Bomb Jack II
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Having saved the world in the first game, Bomb Jack is out to collect as much gold as possible, which is lying on a number of ledges. These vary between open and shut - the open ones offer more points, and an extra life is on offer for collecting 10 in a row, so if possible the route should take in the open ones in order.
Gameplay differs from the original, in that Bombjack's movement is no longer free and self-propelled. Instead, he moves flick-style between ledges, so long as one is directly within one of the 4 compass directions. Baddies can be pushed off ledges, but this uses up some of Jack's limited energy.
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Average score: 64% (based on 12 ratings)
Players
Average score: 2.7 out of 5 (based on 14 ratings with 1 reviews)
A completely ill-conceived sequel, with none of the thrills of the original
The Good
It was a respectable platform beat 'em up in its own right, and if you could adjust to the slightly distant, robotic feel, getting a reasonable distance through the game was feasible.
The Bad
The flick-movement removes all the skill of thrusting across the screen into position trying to avoid the enemies. The enemies staying on a particular ledge for so long (usually long enough to clear the earlier levels) reduces the gameplay to an exercise in timing. The power-ups, which added such variety to the game as you tried to dodge across to them without hitting an enemy, are gone completely.
The combat with enemies is completely under-exploited - you can't really see the action as they meet, and the only dominant strategy is to hop onto the platform as the guarding enemy heads towards the edge, and then shove him. The instructions completely fail to explain it properly either
Unless you’re conquered by greed, picking up moneybags will have less emotional gravitas than diffusing bombs.
The graphics are now full of clash and very indistinct, even though the converted original managed great detail and clarity, with a much more complex game – the only possible explanation is rank incompetence.
The Bottom Line
Bomb Jack was a very difficult game to improve on, but this is not the right way. Everything that was great about the original has been scuppered here. No wonder they saw fit to pad the release out by giving the first one away, and no wonder it was the first game, and not this, which was later converted to the then-new ST.
ZX Spectrum · by Martin Smith (81664) · 2004
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Martin Smith.
Amstrad CPC added by B.L. Stryker. Commodore 16, Plus/4 added by Kabushi.
Game added October 12, 2004. Last modified February 22, 2023.