Nostalgic Game Design Focus - Bomb Jack

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Ah... From an era before false flag (government-organized) terrorist attacks messed up the new millennium comes this deceptively simple and yet challenging arcade title!

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Welcome. This is 'Nostalgic Game Design Focus' a series where I get to think back and comment upon games that I had played when I was much younger - mostly from a game-design perspective.

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Title: Bomb Jack

Publishers: Tekhan

Programmers: Paradox

Graphics: Elite/ Paradox

Music/ SFX: Mršic-Flögel, Janko

Released: 1984 (Ported to Atari in 1988)

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Like 'Space Harrier', 'Bomb Jack' was one of the four games that I got to play as it was included with the Atari ST(fm) Discovery Pack that me and my brother were gifted with one fine Christmas.

It was quickly apparent that this was one of the "simplest" games on the list - but it was very easy to get into - and that was good news as it was one of the only games on that computer that my mother was interested in trying out. I can think of no other title that drew her in.

Yes - that 'did' occasionally mean there was a little more competition in using that Atari (but it was rare - and so alright ;cP).

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Story and Objective

In 'Bomb Jack'... there is no story to speak of.

For some reason some antagonist decided that it would be a good idea to daisy-chain series of bombs across some of thee more scenic parts of the World.

Oh... and you play a character who 'kinda' is like superman... except that he cannot outrun a speeding bullet... nor is he made of steel... and neither does he have heat vision...

...but he can certainly leap high buildings with a single bound.... and glide... and diffuse bombs... somehow.

Well... that is 'Bomb Jack'.

As for the objective of the game - its to go through as many levels as possible, collecting/ diffusing bombs - and avoiding/ eliminating enemies.

Oh... and to get the high score.

Its simple but effective.

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Game Controls and Design

Controls are simple enough.

Fire to jump. Joystick movements to move left and right. Up to glide.

'Jack' has the ability to:

• Move, left and right.

• Jump

• Glide

• Collect/Diffuse Bombs

• Collect Power-Ups

Jumping - This is the primary mechanic of 'Jack'. He can move left and right on platforms but its when he is jumping that he is most mobile. Its also where the controls of 'Bomb Jack' shine through what seems to be a deceptively simple game. When you jump you can go as high as you'd like - right up to the ceiling of the level. You can choose to 'arrest' the jump at any time, and as you begin to fall you can 'arrest' your fall. Repeatedly arresting your fall produces a gliding effect where 'Jack' can swiftly move to the left and right, and diffuse bombs on the level.

Diffusing Bombs - When you collect the first bomb... a single uncollected bomb is lit. Collecting lit bombs provides more points than collecting unlit bombs... and so a player can choose their own level of difficulty to a degree.

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Level Design

The game features the same half-dozen back-drops but the foreground consists of platforms and walls - and the configurations of these (as well as the enemies) differ - providing a scaling-up challenge.

Furthermore, most enemies are spawned progressively, at the beginning of the level (or continuation following a 'death'). This also helps to regulate the difficulty and ensure that no level completely gets a player stuck (short of running out of lives).

Enemies:

This game features a number of distinct enemies - and each one has different behaviors.

They all seem kind of mechanical or alien - although its not ever specified.

• Grey Zombie Thingies - At the beginning of any stage these spawn from a high point in screen, and drop to platforms, where they typically walk left and right a couple of times before falling off to other platforms - or the ground. When they hit the ground they transform into any of the other enemies - other than 'birds'.

• Bird - These are the only kind of enemy that spawns from the beginning of the stage rather than from a grey zombie thingie.

• Bees - Hovering enemies that float up and down, slowly floating after 'Jack'.

• Electronic Discs - These attempt to fly straight at 'Jack' - at a speed relative to the distance between the point of last contact and the location of 'Jack'

• Hovering Balls - These also float and bounce off of walls, modifying their direction as they fly.

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Power-Ups

There are very few power ups in this game - but they are worth looking through.

• Bonus - A 'B' will sometimes float down and run left and right, kind of like the zombies do. Collecting these will provide bonus points - which are nice if one is pursuing high scores.

• Extra Lives - Every once in a while an 'E' will float down, much like the 'B' mentioned above. Collecting this adds an extra life - which is always nice.

• Power Disks - Can anybody say 'Pac Man'? These disks will occasionally zoom diagonally across a level. Collecting these turns all enemies into coins that can be collected for points, forcing enemies to respawn once the effect is over with. Come to think of it - the bomb arrangements 'do' kind of look 'Pac Man'ish.

Well, these power ups are more likely to show up if a player collects lit bombs. It adds reward to the challenge.

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To Conclude

While 'Bomb Jack' can certainly get repetitive (and, sad to say, the 'Atari/Amiga' ports of the game were lazy - lacking the music in the arcade - and looping just the same couple of short songs over and over again), and while the graphics were certainly nothing to write home about - the game still kind of gets away with it on the basis of its gameplay alone.

Kind of...

Still - it could have been so much better, with just the following improvements:

• More backdrop locations

• More music selections

• More 'story' - and progress towards that story. When one finishes a level one just moves on to the next level - with no sense of what good one has done in the World.

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Also - the arcade version features an incline in difficulty - especially from the 'birds' that hound you more incessantly with every 'power-up kill'.

Still - its got pretty good controls - and its not an unfair game. Mechanics wise - it works. And its pretty fun.

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Today I shall be including two videos.

One which focuses upon the Atari... Giving a very good representation of what that version was like.

And another one which features the Arcade version.

An insanely good player who I frankly half believe is related to Ultron - s/he is so dang efficient!

Yikes!

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I am far from having run down my fuse on this series of nostalgia-inducing posts. Every game seems to have a little something worthy of consideration - and its nice to see what designers in the past have done - and the ways that they went about solving design dilemmas.

Do you have any comments or feedback? I look forward to hearing any comments that you have in the discussion down below!

Also, if you found this post interesting and would like to share this with your followers and friends then a resteem is always appreciated.

Sincerely,

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