Matt Chat 92: Mail Order Monsters

In this episode, it's all about Mail Order Monsters, the 1985 classic that takes the 1-on-1 combat of Archon and upgrades it with a sophisticated system of genetics and advanced weaponry. Designed by Paul Reiche III, Evan Robinson, and Nicky Robinson, Mail Order Monsters represents some of the best gameplay you'll find on the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit platforms.

Links mentioned in the show:
Game Banshee: http://www.gamebanshee.com/
RPG Codex: http://rpgcodex.net/
Tales of the Rampant Coyote: http://rampantgames.com

Donate to Matt Chat and keep his rather excellent drinking horn from going dry!
http://www.armchairarcade.com/neo/node/3793

Category:

Gaming

Tags:

• mail order monsters
• paul reiche
• evan
• nicky
• robinson
• review
• matt chat
• games
• videogames
• commodore
• atari
• archon
• star control

[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.

[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.

[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.

[max6fitz]

RAH!



[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]

@rowdyrob3d

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

[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.

[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.

[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.