BombJack

Tehkan, 1984

Screen orientation: Vertical
Pinout: Tehkan
Players: 1 or 2, taking turns
Buttons: 1 (jump)
DIP switch settings

You control BombJack, and have to collect all the bombs on the screen to advance to the next one. One of the bombs has a burning fuse, and if you collect it, the fuse on another bomb will start burning. Collect all the bombs in the correct order for large bonuses. Out to kill you are mummies, mechanical birds, black spheres and other nasties. You can collect 'B's for extra bonus, and when you've collected some bombs, a 'P' will start bouncing around the screen. Touch it, and you can give the nasties a taste of their own medicine.

HINTS:
  • Watch the meter at the top of the screen, at both sides of the bonus (barely visible in the second screenshot above). It grows whenever you take a firebomb or two normal bombs. When it's full, the 'P' will appear.
  • A 'B' will appear for every 5000 points you get, with a maximum of five 'B's per level.
  • There is a fixed number of patterns for the bombs, and these are repeated on later levels. Try to find a good route that lets you collect all the firebombs without having to move too much over the screen.
  • You seem to be able to control where the mechanical bird will appear: If you hold the joystick to the right when the level starts or you've just died, the bird appears to the left and vice versa

    TRIVIA:
    This is one of the few arcade games where you can get extra credits. This is done by catching the 'S' coin that sometimes appears on the screen. This doesn't happen very often, and I don't know if it's just luck or if the chances are greater if you do anything specific (except changing the DIP switches, of course).

    PELLE'S COMMENT:
    An old classic which is very fun to play, despite it's simplicity. One of my favourites.

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