Blue Max: Aces of the Great War

Blue Max is a shoot-'em-up computer game by the company Synapse Software , developed by Bob Polin and released in 1983 for the home computer Atari XL . Portings were released for Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum . Blue Max is the basic principle of the arcade game Zaxxon (1982), which is located in a science fiction scenario, on a historical background.

Peter Adam was responsible for the C64 version, which also created the C64 implementation of Zaxxon for Synapse. Stephen C. Biggs composed the SID music.

The title of the game is a joke for the German order Pour le Mérite , which was called "Blue Max" in the First World War, or refers to the film The Blue Max of 1966, which was directed by John Guillermin . The background story of the game ironically underscores this designation by asserting that this high award had been promised to the German pilot who would shoot the fictitious pilot Max Chatsworth portrayed by the player. At the same time, this portrayal is based on a well-known legend from the First World War, according to which similar honors were to be given to the British pilot who could defeat the Red Baron .

The soundtrack of the game is an implementation of the patriotic song Rule, Britannia! .

As Max Chatsworth, the player has the task of causing as much damage as possible to the opponent with the ship's cannon and by bombing. Destroyed are bridges, buildings, enemy aircraft, anti-aircraft guns, cars and ships. Within a narrow corridor, Blue Max flies over the diagonal of the screen, with control over the transversal and elevator . While the ship's cannon has ample ammunition, the number of bombs is limited. The latter can be supplemented as well as the fuel on own landing sites.