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) Single-player, 2 players alternating
Cabinet Upright
Arcade system GV-102[2]
CPU 8088 @ 5 MHz[1]
Sound 6502 @ 895 KHz[1]
Display Raster, 240 x 256 pixels (Vertical)

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 not officially ported to any home systems. Mad Planets 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][6]

Gameplay

Gameplay screenshot.

The player uses a flight-style joystick to move a spaceship around a dark starfield, a rotary knob to orient it, and a trigger on the stick to fire.[8] Planets appear at the start of a level and begin growing. They can be destroyed prior to 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.[9] Once a planet has moons, it is shielded until all its moons have been launched at the player's ship.[10] A planet then becomes angry and charges the player.[11]

Floating astronauts appear in mini bonus rounds after every third level, then every fourth after level twelve.[12] They can be collected by flying over them. Orbiting comets pick up speed 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.[12]

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."[8]

Legacy

Martech published two clones for home computers: Crazy Comets for the Commodore 64 and its sequel Mega Apocalypse.[13]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Mad Planets [Model GV-102]". arcade-history.com. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  2. ↑ "Gottlieb Video System Boards". mikesarcade.com. Retrieved 2018-10-06.
  3. 1 2 "Mad Planets". Arcade History.
  4. ↑ Hague, James. "The Giant List of Classic Game Programmers".
  5. ↑ "Q*bert". Gaming History.
  6. 1 2 "Kan Yabumoto: Mad Planets". The Arcade Blogger. 2017.
  7. ↑ "Dr. Kan Yabumoto - Creator of Mad Planets passed away". KLOV forums. April 4, 2017.
  8. 1 2 Arrants, Steve (Fall 1983). "New Top 10 Games at the AOE '83". Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games. 1 (2).
  9. ↑ "Angry Planets from the Arcade's Past - Mad Planets". World 1-1.
  10. ↑ Mad Planets Flyer. D. Gottlieb & Co. 1983.
  11. ↑ "Mad Planets". Killer List of Video Games.
  12. 1 2 Sabbatini, Mark. "MAME Reviews: Mad Planets". Retrogaming Times.
  13. ↑ Wilkins, Chros. "C64Gems : Mega Apocalypse". Retro Now!.
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