Bomb Jack/Gameplay

Controls

 * Joystick: Use the joystick to control the movement of Jack. Press left or right to make Jack run in either direction, or to fall through the air in either direction.  Hold down to make Jack fall back down to the bottom of the screen faster, or hold up to enable Jack to jump higher than usual, to the top of the screen.
 * Jump: Press the jump button to make Jack jump. The longer the button is held down, the higher he will jump.  Jack will jump even higher if you hold the joystick up while jumping.  Once airborne, tap the jump button once to make Jack stop rising in air.  Tap the jump button repeatedly to make him descend slowly to the ground.
 * 1-2 Players: Press either button to begin a one or two player game.

Player
You control Jack throughout the game. Jack's one and only mission is to collect all of the bombs in the stage before moving on to the next and collecting more. In his way will be several enemies which will seek to stop him. Jack will lose one life any time he comes into contact with any of the enemies. There is no time limit, so Jack can take as long as he needs to clear the stage. However, the longer you wait, the more likely it is that the enemies will overwhelm him. Jack can turn the tables on his enemies by collecting a power coin, which will temporarily turn all of the enemies into coins which he can collect. Whether Jack earns extra lives by reaching certain point values is operator controlled in the arcades, and is usually turned off.

Bombs
Bombs are the focus of Jacks objective. In order to clear each stage, he must simply collect all 24 bombs that are scattered around the screen. However, once Jack touches the first bomb, the wick of one of the other 23 bombs around the stage will light up. Whenever a lit bomb is collected, another bomb lights up. From this point on, Jack can collect more points by focusing his efforts on the lit bombs. And Jack can earn a substantial stage completion bonus if he collects 20 or more lit bombs within a single stage. Unlit bombs are worth 100 points, and lit bombs, which stay lit indefinitely and never explode, are worth 200 points. At the end of the stage, if Jack collects 20 lit bombs, he will earn a 10,000 point bonus. If he collects 21 lit bombs, the bonus is 20,000 points. 22 lit bombs earns him a 30,000 point bonus, and if Jack manages to collect all 23 lit bombs, he will earn a whopping 50,000 point bonus.

Birds
Birds (or Badoras in Japan) are found in every stage. For the first ten rounds, only one will appear. After Round 10, two will be present on the stage. They can only fly vertically or horizontally, but they constantly seek to close the distance between them and Jack's current position. Keep moving if you want to avoid them; they will find you eventually if you stand still for too long. Their speed will increase throughout the game.

Mummies
Mummies (or Nonons in Japan) appear in a flash of light from two high positions in each stage, one on the left, and one of the right. They will appear on whatever half of the screen Jack is not currently in. Early on, they will walk back and forth on platforms before falling over the edge. When they fall to the ground, they transform into one of the enemies below. In later stages, they do no hesitate to walk off the edge.