Matt Chat 92: Mail Order Monsters

[VisionofOrion]

Loved this game. It was just pure imagination. EA really had it together back then.

[willyoueatmyshorts]

Thanks for bringing me back! I used to love this game although I was never very good at it. I had the Atari version. I was 7 and used to get really upset when my monster was killed. Good review!

[MarcS4R]

Nice, i remember you could edit the save files on the 64, and cheat by adding all the weapons. However, that was one of my favorite 64 games ever :)

[toms781]

Great video! I played this game quite a bit on the Atari 800.

Kudos to the winner!

[toms781]

Great video! I played this game quite a bit on the Atari 800.

[Tamanozke]

How is the Atari version for loading time? I know the C64 one is LUDICROUS.

I love this game on the C64 though, but the Atari 8-bit version looks VERY cool! I think I'mma have to do a little hunting!

One think you shoulda mentioned: there's a chance your monster can die for good, like, it gets deletec. EVen if you play against another human player. It makes the battles that much more intense. :)

[waltzbabywaltz]

RAH! for that video matt. brilliant. hearing that mail order monster music after so many years was great. having Paul Reiche on your show would be fantastic.

btw. ordering your "dungeons and desktops" book. keep it up.

[kalashnikov96]

I really liked Scratches but the transitions were slow. it'd have been better if you could just walk about. i know it's point and click but the screen transitions were just so slow.

[bytex666]

Heh, loved the t-shirt. I played Archon alot with my friends, but never heard about this game. It looks like Archon with extra bells and whistles. I wish my mom hadn't sold off my C64 to a cousin when I got an Amiga 500, would probably had it around now still. Playing on emulators on the PC never feels the same as the real deal.

[blacklily8]

@bytex666 It's like Archon in some ways but very different in others. I suggest you give it a go in an emulator, you'll probably like it better than on an original C-64 (the load times are pretty annoying).

[crusader666]

so THAT's how that surname is spelled, i always oscillated between rai-chee and reich-ee, good to know, the "e" is silent. Thanks for the wonderful Chat;)

[blacklily8]

@crusader666 Unfortunately I was wrong about Paul. It is apparently pronounced "RIKE" by some people, but he pronounces it "Ritchie." You just never know with surnames!

[Francois424]

Thanks for the review; brings back a lot of memories (and your game wall of fame does too ^_^) . I really wish they'd remake this game with today's Paleantologist knowledge, and super computers w/super video cards. It's nice to dream.

Take care man -- Francois424

[blacklily8]

@Francois424 Man, that'd be AWESOME! I'm getting giddy just thinking about it.

[rowdyrob3d]

Great video as always. Although I was an avid 8-bit computer game enthusiast, "Mail Order Monsters" slipped under my radar; never seen it in action before! It was refreshing to see that, for once, the Atari 8-bit version didn't suck in comparison to the C64 version, and was arguably improved graphically. The Atari often got the short end of the stick when it came to conversions.

I like it when you show the various versions of these old games! Loved the commentary as well!

[blacklily8]

@rowdyrob3d I agree. I'm not intimate with the Atari 8-bit or ST oeuvre, so I always like checking these out when I get the chance. Do you happen to know the name of that graphical colorcycling effect? I see it is used a lot in Alternate Reality.

[rowdyrob3d]

@blacklily8 About the color-cycling effect.... I don't recall any official name for it. Multi-color "rainbows" were often achieved with a technique called a "display list interrupt," where a color register (or other video-oriented stuff) could be changed on a per-scanline basis. Too much to explain via Youtube comment!

The "rainbow color cycling" effect was usually achieved by a combination of DLI's and cycling the color registers.

[toms781]

@rowdyrob3d

I always thought that Rescue on Fractalus and Koronis Rift looked better on the Atari 800.

[EdwardElric555]

This is kind of pre-Pokemon.

[RyuRanXII]

Nice episode, fun as always! I'm looking foward to watch the interview with Scratches' makers (I think they are Argentinian). That game was very good and I can hardly wait to play their upcoming adventure called Asylum.

[blacklily8]

@RyuRanXII It looks pretty fantastic.

[DOSBoxMom]

Not a game my spouse or I ever played ourselves, although we did play some of the other games mentioned that were by this designer (such as Archon & Star Control). It's nice to see a straight vintage game review again!

[blacklily8]

@DOSBoxMom Thanks! Why not crank it up for nostalgia's sake? I bet you'll have a fun time making your monsters and slugging it out.

[Wildcatbeer]

Great stuff Matt!

[vwlssknght]

Oh, man! I hadn't heard that beginning music since the '80s. I had forgotten how much I liked that tune. It's time to fire up the old emulator.

[Drexow]

Great episode, didn´t know that game.

Nice shirt, where did you buy it? :)

[blacklily8]

@Drexow I don't even remember now, but it was only ten bucks. That reminds me, I should order more shirts.

[blacklily8]

@Drexow I don't even remember now, but it was only ten bucks. That reminds me, I should order more shirts.

[purplecow666]

@blacklily8 I've come to the conclusion that the day you stop making these videos is when you run out of shirts.

[marquis0r]

finally a game review again!!!! yYEAAAAAAAAH

[interghost]

Nice episode matt, loving the Doc Who love at the end ;o)

[Bajamamut]

OMG! The Ultron! AND IT'S NOT BROKEN! O_O

[blacklily8]

@Bajamamut Man, even I had to look that one up. Nice catch!

[Celeon999A]

Hehehe.. That Tardis sound :-D

Reminds me of one of the new Doctor Who episodes in which, after all those decades the show is running now, it was revealed that the Tardis is actually not supposed to make any sound while time travelling.

In fact, the typical sound comes from its handbrake which the Doctor always left on as he "enjoys this sound". ROFL I almost fell of my couch :-D

British humor, the ultimate form ... :-D

Great episode by the way. I remember Mail Order Monsters very well !

[RetroLPer]

I noticed Return to Zork in the background :D

[gotrek44]

Mail order Monsters, or..MOM. The pleasures of variety. The prestige of variety. Variety, the spice of life. I always thought that one of my favorite tangents of a good game is variety. MOM has it. Kind of like Ultima, or Maniac mansion. With the variety of ways to do things. Or the vastness of Elder Scrolls 2 or might and magic series. And nostalgic abound of c64 games, like wizard of wor and stormlord. Gauntlet.

[Matzeschloe]

i love these reviews:)

[retromanpresents]

Wow, ahead of its time. Way before pokemon was around.

[tgaskill]

RAH! Matt!

[HardWarUK]

Another awesome video - 'Nuff said.!!! You need to do C64 games like Alter Ego and Sentry - games that can hardly be described and yet are classics!

[bean420man]

Achievements are overrated, see one Foamy the Squirrel video.

[Bohemian132]

Prog Rock and Dr.Who references? A thumbs up for you sir!

[kwiksnax]

Hear hear! Great to see a classic Matt Chat. These are high-calibre episodes, Matt. Fantastic reviews! 

[tomincanada]

I spent a year of my life playing this game back in the 80s.. It was truly groundbreaking and contained depth and character customization like nothing I had seen before.

[marcusmalone]

Let us all give thanks to the OCD folks at gamefaq!

[blacklily8]

@marcusmalone Man, no kidding. It's amazing how much hard work they put into those FAQs, and I'm sure they don't get paid a dime for it.

[marcusmalone]

@blacklily8 Yeah, they don't. I read an interview with some game dev who sort of cut his teeth contributing gamefaq walkthroughs. Great to watch some old school Matt Chatt, btw!

[RetroRoadshow]

+50 exp for the Ian Anderson cameo! I love the Tull!

[MrZombie99X]

Great Job, keep up the great work!!

[Trollvomit]

Awesome! I used to play this game all the time on the C64 at my buddies house. Good times!

[vintagevideogamegeek]

Ahhh, a classic "Matt Chat". Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the interview segments immensely, but I think I prefer your game reviews.

[DarkAvatar1313]

too bad there never was an NES version, I would of liked this as a kid

[excalibunny]

Nice "episide Matt! (Might want to fix that Matt. It's in the video info)

[blacklily8]

@excalibunny Thanks, good catch.

[excalibunny]

Good stuff Matt!

[max6fitz]

RAH!



[amirrimerdotcom]

Amazing Video!