''Monster Smash'' (stylized in-game as ''Monster Smash!'') is an

action game An action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes a large variety of sub-genres, such as fighting games, beat 'em ups, shooter games, and platform gam ...

written by Dave Eisler and published by

Datamost Datamost was a computer book publisher and computer game company founded by David Gordon and based in Chatsworth, California. Datamost operated in the early 1980s producing games and other software mainly for the Apple II, Commodore 64 and Atari ...

in 1983 for the

Apple II The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-m ...

and

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, ...

. A

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 ...

port followed in 1984. The Atari version features music written by Gary Gilbertson that was praised by reviewers. An earlier version of the game was published by The Software Farm in 1982 as ''Monster Mash''.

Gameplay

The aim of ''Monster Smash'' is to capture all the monsters that are roaming around a local graveyard. The player must trap the monsters by opening and closing various gates and then smash them using the gravestones. If any monster reaches the right side of the screen it escapes, and if the player lets too many of them escape, as shown by a meter, the game ends. Once a certain number of monsters have been captured the player moves to the next level. In higher levels human visitors are introduced and the player must allow them to safely pass through a graveyard, while busy smashing the monsters.

Music

A title theme of the Atari 8-bit version of ''Monster Smash'' was composed by Gary Gilbertson using Philip Price's Advanced Music Processor. Price and Gilbertson later collaborated on the '' Alternate Reality'' games.

Reception

Steven A. Schwartz writing for ''

Electronic Fun with Computers & Games ''Electronic Fun with Computers & Games'' was a video game magazine published in the United States from November 1982 to May 1984. For the last two issues it was renamed ''ComputerFun''. Content The magazine was split up into the following sect ...

'' praised the graphics and sound of the Apple II version but concluded: "All the features aside, however, it's mostly a test of manual dexterity and often an exercise in frustration." Jim Short in issue 15 of ''

Page 6 ''Page 6'' (subtitled ''Atari Users Magazine'' and later known as ''Page 6 Atari User'', then ''New Atari User'') was an independent British publication aimed at users of Atari home computers. It was published between 1982 and 1998. The magazi ...

'' praised the music of the Atari 8-bit version of a game: "The outstanding thing about ''Monster Smash'' is the opening title tune. It is, without any shadow of doubt, the best musical score I've ever heard in a computer game. It is almost worth purchasing the game just to listen to the music. Yes, it is that good!"

References

External links

*{{Internet Archive game, id=a8b_Monster_Smash_1983_Datamost_US
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'' 1983 video games Action video games Apple II games Atari 8-bit family games Video games set in cemeteries Commodore 64 games Datamost games Horror video games Video games developed in the United States