Bomb Jack

I have been a fan of Bomb Jack since my dad bought it for the Commodore 64 the better part of 30 years ago! Two things, one I am getting super old and two, Bomb Jack is a real classic and the version I am looking at today, the Game Boy version is a fine port of an arcade classic. This is a game that was ported to a ton of systems over the years and I think most of them are pretty decent to be fair.

Bomb Jack Saves The Day

The “story” of Bomb Jack is pretty simple. You play as a superhero called Bomb Jack and you need to defuse the bombs that have been set all over the world. That is pretty much it for the story, but as this was an arcade game from the 80s, we can forgive it for that.

The graphics are pretty decent for a Game Boy title. The missing color I will admit does make this one of the less impressive ports. However, for the Game Boy, I feel that they managed to capture the look of the arcade well enough. They even managed to have different backgrounds so it actually feels like you are going all over the world.

Simple, But Fun

The original Bomb Jack is a very simple game. I find this game to be very addictive, but I played it back in the 80s. From someone who is familiar with this game, Bomb Jack on the Gameboy holds up very well. Each level has a series of bombs and you have to collect/defuse them all while avoiding the enemies. You can get the bombs in any order you want, but you want to get them in the right order so you get the most point. The right order is the bombs that are flashing. The game has a few powerups one that gives you an extra life and another that turns the bad guys into coins. Each stage has a slightly different layout and you are never sure what order the bombs will flash in. That is all there is to Bomb Jack.

While I find it fun, if you have never played this before, you might find it a bit on the repetitive side. The Gameboy port of Bomb Jack plays really well. I found the controls to be responsive and using his super jump and controlling his flying, floating, or whatever you want to call it was nice and easy so I have no complaints from a gameplay point of view.

Pros:

• It is a great portable port of an arcade classic
• The visuals are pretty decent for Gameboy
• Catchy soundtrack
• The game is fun and challenging
• I liked how they had some of the background details from the arcade

Cons:

• The game might be a tad repetitive for people new to the game
• I wish they had a few more powerups