Bomb Jack - What works

[Darran@Retro Gamer]

What makes Bomb Jack such a great game?

[theantmeister]

Two words: Lady Madonna

[jdanddiet]

Its simplicity and playability. You think it's easy...but it's not!

[markopoloman]

It is just too bloody addictive. In the arcade I'd lose too much money, at home I had a C64 and that gets slaughtered by people for being mega chunky and ugly - but as it was the version I had to play, I loved it (and the music was brilliant too).

[r0jaws]

The constant striving to get a Perfect on each level to crush the spirits of your friends. The cheerful sprites and smooth frenetic action. The satisfaction of just squeezing past a particularly tricky mob of baddies to snatch the last bomb from underneath their noses. The victory dance at the end of each level.
Get the latest version on the MSX2, it's a treat.

Getting Perfect on the Spectrum HERE, Tricky.

[DreamcastRIP]

Getting Perfect on the Spectrum HERE, Tricky.

Except that isn't 100% 'perfect'. I only watched until the 2m15s mark but at approximately 2m10s you'll note the player misses collecting one of the bonuses from having killed the enemies. Train spotter award?

[r0jaws]

... Train spotter award?

Oh, go on then.

[Sputryk]

Speaking solely for the fabulous Speccy version: superb playability. Sure, it's only black graphics on a coloured background which graphics fascists won't accept; but so what. It is just so insanely playable - nothing else matters.

[Nemesis]

Simplicity & purity of the gameplay. Bombjack himself controls sublimely, whizzing around the screen, changing directions in mid air. If you lose a life you know it's your fault & not due to the game design itself.

[DreamcastRIP]

Speaking solely for the fabulous Speccy version: superb playability. Sure, it's only black graphics on a coloured background which graphics fascists won't accept; but so what. It is just so insanely playable - nothing else matters.

Simplicity & purity of the gameplay. Bombjack himself controls sublimely, whizzing around the screen, changing directions in mid air. If you lose a life you know it's your fault & not due to the game design itself.

Spot-on x 2!

The Speccy conversion of Bomb Jack, for me at least, remains one of the true timeless classics of 8-bit gaming. Right up there with the likes of Bubble Bobble and Tetris, imho.

[AmigaJay]

It's smooth, it's very playable (we are talking keyboard every time!) and it's very addictive!

[SirClive]

2 points make Bomb Jack almost the perfect platformer.
Firstly the tactics. The game can be played two ways, whether you play for levels or you play for score changes the game drastically.
Secondly the hover mechanic. This gives you such control over how Jacky flies around the screen that elevates the skill level and avoids the dreaded pixel-perfect jumps that plague other games.

[gmintyfresh]

I think the thing I like about bomjack is the sheer pace the game whips along at, jumping from platform to platform, avoiding enemies, and collecting items is a mental as well a physical test. Graphically those backgrounds are still striking and I love the vibrant colours,the game stands out for me when I think about it's comtempories.

[Morkin]

Being an utter wimp here, but those bird things are just so damn sinister. I haven't played Bomb Jack for what seems like twenty years & I'd forgotten how scary they were. When playing it again over the weekend I was reminded just how good the game still played.

[the_hawk]

To use a well worn cliché it's easy to pick up but difficult to master. Any fool can get into it, but if you've the skill, the hand-eye co-ordination,the patience, the time & put in the practice you can rack up those ridiculously high scores like stvd.

Also it's like Sir Clive said, there's something there for the high score chasers & something there for the level progressers.

Like the vast majority of games from the golden gaming era of the mid 80's, you don't have to plough through instruction manuals or sit through frustrating tutorials or mind numbing cut scenes. This would mean nothing of course if it wasn't for how goddamn fun it is to play.