Bomb Jack

Bomb Jack is an arcade platform game originally released by Tehkan (now Tecmo) in 1984. You control Jack, a cape-wearing superhero who can perform high jumps and float mid-air. The goal of each screen is to collect all 24 red bombs scattered across the level. A distinctive gameplay mechanic involves collecting bombs in a specific lit-fuse sequence: touching one bomb lights another's fuse, and collecting 20 or more bombs in the correct order awards a significant bonus. Power-ups appear regularly: a "B" increases your score multiplier up to 5x, a "P" turns all enemies into bonus coins, and an "E" grants an extra life. Enemies include birds, mummies, turtles, and orbs that float around; if they reach the bottom of the screen, they mutate into faster, more dangerous forms like flying saucers. There are five different screens in the game, each featuring a distinct background and set of platforms (the fifth has no platforms at all).

Arcade

Released worldwide in March 1984 by Tehkan, designed by Michitaka Tsuruta and Kazutoshi Ueda. The arcade hardware runs on a Zilog Z80 main CPU at 4 MHz, with a second Z80 for audio at 3.072 MHz, and three AY-3-8910A sound chips. Music was composed by Tsukasa Masuko. Display resolution is 256x224 with a vertical raster orientation. Controls use an 8-way joystick and a single jump button. The game supports single-player or two players alternating turns. In Japan, Game Machine listed Bomb Jack as the third most successful table arcade unit of May 1984. The game topped the UK all-formats software sales chart in April 1986.