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.

Enemies

Enemy	Name	Description
	Bird (Badora in Japan)	Flies vertically or horizontally, but constantly seeks towards Jack. 1 will appear during the first 10 Rounds; after Round 10, 2 will appear. Movement speed increases throughout the game.
	Mummy (Nonon in Japan)	In early stages, they walk back and forth on platforms before falling over the edge; in later stages, they do not hesitate falling from the platform. Spawns in a spark from the left or right side in the stage's top section where Jack is not currently located. Transforms into one of these 5 enemies upon landing on the ground floor:
			Sphere (Ball A)	Bumps around mindlessly, trying to occupy the same vertical row as Jack. Floats up and down uncontrollably.
			UFO	Changes velocity upon hitting something. Moves travel fast if they are far from Jack, and slow when they are close.
			Orb (Ball B)	Slowly floats around, seeking Jack by being in his same horizontal row. Floats left and right uncontrollably.
			Horn	Bobs around the stage with no set intelligence. Caution: lack of attention holds a surprise despite its predictability.
			Club	Seeks Jack just like Spheres and Orbs, but controls their motion in any direction.

Items

Item	Name	Description
	Power Coin	Obtainable after meter filling the Bonus Multiplier 20 segments: unlit bombs by 1, and lit bombs by 2. Upon spawning, it bounces around the stage. Collecting it turns enemies into coins temporarily; the color changes by jumping or touching a wall or ceiling, determines the points upon collecting. Color Blue Red Pink Green Aqua Yellow Gray Points 100 200 300 500 800 1200 2000
	Coins	Collecting the Power Coin temporarily turns enemies into immobile collectable Coins that are removable. Each coin collected increases the points received from: 100, rising to 200, 300, 500, 800, 1200, and 2000; points given are also multiplied by the bonus multiplier. Coins will blink momentarily before reverting back into enemies.
	Bonus Coin	Obtainable every time the score reaches a multiple of 5,000, until the Bonus Multiplier reaches x5; each stage begins with a Bonus Multiplier of ×1; only 4 if them will ever appear per stage. Gives 1000 points and the multiplier will increase by one.
	Extra Coin	Obtainable when Jack has "killed" enough enemies by collecting them as Coins. Gives 3000 points, and an extra life.
	Special Coin	Extremely rare to obtain. Gives 5000 points, one free game, and automatically advances to the next stage.