The Bilestoad - video game 1982
1The Bilestoad is a video game by Marc Goodman (credited as "Mangrove Earthshoe") for the Apple II and published in 1982 by Datamost.
In The Bilestoad, players control "meatlings" that hack and battle with axes and shields from a top-view perspective. The name is derived from the German words Beil (axe) and Tod (death). The odd spelling reflects Goodman's idea of a future language similar to A Clockwork Orange's Nadsat in which English has been modified by the borrowing of foreign words. Although the game may seem medieval, the backstory in the manual explains that the axe fighting is actually a future virtual reality game designed to reduce real violence.
According to the author, influences for The Bilestoad include the movie Excalibur and Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Gameplay
The game can be played online in an Apple II emulator here.
The Bilestoad allows a human player to fight against either a computer-controlled opponent or another human. One can also pit two robots against each other. Movement and combat is accomplished with the keyboard, pressing keys to swing the gladiator's axe or shield outwards or inwards, or to make the gladiator turn, stop or walk. The game play is quite violent and bloody—players lop off their opponents' shield or sword arms, and dispatch them by decapitation.
Players progress through levels by successfully defeating their opponent. The highest level is called the 'Master' level.
The arena of combat is a small island, maps of which (at short, medium, and long range) are shown at the right side of the screen. Scattered around the arena are various objects, including yin/yang discs which players can stand on to accelerate their movement, stars that transport players to other points in the arena, and "faces" that allow players to leave the level. The game offers more strategic variation than many fighting games, letting the player run away and be chased around the island. The musical soundtrack begins with Beethoven's "Für Elise".
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Other Statistics
The Bilestoad Statistics For classic retro games
At present, classic retro games has 9 views spread across 1 video for The Bilestoad, and less than an hour worth of The Bilestoad videos were uploaded to his channel. This is less than 0.25% of the total video content that classic retro games has uploaded to YouTube.