Manufacturer: 
Year: 1993
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Anyone does remind Bomb Jack? A true arcade classic: a masked super-hero wearing a red cloth and blue cloak. Here we're going to talk about the NMK version, called Bomb Jack Twins. Same gameplay and characters, though having brand news graphics and a bonus-game in which we have to collect as many bombs as possible (better if lit) within a certain amount of time. The main character can move in air, make really high jumps and stand in air for some time, and his aim is to collect 24 bombs per each stage. An army of enemy robots try to stop him. Bombs are grouped both horizontally and vertically, and the placement varies as stages pass
by. At first none of them are lit, but as Bomb Jack gets the first one, suddenly some bomb lits. Strangely enough, bombs
will NEVER explode: if you get the lit bomb you'll just score more points than getting normal ones. Get it and another one
lits, and so on... |
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Apart from different bombs placement, each stage is different in background graphics. Many are available, and they show various locations from all over the world. In a sorta "world tour" we can even choose where in the world we're gonna start our adventure. At the end of the stage we'll try the bonus-game to score a lot of points. Lit bombs are worth 200 points; normal ones 100 points. Each score multiplied for a value shown in a lighting indicator placed below high-scores. At first this value is 1, but it can be increased to 5 by getting flashing coins labeled B (B as Bonus obviously!) which sometimes appear across the screen. Killing robots also is worth some points (read below), and even jumping (10 points per jump). More coins: E (extra) gives an additional live; P (power ball) transforms enemies in golden coins (worth 100 to 2000 points). When a stage is complete - except the one having the bonus-game after - we'll also receive a bonus score: 50.000 points if you got 23 lit bombs; 30.000/22 lit bombs; 20.000/21 lit bombs; 10.000/20 lit bombs. The game has no ending: after completing all 14 rounds it will start again. No rest for super-heroes! |
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Ratings
PRESENTATION: 71%
Nice attract-mode and nice
instructions. Quite hard to
manage controllers
though.
GRAPHICS: 85%
Well drawn sprites. Superb animations!
SOUND: 78%
Funny tunes fill our ears
while playing.
ORIGINALITY: 10%
Well... that's a carbon copy of
Bomb Jack - having very little
innovations.
HOOKABILITY: 50%
The character should be a
guarantee for fun but...
that's not it!
LASTABILITY: 41%
Quite hard to master... this
might cause frustration.
A more balanced difficulty would
have helped a lot, making this
game even better than his
predecessor.
I have to admit I've never been a Bomb
Jack fanatic, but this time I say that sound and graphics are really hooking.
After playing it for a while I felt a bit disappointed at such low playability: it seems too much hard (even in the very first
rounds) and it soon becomes almost impossible in further rounds. I had to become much confident with controls before having fun
with it, but as soon as the enemies increase in number, player has to complete the level as soon as possible without caring of
getting bombs in the correct order. The character will soon be entangled by robots, having no chance to move, and if no "Power
Ball" comes around by chance, he'll soon die.
Finally, lets say that the game is entertaining, and you'll probably enjoy it if you will dare to continue after the early
failures. Funny for a while. A must-try, but not everlasting!
Great graphics and funny sound tunes won't
make me forget about the sense of frustration I felt as I first played it... and as I lastly played it! This had to be the
masterpiece sequel of one of my best favourite coin-op classics... but it's real rubbish. Skilled graphicians like those had to
put their efforts on some better videogame... I hope I won't see such sillinesses again. NMK, don't try again please! Now let me
go play the old C64 version...
I believe I've never failed so much in a
videogame, in my long-time videogamer career! Fifty... maybe sixty lives lost within the first fifteen levels! I swear I wondered
what would have happened if someone were playing it on a real arcade game... the answer: "who's gonna be such fool to play it
twice?"It's not just difficult (jumping around and getting bombs - as shown in the intro - should be quite easy isn't it?), it's all about the enormous number of foes: they populate the entire game screen after a while (damned "Power Ball" - get it or pray you won't be gotten by robots!)
What a pity! Sound tunes and effects are really well done (I'm rarely such satisfied with those things in videogames!) and background and sprites graphics are wonderful... even though backgrounds often mess with enemy robots making them almost invisible, eventually appearing as parts of the platforms (for example that damned bridge in the background: it looks like we can walk on it for real... causing the loss of some lives). This all hurts playability.
The game is very nice but frustrating (I'm very little patient too - that's true) ... I believe I'll never play it anymore...
