Bomb Jack

The Good
The action is fast paced, with excitement building up extremely quickly, as you attempt to find a gap between the enemies in order to grab the remaining bombs. Controlling the character as he jumps and falls is crucial, and the margins of error are often slim. You need to plan a strategy and execute it perfectly, all in split-second precision.

The varied backdrops are pleasant, and well-implemented under the Spectrum's limited colour palette. The castle looks particularly impressive. This is easily the equal of Elite's excellent Commando conversions. Jack himself is a well-drawn sprite who moves dynamically and smoothly.

The game's design is extremely fair, as the enemies don't immediately take effect when activated, or as they return from having been tokens - meaning that every time you lose a life, you know it's your own fault.

The Bad
There's no simultaneous 2-player mode, and the death sequence isn't the same as in the arcade or ST versions.

The Bottom Line
Bomb Jack must jump around the levels clearing them of bombs, negotiating differing layouts of barriers and ledges, while avoiding the movement paths of the enemies (some of which have pre-programmed movement, while others are intelligent and home in on your position). Tapping the fire button produces a short jump, while pushing up as you do so produces a much larger one.

Power ups appear in the form of hexagons with a letter in - E grants an extra life, P turns the baddies into edible tokens, and B doubles the points value of the remaining bombs.

It's essentially a combination of ideas from Pacman, Kabooom! and Jumpman, but executed superbly and full of thrills. Tellingly both Tecmo (Mighty Bombjack) and Elite (Bombjack II) attempted to advance the game style, but both made a mess of its inherent simplistic beauty. This really is a game anyone who's halfway interested in retro games should play, one way or another (and if you're not, you might be after a few goes)