MagMax

{{Infobox video game

|title = Magmax

|image = MagMax Cover.jpg

|caption = NES box cover

|developer = Nihon Bussan
Ocean Software (C64)

|publisher = Nichibutsu
FCI
Imagine Software

|released = Arcade
{{vgrelease|JP|1985|NA|May 1985{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971–2005) |trans-title=Arcade TV Game List: Domestic • Overseas Edition (1971–2005) |date=October 13, 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |page=127 |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n128}}}}Famicom/NES
{{vgrelease|JP|March 19, 1986https://www.famitsu.com/games/t/20239/|NA|October 1988{{cite web |url=https://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/nes_games.pdf |publisher=Nintendo of America |access-date=August 9, 2015 |title=NES Games |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140611225644/http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/downloads/nes_games.pdf |archive-date=June 11, 2014 }}
1987: C64, Spectrum}}

|genre = Scrolling shooter

|platform = Arcade, NES, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC

}}

{{nihongo|MagMax|マグマックス|Magumakkusu}} is an arcade video game which was developed by Nihon Bussan and released in 1985 under its brand Nichibutsu.{{cite web|title=MagMax|url=http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?game_id=8490|website=Killer List of Videogames|accessdate=13 May 2016}} A horizontal scrolling shooter, players control the title hover ship in an attempt to completely construct the ship into a giant robot and to destroy any enemies attempting to stop it.

The three-headed mechanical dragon found as a boss character in the game, known as Babylon, strongly resembles Mecha-King Ghidorah from the Godzilla franchise.

Ports

The Nintendo Entertainment System version was published by Nihon Bussan in Japan on March 19, 1986https://www.famitsu.com/games/t/20239/ and by FCI in North America in October 1988.

The game was also ported to the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC by Ocean Software and released on their Imagine label in 1987.

In 2015, an emulated version was released for the PlayStation 4 in the Arcade Archives series from Hamster Corporation,{{cite web |title=MagMax |url=http://www.hamster.co.jp/american_hamster/arcadearchives/magmax.htm |website=Hamster Corporation |accessdate=13 May 2016}} and was also released for Nintendo Switch in May 2020.{{cite web |last1=Doolan |first1=Liam |title=Hamster's Latest Retro Offering For Switch Is The Horizontal Shooter Magmax |url=https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/05/hamsters_latest_retro_offering_for_switch_is_the_horizontal_shooter_magmax |website=Nintendo Life |publisher=Gamer Network |accessdate=8 May 2020 |date=8 May 2020}}

Reception

{{Video game reviews

| award1Pub = Amstrad Action

| award1 = MastergameGame review, Amstrad Action magazine, Future Publishing, issue 23, August 1987

}}

In Japan, Game Machine listed MagMax on their April 15, 1985 issue as being the second most-successful table arcade unit at the time.{{cite magazine|title=Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)|magazine=Game Machine|issue=258|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=15 April 1985|page=19|lang=ja}}