Blue Max

Sinclair User

Gilbert Factor 6/10

John Gilbert 6/10

BLUE MAX U.S. Gold Memory: 48K Price: £7.95 Joystick: Sinclair, Kempston, AGF, Protek Blue Max, another dubious import from the United States, bears little resemblance to the real dogfights and bi-plane bombing missions of the First World War. You take your light aircraft up from a base which looks as if it is situated within enemy territory. The landing strips must have force fields around them as enemy attacks are sporadic and have little or no effect. Most of the destruction wreaked upon your aircraft will occur because of your clumsiness in taking-off, landing or keeping altitude. Rising on the airwaves is only one of your problems. You can release bombs on enemy outposts, tanks and rivercraft by pulling the joystick back and pressing the fire key, or button. If the bombs fail to drop at the correct time you will miss a scant opportunity to gain points. One touch of realism is the refueling exercise which you should perform every time you sight a landing strip once every four or five minutes. The bi-plane can perform 3D movements, such as wiggling its wings and casts a shadow on the landscape, but that shows buildings, tanks and shops to be flat as pancakes. Compared to TLL, for instance, Blue Max is clearly second rate. The Commodore 64 version is impressive but the Spectrum version, although closer to the original, lacks some of its lustre.

Read it at Sinclair User Magazine Online

Your Spectrum

Dave Nicholls 1/5 MISS

Roger Willis 2/5 MISS

Ross Holman 1/5 MISS

JOYSTICK JURY From their bench on high, our regular panel of jurors - Ross Holman, Roger Willis and Dave Nicholls - pass judgement on the latest and greatest games software! Here they are again - that motley bunch of joystick jockeys, ready and waiting to sift through the plethora of software to help you make that important decision! WARNING! Just in case you find our scoring system too confusing, here's what it's all about. The score out of five at the end of each person's review is based on their own experience of the game. But that's pretty subjective... so they also use the HIT and MISS system to indicate its potential as a commercial success. BLUE MAX US Gold £9.95 Roger: I've seen this one before - on the Atari and Commodore 64 if the ol' grey matter serves. And it was a lot better than this! There I was, togged up to the nines ready to go off blasting at the Hun in yer typical World War 1 dogfight - and my on-screen jalopy looked a bit like a C5 'killer' with wings! Once you've got the hang of it, bombing factories and bridges relieves a few minor frustrations, but I reckon the whole game's based around trying to land your plane and take off again. Well, it's the only bit that gave me any real trouble! Of course, it might have had something to do with having a propellor with a single blade! They tell me that the reason the screen's such a mess is something to do with things called 'attributes'. Well, whatever they're called, it's 'orrible! The whole game's just a rip-off of Zaxxon anyway, so if you don't mind changing your surroundings to the wilds of outer space I'd plump for one of them. Bally bad luck, Ocean!

Read it at Your Spectrum Unofficial Archive

Crash

Use of Computer 87%

Graphics 84%

Playability 77%

Getting Started 82%

Addictive Qualities 70%

Value For Money 68%

Overall 78%

Unknown

Unknown

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Producer: US Gold Memory Required: 48K Retail Price: £7.95 Language: Machine code Author: Synsoft Software The 'Blue Max' was the highest award given by the Germans to brave fliers during the First World War. In this game you play Max Chatsworth (an Allied flier) whose nickname is 'Blue Max'. To earn your title you must make an assault on three specially marked targets within the city. The game starts by taking off from the runway, and continues as you fly low over the tree-lined terrain, past the river with its bridges, over tanks and anti-aircraft guns, and dodge the enemy biplanes as they try to shoot you down. The screen display shows a bird's eye view of the ground which scrolls diagonally below your biplane. Controls allow you to alter altitude, fly left or right and fire with the forward facing machine gun or drop bombs on targets on the ground. The targets include buildings and bridges with flashing bullseyes, enemy planes, cars and ships. Entry to the next level of difficulty is achieved by bombing enough primary targets. The biplane requires fuel and repairs if it is damaged, and this is accomplished by landing successfully on the runway. Below the playing screen is a command bar with information on altitude, fuel level, speed, bombs left and score. The bar also flashes colours to indicate when the plane is at strafing height, dangerously low, at a height to fire on an enemy lane, or if it has been hit. A letter code indicates the type of damage - fuel leak, bomb gear damaged, decreased manoeuvrability or machine gun damage. Among the control options is one for having gravity effect on or off. When it is on, the biplane sinks if the joystick is released. COMMENTS Control keys: user definable, four direction and one fire needed, bombs dropped by pressing fire and down Joystick: Kempston, AGF, Protek, Sinclair 2 Keyboard play: responsive Use of colour: a bit limited Graphics: on the small side, but quite detailed although a little jerky on the scrolling Sound: not much Skill levels: progressive with achievement Lives: 1 Screens: continuous scrolling

Aiming for a barge on the river in BLUE MAX.

Refuelling after a successful landing on the runway while overhead an enemy biplane passes.