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.