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マグマックス
©1986 Nihonbussan Co., Ltd.
Release: 1986-03-19 (¥4900)
Cartdridge NBF-MM
Shooter/Horizontal
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Released in America as
MAGMAX
( NES-MM-USA )
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Magmax is a side-scrolling shooter by Nihon Bussan (Nichibutsu)
and conversion of an arcade game of the same name originally released in 1985. In a far
distant future, a group of highly advanced aliens has enslaved humanity and imposed a
rigid order with the help of a super computer named Babylon. In a last effort of
resistance, a group of humans develops a robot named MagMax in an attempt to stop
the aliens and their formidable war machines. Interestingly, the MagMax robot comes
in four different parts that must be assembled as the game progresses - the player starts
with a simple tank-like ship (the robot's core), and other components such as Legs,
Torso/Head and a Wave Beam Cannon must be collected. They attach to the ship
and eventually form a powerful humanoid robot with tremendous firepower. These components
also give the player weapon upgrades, as well as some measure of protection (they receive
damage and eventually get destroyed instead of the entire ship). Finally, although the game
starts above ground and uses an isometric view, special tunnels (called Warp Halls)
give access to underground sections which use a more traditional side scrolling formula.
There, enemies are a lot more aggressive and MagMax's cannon shoots fireballs instead
of beams. Magmax consists of four looping stages (some guarded by the monstrous
three-headed Babylon Dragon) and a two player alternating mode is available.
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The original Magmax arcade game was released by Nichibutsu in 1985 (picture on the right).
Unlike the Famicom version tested here, the arcade game featured a horizontal
parallax scrolling effect which added an incredible depth to the above ground sections
(which was definitely an unique feature, especially for a shooter released in 1985).
MagMax was also ported to the Commodore 64 (1985), Amstrad CPC
(1986) and Sinclair ZX (1987).
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Teaser text from the American version:
It's up to you to save the human race by transforming mechanical
parts into the ultimate robot warrior - MagMax. On land, on sea,
and in outerspace you shoot deadly lasers from your beam gun to
fight off the forces of the three-headed mechanical monster of
Babylon. If you survive the undersea volcano, you come face to
face with Babylon in the final battle of the giant space robot.
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Add your Pov here !
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MagMax is notable for its unique power-up system (based around a
large robot that the player must assemble) that gives the game an additional
depth. The more parts the player equips, the more powerful he becomes... but his
larger size also makes him more exposed to enemy fire. Then the ground/underground
formula also contributes to the game's unique appeal and gives some variation to
the gameplay. However, while the game has moments of fun, it is undeniably average
and repetitive. The graphics are passable and the enemies are hopelessly generic,
except for the awesome three headed Babylon dragon (which is the highlight
of the game). MagMax is a good conversion and it retains the arcade feel.
However, I wished the developers had pushed the concept even further than they did
(although this was also the case for the original arcade game). All in all, it is a
fairly decent shooter with some excellent ideas, but don't expect anything
groundbreaking nor very impressive.
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