''Mail Order Monsters'' is an action-strategy

computer game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device to gener ...

created by

Paul Reiche III Paul Reiche III ( ) is an American game designer, particularly known for his work on video games. Reiche is best known for being the co-creator, together with Fred Ford, of the '' Star Control'' universe. Career Pen and paper RPGs Reiche was ...

, Evan Robinson, and Nicky Robinson. It was published by

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted the d ...

(

Ariolasoft Ariolasoft GmbH, later known as United Software, was a German video game developer, publisher and distributor. It started in 1983 as the software subsidiary of Ariola Records, itself the record division of Germany's large Bertelsmann empire. F ...

in Europe) for the

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

in 1985, then released for

Atari 8-bit family The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...

in 1986. Players create monsters which they can use to battle multiplayer or against computer-controlled opponents.

Gameplay

The players create a variety of monsters and equip them with futuristic and modern weapons to do battle. Monsters can be further customized through buying special abilities, such as adding tentacles to use advanced weaponry. Two players can fight against each other, play

capture the flag Capture the flag (CTF) is a traditional outdoor sport where two or more teams each have a flag (or other markers) and the objective is to capture the other team's flag, located at the team's "base", and bring it safely back to their own base. ...

, or compete for a high score against a computer-controlled horde. In single-player mode, the computer controls an opponent to fight. Battles take place on various different maps that can have tactical effects, such as mountains for agile monsters to hide behind during combat. Monsters can be stored on

diskette A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, or a diskette) is an obsolescent type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined w ...

and can be upgraded by victories against other monsters or computer opponents.

Development

Reiche had previously worked with designers Jon Freeman and

Anne Westfall Anne Westfall is an American game programmer and software developer, known for 1983's '' Archon: The Light and the Dark'', originally written for the Atari 8-bit family. She is married to fellow game developer Jon Freeman. Both are founders of ...

Free Fall Associates Free Fall Associates was a video game developer of the 1980s and early 1990s founded in 1981 by game designer Jon Freeman, game programmer Anne Westfall, and game designer Paul Reiche III. Westfall and Freeman are married. To start the new compan ...

on the game ''

Archon ''Archon'' ( gr, ἄρχων, árchōn, plural: ἄρχοντες, ''árchontes'') is a Greek word that means "ruler", frequently used as the title of a specific public office. It is the masculine present participle of the verb stem αρχ-, mean ...

'' for EA. The game was originally envisioned as dark and gritty, but Electronic Arts demanded a more whimsical style. During this development, Reiche became fascinated with his friend Greg Johnson's development on ''

Starflight ''Starflight'' is a space exploration, combat, and trading role-playing video game created by Binary Systems and published by Electronic Arts in 1986. Originally developed for IBM PC compatibles, it was later ported to the Amiga, Atari ST, ...

'', and spent a few weeks consulting on it before he realized he was "supposed to be working on ''Mail Order Monsters''".

Reception

Ahoy! ''Ahoy!'' was a computer magazine published between January 1984 and January 1989 in the US, focusing on all Commodore color computers, but especially the Commodore 64 and Amiga. History The first issue of ''Ahoy!'' was published in January 198 ...

'' stated that ''Mail Order Monsters'' was a "very good game" that did not reach "true excellence" because of insufficient combat tactics, and suggested that it was best for younger players. Writing in ''Vintage Games'', Bill Loguidice and Matt Barton identify it as a precursor to the ''

Pokémon (an abbreviation for in Japan) is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Pokémon Company, founded by Nintendo, Game Freak, and Creatures (company), Creatures, the owners of the trademark and copyright of the franchise. In terms of ...

'' series. In a retrospective, Levi Buchanan of

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

said that although he would love to see a remake, any new version, updated to suit modern gamers, would necessarily have to diverge from what made the game unique in 1985.

References

External links

* {{Lemon64 game, id=1582
''Mail Order Monsters''
at Atari Mania 1985 video games Ariolasoft games Atari 8-bit family games Commodore 64 games Video games about dinosaurs Electronic Arts games Action games Strategy video games Video games developed in the United States Multiplayer and single-player video games