MagMax (NES) Playthrough
188A playthrough of FCI's 1988 shoot 'em up for the NES, MagMax.
Since the game has no ending, I played until I got the hidden "meigetsu" message that appears after you've finished three loops on a single continue.
(Meigetsu (名月) is the Japanese word for a full moon, in case you cared.)
In the world of MagMax, aliens have conquered the earth with their three-headed dragon robot/supercomputer known as -Mecha King Ghidora- Babylon. To fight back, the people created a giant transforming robot, MagMax, and you've been put in the driver's seat.
Starting out as a 1985 arcade game made by Nichibutsu, MagMax was brought to the Famicom the following year and was eventually brought stateside by FCI/Pony Canyon in late 1988.
The game is made up of four horizontally-scrolling stages that see you piloting MagMax through a gauntlet of robotic enemy invaders, and each stage is split into two levels that you can jump between using the portals spread throughout. The above-ground areas play out from a 2.5D perspective and allow you to move in and out of the screen, while the underground areas play from a traditional 2D shmup-style side view.
The portals give you the freedom to forge your own path through the game. If you prefer the path of least resistance, you can stay on the upper level the entire time. If you want a turbo-charged challenge, head underground and stay there. For a balanced experience, mix things up by regularly jumping between them as you take in the sights. There's a good amount of replay value here for anyone that wants to see everything the game has to offer.
And then there's the MagMax robot itself. You begin the game as a small ship with a single forward-facing cannon, but the ship can be upgraded by picking up the parts strewn about. The torso part will allow you to equip a giant laser sword, the legs will turn you into a hulking bipedal mech, and each part increases your durability and the number of shots that you can fire simultaneously. These upgrades do, however, come at a cost: the larger your robot, the slower it moves, and a fully assembled MagMax paints a huge target for enemy fire.
MagMax does a lot to differentiate itself from the throngs of generic shooters that flooded the market in the mid-80s, and the innovations come together to create one of the more unique and memorable shooters on the NES. I remember being pleasantly surprised by it when I rented it on a whim as a kid, and it still holds up well. MagMax is a gem that's worth checking out.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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