This is probably the first ever computer game which rose to the level of obsession, thanks in part to a Bomb Jack competition that was held in the mid-80’s by Computer Point, the dealer for ZX Spectrum+.
The premise is simple. Bomb Jack is a standard platformer, which just three controls: Left, Right and Jump. You play the titular Bomb Jack, a cape-wearing bomb defuser, who has to defuse a set of bombs to get through each level. There are several baddies resembling thugs, insects and UFOs which Bomb Jack has to avoid while collecting (defusing) bombs.
The levels feature bright colourful landmarks as backgrounds:
- The Sphinx, with the Pyramid of Giza in the background
- The Acropolis
- A medieval castle, probably Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany
- A modern cityscape, likely Wall Street in New York
- An open field under a dark evening sky
On each of these backgrounds, a set of platforms and bombs are arranged. There are about 12 different patterns for the platforms. The backgrounds start repeating after the five above, and the platforms after the 12 are exhausted. The pace of the game increases in the higher levels, and the baddies also get faster, making the gameplay progressively more challenging.
A few bonuses are also available:
- One is a spinning “P”, which freezes all the baddies for a few seconds, so Bomb Jack can remove them. Of course, they start respawning after the few seconds are done. There are always two P’s on each level. One when you’re midway to clearing the bombs, and one when there is exactly one bomb left.
- An “E”, which gives an extra life. This one shows up at random.
- A “B” which gives extra points. This one is random too. But beware, there can only be one bonus on screen. If you don’t collect the “B” or “E”, no “P”s are forthcoming.
There is always one bomb which has a lit fuse. Capturing all the lit-fuse bombs, in order, gives a huge bonus at the end of the level.
This game was a huge obsession, and I’ve sunk uncountable hours into mastering this. Of all the games on the Spectrum, this was one of the most fast-paced and responsive, with very smooth graphics. It is still amazing that all this was achieved on an 8-bit computer with a measly 48K of RAM.
Absolute gold!