''Bomb Jack'' is a

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system or ...

video game developed and published by

Tehkan , was a Japanese video game corporation founded in 1967. It had its headquarters in Kudankita, Chiyoda, Tokyo. Its subsidiary, Tecmo Inc, was located in Torrance, California. Tecmo was formerly known as Tehkan. Tecmo is known for the ''Captain ...

for arcades in and later ported to various home systems. The game was a commercial success for arcades and home computers. It was followed by several sequels: the console and computer title '' Mighty Bomb Jack'', the arcade game ''

Bomb Jack Twin ''Bomb Jack'' is a platform video game developed and published by Tehkan for arcades in and later ported to various home systems. The game was a commercial success for arcades and home computers. It was followed by several sequels: the console a ...

'', and ''Bomb Jack II'' which was licensed for home computers only.

Gameplay

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 Extra or Xtra may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film * ''The Extra'' (1962 film), a Mexican film * ''The Extra'' (2005 film), an Australian film Literature * ''Extra'' (newspaper), a Brazilian newspaper * ''Extra!'', an American me ...

) 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 to 23 lit bombs in a row, out of the 24 bombs of each round.

Ports

* 1985:

SG-1000 The is a home video game console manufactured by Sega. It was Sega's first entry into the home video game hardware business. Developed in response to a downturn in arcades starting in 1982, the SG-1000 was created on the advice of Hayao Nakay ...

PC-88 The , commonly shortened to PC-88, are a brand of Zilog Z80-based 8-bit home computers released by Nippon Electric Company (NEC) in 1981 and primarily sold in Japan. The PC-8800 series sold extremely well and became one of the three major Japane ...

* 1986:

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sin ...

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...

ZX Spectrum The ZX Spectrum () is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer that was developed by Sinclair Research. It was released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and became Britain's best-selling microcomputer. Referred to during development as t ...

Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...

* 1988:

Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

* 1992:

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

* 1996:

PC-98 The , commonly shortened to PC-98 or , is a lineup of Japanese 16-bit and 32-bit personal computers manufactured by NEC from 1982 to 2000. The platform established NEC's dominance in the Japanese personal computer market, and, by 1999, more ...

* 2003:

Java ME Java Platform, Micro Edition or Java ME is a computing platform for development and deployment of portable code for embedded and mobile devices (micro-controllers, sensors, gateways, mobile phones, personal digital assistants, TV set-top ...

The Commodore 64 version uses

Jean-Michel Jarre Jean-Michel André Jarre (; born 24 August 1948) is a French composer, performer and record producer. He is a pioneer in the electronic, ambient and new-age genres, and is known for organising outdoor spectacles featuring his music, accompanie ...

's '' Magnetic Fields Part II''.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Bomb Jack'' on their May 15, 1984 issue as being the third most-successful table arcade unit of the month. The game topped the UK all-formats software sales chart in April 1986. On the machine-specific charts the C64 version reached number 1, while the Spectrum version was kept off the top of the Spectrum charts by ''

Green Beret The green beret was the official headdress of the British Commandos of the Second World War. It is still worn by members of the Royal Marines after passing the Commando Course, and personnel from other units of the Royal Navy, Army and RAF wh ...

''. Two years later, ''Bomb Jack'' returned to the top of the UK all-formats sales chart when it was re-released on the ''Encore'' budget label. ''

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch su ...

'' magazine gave the Sinclair ZX Spectrum version a 92% rating with the comment "a great arcade conversion, don't miss it", while ''

Zzap!64 ''Zzap!64'' was a computer games magazine covering games on the Commodore International series of computers, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazine ...

'' was less enthusiastic for the Commodore 64 version giving it 47%. ''

Commodore User ''Commodore User'', known to the readers as the abbreviated ''CU'', was one of the oldest British Commodore magazines. With a publishing history spanning over 15 years, it mixed content with technical and video game features. Incorporating ''Vic ...

'' 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.

Legacy

Sequels

''Bomb Jack II'' is a licensed follow-up developed for 8-bit home computers by the British games publisher

Elite Systems Elite Systems is a British video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. It is known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games. Elite also published compilations of games on the Hit-Pak ...

in 1986. The game went to number 2 in the UK sales charts, behind '' Leaderboard''. '' Mighty Bomb Jack'' was released in

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. The game was largely identical to the original game in almost all factors, except that the same screen layouts from the first game in the same sequence were now linked in a map-like continuous form by scrolling passages. ''Mighty Bomb Jack'' got less favorable reviews than the original game. ''Bomb Jack Twin'' was released in

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peace ...

by NMK. In this version, two players could play simultaneously.

Re-releases

* 2004:

PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 (PS2) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was first released in Japan on 4 March 2000, in North America on 26 October 2000, in Europe on 24 November 2000, and in Australia on 3 ...

(''Tecmo Hit Parade'') * 2005:

Xbox Xbox is a video gaming brand created and owned by Microsoft. The brand consists of five video game consoles, as well as applications (games), streaming services, an online service by the name of Xbox network, and the development arm by the na ...

(''

Tecmo Classic Arcade ''Tecmo Classic Arcade'' is a collection of classic Tecmo arcade games for the Microsoft Xbox. This collection was released on September 13, 2005 in the U.S., October 21, 2005 in Europe and October 27, 2005 in Japan, and contains all of the games ...

'') * 2007:

Wii Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

(NES version) * 2009:

(Arcade version) * 2012:

3DS Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

(NES version) * 2014:

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013 in ...

(''

Arcade Archives is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows, and Nintendo Switch, published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called is focused on rereleasing Neo Geo ...

''),

Wii U Virtual Console A virtual console (VC) – also known as a virtual terminal (VT) – is a conceptual combination of the keyboard and display for a computer user interface. It is a feature of some Unix-like operating systems such as Linux, BSD, illumos, Unix ...

(NES version) *2019:

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

(Arcade Archives)

References

External links

''Bomb Jack''
at the Amiga Hall of Light

at Atari Mania * *{{lemon64 game, id=331, name=Bomb Jack 1984 video games Amiga games Amstrad CPC games Arcade video games Atari ST games Commodore 16 and Plus/4 games Commodore 64 games Game Boy games Mobile games NEC PC-8801 games NEC PC-9801 games Nintendo Switch games Platform games PlayStation 4 games SG-1000 games Koei Tecmo franchises Tecmo games Virtual Console games ZX Spectrum games Video games about bomb disposal Video games developed in Japan Video games scored by Alberto Jose González Video games scored by Mark Cooksey Video games set in Greece Video games set in Egypt Video games set in Miami Video games set in Germany Video games set in California Java platform games Hamster Corporation games