Blue Max

Blue Max is a video game in the action genre developed by Synapse Software Corporation and published by Synapse Software Corporation originally released in 1983. It is currently playable on Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit.

The plot is based on a fictional pilot, Max Chatsworth, who is (in the game) one of the British Air Aces. Chatsworth's fame began in battle, when he was on a reconnaissance mission and his squadron was decimated by enemy aircraft. The pilot survived, and in the process shot down seven enemy fighters. The following month he shot down thirteen more. For these actions, Germany offered its Blue Max medal to anyone who could shoot down Chatsworth, and he received a new nickname: Blue Max.

As Blue Max, you go out on sorties-flight missions-to attack assigned targets. Targets include bridges, buildings, enemy aircraft, tanks, bridges, anti-aircraft batteries, vehicles, and ships. As you eliminate targets, you advance to new missions. Before you start playing you can adjust various parameters, such as the type of control (normal or pilot), the skill level and whether gravity will affect the aircraft.

You must drop bombs to eliminate targets on the ground, and this action also represents a key danger to you. Unlike modern bombers that drop bombs on targets far below, early aircraft performed semi-suicide bombing runs. Pilots would start at high altitude, then tilt the nose of the aircraft toward their ground target and lift off before touching the ground. In the middle of the dive and lift process, they would drop the bomb. There were also timing issues in the game: if you got the timing wrong or started too low, you would crash. You only have one life in this game.

If your plane is destroyed or you complete a mission, a ranking is awarded ranging from Kamikaze Apprentice to Squadron Leader.

This game has also stirred up some controversy, allegedly causing 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 'Pour le Mérite' medal, first awarded to pilots Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke. It required shooting down between 8 and 20 enemy aircraft, requirements that increased as the war progressed).

It is possible that we have multiple downloads available when different versions exist.