Mad Planets
| Mad Planets | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Gottlieb |
| Publisher(s) | Gottlieb |
| Programmer(s) | Kan Yabumoto |
| Artist(s) | Jeff Lee |
| Composer(s) | David D. Thiel |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release | |
| Genre(s) | Multidirectional shooter |
| Mode(s) | |
| Arcade system | GG-III[2] |
Mad Planets is a 1983 arcade shooter from Gottlieb in which the player fends off angry planets and moons attacking from all directions. It was designed and programmed by Kan Yabumoto,[3][4] with art by Jeff Lee and sound by David D. Thiel.[3] Lee and Thiel previously worked on Q*bert for Gottlieb,[5] a game that was inspired by a pattern of hexagons implemented by Yabumoto.[6] Kan Yabumoto died in 2017 of a degenerative lung disease.[7][8]
Gameplay
The player uses a flight-style joystick to move a spaceship around a dark starfield, a rotary knob to orient the ship, and a trigger on the stick to fire.[9] At the beginning of a level, planets appear and begin growing. They can be destroyed prior to their reaching full size and sprouting moons. If a wave is completed by destroying all planets before they reach full size, a substantial bonus is awarded.[10] Once a planet has moons, it is shielded until all its moons have been destroyed or launched at the player's ship,[11] at which point the planet becomes angry and charges the player.[12]
Floating astronauts appear in mini bonus rounds after every third level (every fourth after level twelve).[13] They can be collected by flying over them. Orbiting comets accelerate the longer they go without being shot. Comets increase in value by 100 points, to a maximum of 1000, until a comet leaves the screen or the level ends.[13]
Reception
Writing for Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games, Steve Arrants chose Mad Planets as one of the top ten games of the 1983 American Amusement Operators Expo. He praised the "beautiful graphics", "extremely responsive" controls, and concluded "I would rank Mad Planets right up there with other high-tension favorites such as Robotron and Tempest."[9]
Legacy
Programmer Simon Nichol made a Commodore 64 version of Mad Planets, but was unable to secure a publisher. He would go on to develop the idea further; Martech published his two games based on the gameplay of Mad Planets for home computers: Crazy Comets for the Commodore 64 and its sequel Mega Apocalypse[14]. Simon's trilogy was to be completed with the Super Nintendo game Apocalypse II, featuring artwork by Herman Serrano. However, the game was not published - until Piko Interactive released its cartridge version in 2015.
References
- ^ a b c "Mad Planets [Model GV-102]". arcade-history.com. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
- ^ "Gottlieb Video System Boards". mikesarcade.com. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
- ^ a b "Mad Planets". Arcade History.
- ^ Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
- ^ "Q*bert". Arcade History.
- ^ Davis, Warren. "The Creation of Q*bert". coinop.org.
- ^ "Dr. Kan Yabumoto - Creator of Mad Planets passed away". KLOV forums. April 4, 2017.
- ^ "Kan Yabumoto: Mad Planets". The Arcade Blogger. 2017.
- ^ a b Arrants, Steve (Fall 1983). "New Top 10 Games at the AOE '83". Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games. 1 (2).
- ^ "Angry Planets from the Arcade's Past - Mad Planets". World 1-1.
- ^ Mad Planets Flyer. D. Gottlieb & Co. 1983.
- ^ "Mad Planets". Killer List of Video Games.
- ^ a b Sabbatini, Mark. "MAME Reviews: Mad Planets". Retrogaming Times.
- ^ Wilkins, Chros. "C64Gems : Mega Apocalypse". Retro Now!.
External links
- Mad Planets at the Killer List of Videogames
- Mad Planets can be played for free in the browser at the Internet Archive
