traps (middle and bottom) and a point display. Furthermore, there is a time-sensitive ball barrier to avoid the ball going into out. The overview line with ball display, active player and points is in the first line of the screen. You have 3 balls per game.

Radar Rat Race

Radar Rat Race

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

In Radar Rat Race the player plays the role of a blue mouse, that has to search for cheese in a labyrinth within a certain time. To make it a bit harder, you are followed by several red mice which bring you certain death when you crash into one of them. As the red mice outnumber you, you should take into account that you might get encircled by several mice. A further peril are the black cats, which lure behind some of the corners. Into those also the red mice can run, but they are only delayed by the cat and not killed. With a "Star Screen" - a trace of stars that can be left behind by the blue mouse - you can temporarily disable followers which are too close. When you have collected all the cheese in the labyrinth, you reach the next round. With every round the number of cheese slices and the enemy mice is raised. For a better orientation in the labyrinth there is a "radar overview" in the window on the right: Turquoise square: player White square: cheese slices Purple crosses: red enemy mice Unfortunately, the black cats are not shown on the radar.

Road Race

Road Race

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Road Race is Commodore's attempt at a clone of Night Driver for the Commodore MAX Machine. It was released in 1981 and developed by HAL Laboratory.

Sea Wolf

Sea Wolf

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

You are the commander...and Sea Wolf puts you in charge of sinking and destroying all enemy ships. You are armed with 4 torpedoes which will reload after you fire. Your primary targets are the small P.T. Boats which travel quickly through the water. You can choose the length of your playing time. Game times vary from 1 to 9 minutes in 1 minute intervals.

Slalom

Slalom

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Ski faster than the quickest hare! Hit the gates and miss the rocks and trees. The fastest can become a gold medalist!

Speed Math and Bingo Math

Speed Math and Bingo Math

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Super Alien

Super Alien

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

Super Alien is a single-screen action game. The player moves through the maze and can place traps on the floor. When a monster walks into it, it becomes trapped and the player can kill it by filling in the hole. Each defeated monster rewards points while touching them results in a life loss. The maze is shown from the usual top-down perspective, but the characters have a side-view.

Visible Solar System

Visible Solar System

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

You are the commander of a spaceship on a journey through our Solar System. The ship has a cruising range of over 1 billion miles and is packed with computerized equipment to help you bring home new and exciting discoveries.

Wizard of Wor

Wizard of Wor

Commodore MAX Machine - Released - 1982

The player fights as a knight in different dungeons with magical projectiles against the monsters living there. The first monsters ("hellhounds") are still a bit slow. Suddenly appearing monsters get faster and faster and are partially invisible (but can be seen on radar). In later levels the player has to compete against the warlock "Worluk" and finally against the "Wizard of Wor". Furthermore, you have the possibility to fight with two against each other or against the monsters.

Scroll to Top