Bad Max was a rather unusual French graphic adventure by Transoft, released in 1985 for the Amstrad CPC. Inspired heavily by the Mad Max universe, the game attempted something quite ambitious for its time by presenting its world using a 3D effect, requiring players to wear red and blue 3D glasses included in the box.
Set in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, players took on the role of “Bad Max”, struggling to survive amongst violent gangs, heavily armed police forces and many hazards. The game combined illustrated scenes with traditional text adventure commands, whilst offering two different paths to victory depending on whether the player chose to act fairly or embrace corruption.
The game was developed by Michel Martin and Bruno Cesard, with credits also including J. J. Depardieu for the 3D algorithm, P. Girault on graphics and C. Crickx and L. Chemla handling the music driver. One particularly unusual feature was the inclusion of several Alan Parsons Project tracks on the cassette release, intended to be listened to whilst playing.
Although released on the Amstrad CPC, evidence suggests that ports were also planned for the Commodore 64 and Thomson MO 5 / TO 7 systems thanks to magazine reviews. A review in the December 1985 issue of French magazine Tilt mentions a Commodore 64 version at the end of the article, whilst Jeux & Strategie issue 36 stated:
“Cassette and disk for the Amstrad CPC 464 and 664 (end of the year for Commodore 64, Thomson MO5 and TO7).”
Despite these announcements, no Commodore 64 or Thomson versions appear to have ever surfaced. It is currently unclear how far development progressed on these ports, or if they were ever started beyond the planning stage.
A later Bad Max title would eventually appear for the MSX2, but this was a substantially different game featuring digitised graphics rather than the distinctive 3D presentation seen in the Amstrad original.
For now, the Commodore 64 and Thomson editions remain missing. Did any work ever take place on these conversions, and could a build still be sitting on an old disk or cassette somewhere waiting to be rediscovered? If you know anything more about the fate of these elusive ports, please do get in touch.
Contributions: Anonymous Contributor, CPCRulez, senscritique.com, Archive.org
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