How to play Medieval Mayhem online
The game is made for the Atari paddle controllers, and up to four people can play on a real console. The emulator above switches to paddle mode automatically, but it only offers two paddles, so in the browser you can play alone or with one friend. The computer takes over any castle without a human player.
- Move your shield around your castle: left and right arrow keys
- Catch and release the fireball: Space bar
- Start a new game: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
- Switch between paddle and joystick mode: Alt + L
- Save and load your progress: Ctrl + 0–9 saves to a slot, Alt + 0–9 loads it
Before a game starts, an options menu lets you set up the match.
Gameplay
A king sits in each corner of the screen, surrounded by a castle of bricks. Your shield moves along the outside of your castle, and your job is to keep the fireball away from your king while bouncing it into the other castles. Every hit knocks bricks out of a wall, and once a fireball reaches a king, that king is out.
Each round opens with a launch dragon that releases the first fireball, and more fireballs join in as the round goes on. A round is over when only one king is left standing. The winner gets a small ceremony: a knight walks across the screen carrying that player’s banner.
What’s new compared with Warlords
- The launch dragon and multiple fireballs, as in the arcade version
- Four skill levels for the computer players
- A catch setting for each player, so a beginner can have help holding the ball while others do not
- Fireball flare-ups, stereo sound, title screen music and a demo mode
Tips
- Watch every fireball, not just the nearest one. Once several are in play, a second ball often slips in behind the one you just blocked.
- Use the catch to aim. If catching is on for you, hold the ball for a moment and release it towards the weakest castle.
- Protect your corners. Shots that hit the ends of your wall are the hardest to reach, so keep your shield between the ball and the bricks you have left.
- Start the computer on a low level. The four AI levels let you learn the bounces before facing the toughest opponents.
History
Medieval Mayhem came out on cartridge in 2006. In October that year the fan site AtariAge ran a contest for the label artwork, and David Vazquez’s winning design was used on both the label and the manual. Retro Gamer magazine gave it 90% and praised it as a multiplayer game with great staying power.
Similar games to play next
- Warlords – the 1981 Atari original that Medieval Mayhem is based on
- Breakout – the brick-breaking paddle game behind the whole idea
- Super Breakout – Breakout with more variations, including multiple balls
- Kaboom! – a fast Activision paddle game about catching bombs
- Video Olympics – Atari’s collection of Pong-style paddle games