24 replies to this topic

[chairmonkey4406]

I was just wondering what it was, theres a picture of the box in my High Score! Illustrated history of electronic games, but it doesnt say anything. What computer was it for?

[ApolloBoy]

M.U.L.E is a strategy game released in 1983 for the Atari 8-bit computers, the Commodore 64, (and I think) the Apple II. In the game, you and 3 other colonists are sent to the planet Irata (Atari backwards, get it?) for a year in order to colonize it. However, in order to colonize the planet, you must use robotic mules to gather equipment to get supplies (i.e food, energy, and smithore). It's actually a fun multiplayer game, and one member here (named Joe C.) is a big fan of the game. M.U.L.E was also released on the NES in 1990.

[chairmonkey4406]

Awesome! Is the NES one any good/possible to get a hold of? That's the only one of those that I have.

[ApolloBoy]

chairmonkey4406 said:

Awesome! Is the NES one any good/possible to get a hold of? That's the only one of those that I have.

The NES version's pretty much the same thing (I have it for the NES), except of course, it has better graphics and sound.

[chairmonkey4406]

cool, cool. There's one on EBAY for $.01 right now. I just might buy it...

[ApolloBoy]

chairmonkey4406 said:

cool, cool. There's one on EBAY for $.01 right now. I just might buy it...

Good choice. The strange thing is, my 10 year old brother seems to like it. But then again, I do too.

[Ze_ro]

The meat of this game is economics... you try to pick out good pieces of land that will produce resources for you, and you then buy from and sell to the three other settlers on the planet... whoever has made out the best at the end of the year wins. There's also some nifty stuff that happens, like storms that can damage lands, or you can catch the wumpus for a large prize. In a way, it's sort of comparable to Civilization or Harvest Moon... except of course that it's a lot simpler.

--Zero

[bjk7382]

So is it rare for 8 bit atari or what? I just did a simple search on ebay and didn't find one of them.

Does it come on a disk or a cart? I don't have a disk drive yet.

[bjk7382]

Well I just found the disk on ebay Untested for over 20 dollars. With some newbies bidding the shit out of it.

What is it worth for 8 bit, when I find a good one? (I will get a disk drive soon)

[Mayhem]

For some reason it sells quite highly on eBay. It's a good game, a classic, for some reason it is high in demand too

Complete C64 copies quite often go for $50+ on there...

[RCmodeler]

ApolloBoy said:

The NES version's pretty much the same thing (I have it for the NES), except of course, it has better graphics and sound.

Better sound than the Atari or Commodore computers? Fat chance! The Atari/C=64 sound chips are 8-bit synthesizers.

Graphics... yeah, NES is probably better.

[ApolloBoy]

RCmodeler said:

ApolloBoy said:

The NES version's pretty much the same thing (I have it for the NES), except of course, it has better graphics and sound.

Better sound than the Atari or Commodore computers? Fat chance! The Atari/C=64 sound chips are 8-bit synthesizers.

Graphics... yeah, NES is probably better.

Please ElectricTroy... er, I mean RCmodeler, let's not get into that again!

[Video]

I would have to agree with RCModeler on this one. Though it's not bad by any means, it just seemed to me it wasn't as good as the C64 music was. Oh, and on C64, the background is white, not yellow (never understood why not green?) But I think the graphics are almost spot on other than yellow grass instead of white.

Anyhow, I've always liked to compare M.U.L.E. to a lot of the popular Strategy games now days. Though it was mostly turnbased, I believe it inspired a lot of games like Simcity, Advancewars, Warcraft, etc. It's fun one playered, as the computer's quiet varied, but it's better with a friend.

[tyranthraxus]

I have the NES one. Its a good port and supports the four player
adapter. Graphics and sound are frankly crap for a 1990 NES game.
They are a slight improvement over the Atari/64 versions but not
much it looks like a quick port of an old game.

NES one is maybe $10 boxed. Atari (the original) & 64 sell for $50 & up.
EA's early games in the very cool LP style gatefold boxes are popular
items for computer game collectors. MULE was very popular in the
day but it was mainly through piracy. It sold well but its believed to be
one of the most pirated games of the 8-bit computers. So that notoriety
combined with it being an influential early multiplayer game makes it
an essential game for disk collectors.

John

[Albert]

Since no one's brought it up yet, here's a great site with tons of information on M.U.L.E. (which, incidentally, is one of my favorite Atari 8-bit games)..

World of M.U.L.E.

Enjoy!

..Al

[RCmodeler]

ApolloBoy said:

The NES version's pretty much the same thing (I have it for the NES), except of course, it has better graphics and sound.

Play Arkanoid on the C=64.
Play it on the NES.
It should be immdiately obvious which system has the best sound (C=64).


(I suspect the Atari Arkanoid is also superior in sound to NES.)



"The C64 version is the version of choice for our tournaments." -worldofmule.net

[ApolloBoy]

RCmodeler said:

ApolloBoy said:

The NES version's pretty much the same thing (I have it for the NES), except of course, it has better graphics and sound.

Play Arkanoid on the C=64.
Play it on the NES.
It should be immdiately obvious which system has the best sound (C=64).


(I suspect the Atari Arkanoid is also superior in sound to NES.)



"The C64 version is the version of choice for our tournaments." -worldofmule.net

I said it before, I DON'T want to get into this again.

[Mayhem]

Someone also told me (and I don't know if this is true) that another possible reason for the C64 version going so high is that it was EA's first ever game release on the machine. Or in general. Not sure which.

[tyranthraxus]

MayhemUK said:

Someone also told me (and I don't know if this is true) that another possible reason for the C64 version going so high is that it was EA's first ever game release on the machine. Or in general. Not sure which.

Hmm possible, I'd have to research that a bit. EAs original launch of their
company was games for the Atari 400/800. They then ported those
games to the 64. Some of those early games have more features on
the Atari than the Commodore. In EA's first Xmas season the company
almost folded because Atari had supply problems and Commodore
scooped the market with a cheaper system that was easy to get. The
Commodore market saved EA.

[vb_master]

I just beat M.U.L.E.! Pretty good game, I think

[Joe C.]

ApolloBoy said:

It's actually a fun multiplayer game, and one member here (named Joe C.) is a big fan of the game. M.U.L.E was also released on the NES in 1990.

I love the challenge of playing against 3 other opponents that really know the game.

In my opinion, the 8 bit version is so much more enjoyable than the NES version. I play my M.U.L.E. on a floppy disk for the Atari 800. I actually like the graphics and sound much better on the 8 bit.

You cant beat the Classic.

If you have yet to play it, give it a try.

[lhfreak]

I used to have M.U.L.E. back in the day for the C64. Awsome game. Years later (the game long gone) I managed to get a HUGE lot of 64 stuff. Included was this game with the original packaging and instructions, but the disk was just a copy....Not an original. So,.....sick twisted collector that I am, I am looking for just an original disk of it for the C64, just for the label..............sigh.......

[ROBOTRON]

MULE is the shizz...I play it all the time in my NES.

[diablomozart]

i've got it on an nes cart but i don't have an nes...bought it strictly cos of fond memories of playing it on the c64...killer game when you have two or more players...d.m.

[jeezy9]

ive yet to find another 4-player game better than MULE. Like Joe C said, when you get four people who really know the game, there isnt a better/more competitive and interactive game out there, for any system.

are there any real differences in the C64 version vs the 1050 disc drive on the 800?