Bomb Jack

Infobox VG
title = Bomb Jack


developer = Tehkan
publisher = Tehkan
designer =
engine =
release = 1984
genre = Platform game
modes = Single player, 2-player alternating
cabinet = Upright/Table-Top
arcade system =
display = Standard resolution raster
input =
platforms = Arcade

"Bomb Jack" is an arcade platform game that was released in 1984 by Tehkan (known today as "Tecmo"). It was followed by two official sequels, the console and computer title "Mighty Bomb Jack", and the arcade game "Bomb Jack Twin". There was also "Bomb Jack II", a licensed follow-up developed for 8-bit home computers by the European games publisher Elite Systems.

Plot and gameplay

The player controls Jack, a superhero who can leap and glide. Someone has planted 24 bombs at famous tourist sites (the Sphinx and Great Pyramids, the Acropolis, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, and two cityscapes resembling Miami Beach and Hollywood, which appear only as screen backgrounds rather than unique game locations). Jack must fly around the screen to collect the bombs. Each screen uses a different configuration of platforms upon which Jack may run and jump. Eventually, the levels reoccur a number of times with increasing difficulty.

Jack "defuses" the bombs by simply touching them. As soon as he has touched the first, he triggers a sequence in which another bomb's fuse lights up, and so on. A player can score a bonus in each round by touching 20 or more bombs in the correct lit-fuse sequence. Jack may also defuse an unlit bomb by touching it, but this impedes his opportunity to score the bonus for that screen. It also delays the appearance of the game's bonuses and power-ups.

The lit fuses have no strategic purpose other than the bonus; a lit bomb left unattended does not explode.

Enemies such as birds, mummies, turtles, and orbs float around the screen, making Jack lose a life if he touches them. A circle-shaped bouncing P will, when collected, render all the enemies helpless for a short period in which Jack may kill them. Other similar bonuses are the B, giving extra points, the E, giving an extra life, and the rare S, giving an extra game.

Ports

"Bomb Jack" was ported to various home computer systems from 1985 to 1992. A J2ME was published on 2003.

* 1985: Sega SG-1000
* 1986: Amstrad CPC, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 16
* 1988: Atari ST, Amiga
* 1992: Game Boy
* 2003: J2ME
* 2008: Atari XL/XE

Trivia

* Round 1 music is the ending song from the Japanese animated cartoon series Spoon Obasan, sung by Mari Iijima. Round 2 was set to the music of the Beatles' "Lady Madonna," which had been licensed by Tehkan.
* Giauco Bondavalli holds the official record for this game with a maximum possible 20, 010, 960 points. [http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=3662&vi=667]
* Alfa Records released a limited-edition soundtrack album for this game (Tecmo Game Music - 28XA-95) on 25/09/1986.
* The Commodore 64 version played Magnetic Fields Part 2 by Jean Michel Jarre for certain levels of the game.
* On some models there was a typo upon collecting the S bonus. Instead of saying "You are Lucky!" it said "You are Lucy!"
* In the 1991 NES game Tecmo Super Bowl, the actual Super Bowl halftime show is in fact Bombjack.

External links

*KLOV game|id=7180
*moby game|id=/bomb-jack|name="Bomb Jack"
*WoS_game|id=0000617
* [http://www.classicgaming.com/amigareviews/bombjack.htm Zzap review]
* [http://www.fustar.info/2008/01/08/a-lit-bomb-left-unattended-does-not-explode/ "Bomb Jack"'s "Plot"]
* [http://www.myspeccy.com/en/games/bomb-jack "Bomb Jack" at MySpeccy.com]