Bomb Jack
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| Bomb Jack | |
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| Developer(s) | Tehkan |
| Publisher(s) | Tehkan |
| Platform(s) | Arcade |
| Release date(s) | 1984 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, 2-player alternating |
| Cabinet | Upright/Table-Top |
| Display | Standard resolution raster |
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.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Ports
Bomb Jack was ported to various home computer systems from 1985 to 1992. A Java ME version 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: Java ME
- 2004: MSX
- 2008: Atari XL/XE
 Amstrad CPC version |
[edit] Trivia
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Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (December 2007) |
- 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. [1]
- 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.
- In the 1991 NES game Tecmo Super Bowl, the actual Super Bowl halftime show is in fact Bombjack.
[edit] External links
- Bomb Jack at the Killer List of Videogames
- Bomb Jack guide at StrategyWiki
- Bomb Jack at MobyGames
- Bomb Jack at World of Spectrum
- Zzap review
- Bomb Jack's "Plot"
