Mad Planets

Mad Planets is a multidirectional shooter released in arcades in 1983 by Gottlieb. The player controls a spaceship which can be moved and rotated independently to fend 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]

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)
CabinetUpright
Arcade systemGG-III[2]
CPU8088 @ 5 MHz[1]
Sound6502 @ 895 kHz[1]
DisplayRaster, 240 x 256 (vertical)

Gameplay
Gameplay screenshot

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 Nicol wrote two clones for the Commodore 64, both published by Martech: Crazy Comets and its sequel Mega Apocalypse.[14]

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