Blue Max is a scrolling shooter written by Bob Polin for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Synapse Software in 1983. It was released for the Commodore 64 the same year. U.S. Gold published the Commodore 64 version in the UK in 1984 and ported the game to the ZX Spectrum. In 1987, Atari Corporation re-released Blue Max as a cartridge styled for the then-new Atari XEGS.
The player controls a Sopwith Camel biplane during World War I, attempting to shoot down enemy planes and bomb targets on diagonally scrolling terrain. The game is named after the medal Pour le Mérite, informally known as Blue Max. The theme song is “Rule, Britannia!”.
Blue Max was positively received by critics. In 1984 Synapse released a science fiction themed sequel also by Polin, Blue Max 2001.
