Mail Order Monsters was one of the first computer games I purchased for my Commodore 64 way back in those long lost 80's, and it has remained on my list of favorite games after all these years. I can remember my best friend at the time and myself playing this game over and over again and never getting tired of it. In fact, we would play it until we got tired of each other's gloating (depending on whoever was winning more that day).
Downloading it today and playing it for the first time in about 20 years made me smile, and the memories came flooding back. It is amazing to me to see how much detail the creators of Mail Order Monsters were able to squeeze into this C64 game. I do not pretend to be aware of even 10% of the games that have been released in those 20 long years, but I cannot recall one that I have played in that time that has exactly the appeal of Mail Order Monsters (or MOM).
Sure, many games allow you to create your own character, or manipulate monsters, or fight against a friend, but all in the same game? That was what seemed to be the most fun about
MOM - the sheer amount of choices and replay ability that the game had. You can experiment with different monsters, different abilities, different attributes, and different weapons against a friend who can do the same thing.
This is more than makes up for the limited graphics and music and battlegrounds. I don't even remember that being a concern for me 20 years ago in relation to this game, because I had so much else to do in the game. I had to create the ultimate monster to kick my obnoxious and lucky friend's monster's butt! And it wasn't just the satisfaction of winning I was playing for, and it wasn't just being able to make my monster stronger and faster...I wanted those "Kudos", and I wanted to dance on the grave of my friend's carefully nurtured creation. I can remember at the time, the candy bar Kudos had just been released (anyone remember those?) and my friend and I were confused as to why we were receiving candy bars for killing the other's monster, but we didn't care...we wanted them anyway.
Everything I remember about the game is still there -- the cool (for C64) graphics, the intense game-play, and the bountiful amount of choices. The only problem I have with playing this version is the slowness of the controls response, but I expect I will get used to it with practice. All in all, a lovely stroll down memory lane.
