When you talk about CLASSIC games for the C64 that you just can't live without, Mail Order Monsters has got to be at or near the top of that list. In fact, it is come of the greatest games made for ANY platform in ANY era! Why?!? Because it's unique, creative and most of all, it's FUN TO PLAY!
One of the many reasons it remains an enduring classic is that it offers the gamer a great degree of customizing his player and watching it develop.
You start as an "owner" with a bankroll that allows you to choose a basic body type for your gladiatorial creature creation, name it and then customize it's attributes (Armor, Muscle, Speed, Mind, Life - just watching the icons change as they are raised and lowered is brilliant!) and then outfit it with any number of cool gadgets: all manner of weapons, armor and other provisions to tackle your opponents (CPU or vs. 2nd player) in the arena. This really lends to the feeling that the game is unique to YOU, not just another button-mashing affair.
One of the other things that made M.O.M. ahead of it's time is an attempt to create depth by introducing the notion of scale: you can move your character
around on the larger-scale map (and even launch certain types of long range attacks) and when you move within close range of your target, the arena is re-scaled into a "close quarters" view that comprises the bulk of the playing area.
The gameplay itself in combat is typical of top-down C64 slugfests in the spirit of other great titles like Archon (and I believe that some of the authors co-wrote for Archon) but it really is tops in this regard. Playing against your buddies really is a lot more fun after you've mastered the game and I can only imagine how much fun it would have been to play online back in the day.
If anyone from EA happens to read this review, I'm BEGGING you - please, please, PLEASE consider re-releasing this game! Trust me, you guys are sitting on a GOLDMINE! It just screams "game of the year" in 2006 as much (or even more!) than it would have back when it was released! It really is a classic game that truly deserves the cult following it has and makes the C64 platform worth playing even in the present day.
