Console Archives: MagMax

Nintendo console exclusive

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.

Released: 18 March 1986
Platforms: Amstrad CPC Arcade Commodore 64 Commodore C64/128/MAX NES Nintendo Switch 2 Wii U ZX Spectrum
Genres: Adventure Arcade Shoot 'em up Shooter
Developers: Nichibutsu
Publishers: Fujisankei Communications International
Perspective: Third person Bird view / Isometric Side view
Themes: Action Science fiction
Country: Japan
Age ratings: CLASS_IND L CERO A
Languages: Japanese

About

MagMax is a 1985 horizontally scrolling shooter video game developed and published by Nichibutsu for arcades. It was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System, released in Japan on March 19, 1986, and by FCI in North America in October 1988. The game was also ported to the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC by Ocean Software and released on their Imagine label in 1987.

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. Hamster Corporation acquired the rights to the game alongside Nichibutsu's intellectual property, and released the game as part of their Arcade Archives series for the PlayStation 4 in 2015 and the Nintendo Switch in 2020, as well as the NES version for their Console Archives series for the Nintendo Switch 2 and PlayStation 5 in May 2026.

Keywords

anime
shoot 'em up
mecha
pixel art
sequel
based on - anime
students
based on - comics

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Players control the titular spaceship in an attempt to completely construct the ship into a giant robot and to destroy any enemies attempting to stop it. The ship must avoid various obstacles while shooting enemies on a 3D field. After a successful transformation into the robot, the ship gains increased mobility, while the gameplay becomes that of a typical horizontal scrolling shooter.

Reception

In Japan, Game Machine listed MagMax as the second most successful table arcade unit of April 1985.

Releases by platformdates and regions as published

Platform	Released	Regions
Arcade	18 March 1986	Japan
Commodore C64/128/MAX	31 December 1986	Europe
Amstrad CPC	31 December 1987	Europe
ZX Spectrum	31 December 1987	Europe
Wii U	14 September 2016	Japan