Bomb Jack
| Bomb Jack | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) | Tehkan |
| Publisher(s) | Tehkan |
| Designer(s) | Michitaka Tsuruta Kazutoshi Ueda |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Various |
| Release date(s) | 1984 |
| Genre(s) | Platform game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, 2-player alternating |
| Cabinet | Upright/Table-Top |
| Arcade system | Main CPUs: Z80 (4MHz) |
| Sound | Sound CPU: Z80 (3.072MHz) Sound Chips: 3 × AY-3-8910A (1.5MHz) |
| Display | Standard resolution raster Video: 256×224 60Hz |
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 and Bomb Jack II, which was licensed for home computers only. The highest known score was by Mr G Jones from London: 6 746 800.
Bomb Jack is a hero who can perform high jumps and float in the air. His goal is to collect all red bombs on the screen. The game's antagonists are enemies such as birds and mummies which, once they drop in the bottom of the screen, can morph into things like flying saucers and orbs that float around the screen, making Jack lose a life if he touches them. Collecting bombs will increase the bonus meter at the top of the screen (collecting lit bombs increases it more). When the meter is completely filled up, a circular bouncing "P" appears, and when collected, it will turn all the enemies into bonus coins for a short period during which Jack may collect them. Other similar bonuses are the B (Bonus) which increases the score multiplier (up to 5x), the E (Extra) which gives an extra life, and the rare S (Special), which awards a free game. There are five different screens in the game, each featuring a distinct scheme of platforms (the fifth has no platforms at all). There is a special bonus for collecting 21 or more lit bombs in a row, out of the 24 bombs of each round.
Bomb Jack was ported to various home computer systems from 1985 to 2009. A Java ME version was published in 2003.
The Spectrum version of the game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind Green Beret.
Crash magazine gave the Sinclair ZX Spectrum version a 92% rating with the comment "A great arcade conversion, don’t miss it", while Zzap!64 was less enthusiastic for the Commodore 64 version giving it 47%.Commodore User gave the Amiga version 6 out of 10 citing that the Amiga should be well capable of doing better on a then four-year-old arcade game. The Commodore 64 version used Jean-Michel Jarre's Magnetic Fields Part II.
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