Attack of the Mutant Camels
{{Short description|1983 video game}}
{{distinguish|text=an entirely different game in Minter's Gridrunner series which was released under this title in the US}}
{{refimprove|date=March 2010}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Attack of the Mutant Camels
|image = Attack_of_the_Mutant_Camels_Cover_Art.jpg
|caption =
|developer = Llamasoft
|publisher = Llamasoft
|designer = Jeff Minter
|released = 1983
|genre = Scrolling shooter
|modes = Single-player
|platforms = Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit
}}
Attack of the Mutant Camels is a surrealist video game written by Jeff Minter and released for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers in 1983 by Minter's Llamasoft. The horizontally scrolling shooter is similar to the Atari 2600 game The Empire Strikes Back (1982), with AT-AT walkers replaced by giant camels.{{Cite web|url=https://llamasoftarchive.org/8bitgames/attack-of-the-mutant-camels/|title = Attack of the Mutant Camels – Llamasoft Baachive}} Confusingly, a very different game from Jeff Minter's Gridrunner series was also released in the US under the name Attack of the Mutant Camels.{{cite web |title=Game Manual |date=1983 |url=https://archive.org/details/Attack_of_the_Mutant_Camels_1983_HES/mode/2up |access-date=20 April 2025}}
Llamasoft released a sequel, Revenge of the Mutant Camels, in 1984.
Gameplay
File:Attack_of_the_mutant_camels_atari_800.png
The player controls a small jet plane and has the task of killing giant yellow camels before they reach the home base. Doing so requires several dozens of shots. The camels retaliate by shooting fireballs from their mouths. If a camel reaches the base, the game is lost. Once all camels on a level are killed, the player has to survive a "hyperspace" sequence which requires avoiding high-speed missiles.{{cite web |title=Software Reviews |url=https://archive.org/details/home-computing-weekly-010/page/n35/mode/2up?view=theater |access-date=20 April 2025}} Upon successful completion, the next level presents a new wave of camels, with slightly harder gameplay.
Reception
Stating that "there is a fiendish mind at work here", Ahoy! said that Attack of the Mutant Camels{{'}}s gameplay on the Commodore 64 was similar to but "much faster, more challenging and more demanding" than Gridrunner or Centipede. Despite criticizing the "little more than serviceable graphics", the magazine concluded that it was "all in all, a fine game".{{Cite magazine |last=Kincaid |first=Scott |date=May 1984 |title=Attack of the Mutant Camels |url=https://archive.org/details/ahoy-magazine-05/page/n58/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2024-08-31 |magazine=Ahoy! |page=59}}
Commodore User's reviewer said that it was "skilfully-designed" and "excellent for camel/llama freaks and arcade action enthusiasts".{{cite web |title=Screen Scene | date=January 1984 |url=https://archive.org/details/commodore-user-magazine-04/page/n9/mode/2up?view=theater |access-date=19 April 2025}} Home Computing Weekly complimented the "excellent" sound and graphics, and also praised the clear documentation and instructions; their only criticism was that it was "perhaps a little too difficult!".{{cite web |title=New ideas for your micro |url=https://archive.org/details/home-computing-weekly-010/page/n35/mode/2up?view=theater |access-date=23 April 2025}}
Legacy
In 2011, Attack of the Mutant Camels was chosen to be featured in the Smithsonian Institution's "The Art of Video Games" exhibit.{{cite web | url = http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/winninggames.pdf | title = The Art of Video Games Exhibition Checklist | accessdate = 2011-05-22| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110523075002/http://americanart.si.edu/exhibitions/archive/2012/games/winninggames.pdf| archivedate= 23 May 2011 | url-status= live}}
In 2012 the assembly language source code of the Konix version of the game was released on GitHub.[http://www.retrocollect.com/News/jeff-minters-unreleased-konix-multisystem-port-of-attack-of-the-mutant-camels-preserved-a-due-for-release.html jeff-minters-unreleased-konix-multisystem-port-of-attack-of-the-mutant-camels-preserved-a-due-for-release] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160429063624/http://www.retrocollect.com/News/jeff-minters-unreleased-konix-multisystem-port-of-attack-of-the-mutant-camels-preserved-a-due-for-release.html |date=2016-04-29 }} on retrocollect.com (2012)[https://github.com/SavourySnaX/AOTMC89 AOTMC89] "Konix Multisystem - Attack Of The Mutant Camels '89 V0.4 - Source Code" on github.com
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{atarimania|id=6006}}
- {{lemon64 game|id=172|name=Attack of the Mutant Camels}}
- [http://www.llamasoft.co.uk/lc-8bit.php Llamasoft's 8-bit games, from which AMC is downloadable]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20120319051045/http://c64s.com/game/94/attack_of_the_mutant_camels/ https://web.archive.org/web/20120319051045/http://c64s.com/game/94/attack_of_the_mutant_camels/]
- {{IAg|Attack_of_the_Mutant_Camels_1983_Llamasoft}}
{{Jeff Minter}}
Category:Atari 8-bit computer games
Category:Commercial video games with freely available source code
Category:Horizontally scrolling shooters
Category:Single-player video games
Category:Video games about mammals
Category:Video games developed in the United Kingdom
{{scroll-shooter-videogame-stub}}