Bounty Bob Strikes Back!

Last updated
Bounty Bob Strikes Back!
Bounty bob strikes back.jpg
Developer(s) Big Five Software
Publisher(s)
Programmer(s) Bill Hogue
Artist(s) Curtis Mikolyski
Bill Hogue
Platform(s) Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro
Release1985: Atari 8-bit, [1] 5200, C64, CPC, Spectrum
Genre(s) Platform
Mode(s) Single-player

Bounty Bob Strikes Back! is the sequel to Miner 2049er published in 1985 [1] for Atari 8-bit computers. The game adds a pseudo-3D look to the platforms and increases the level count from 10 to 25. As with the original, the Atari 8-bit version was released on ROM cartridge. [2] A port for the Atari 5200 was released the same year, followed by versions for the Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum also in 1985.

Contents

In 2001, [lower-alpha 1] Bill Hogue, the game's developer, released the game and its prequel, Miner 2049er, for free online with an embedded Atari 8-bit computer emulator. [4]

Gameplay

Atari 8-bit gameplay Bounty Bob Strikes Back! Atari 8-bit PAL screenshot.png
Atari 8-bit gameplay

Gameplay is similar to Miner 2049er in that the player must inspect every section of 25 mines while avoiding mutants within a set time. One difference from the original game is that after losing a life, sections on platforms remain covered and destroyed enemies do not reappear, thus making it easier to complete a level.

Development

Following the critical and financial success of his game Miner 2049er , programmer Bill Hogue began work on a game titled Scraper Caper which would have Bounty Bob become a fire fighter. Following a lot of advertising, the game was never released. Hogue would work on his next game Bounty Bob Strikes Back. [5]

The game featured enhancements from the first game, such as a slight 3D effect on the platforms to add dpeth and that when the player loses a life, they did not lose all the progress in their gameplay. [5] The game also expanded on the amount of levels, having 25 over the originals 10. [6]

On Atari systems, it is a bank-switched cartridge of 40KB total program and data mapped onto 16KB of address space. [7] [1]

The game was shown at the January 1985 CES and then in April 1985 ads began appearing in magazines. [1]

Reception

The game reached number nine on Billboard's list of top-selling entertainment computer software in June 1985, [8] despite clocking in at a hefty $49.95 (equivalent to $142in 2023). [1]

In Steve Panak's column for ANALOG Computing , he found the large number of screens and the different elements in them to be a strong point: "It is this variety which saves Bob from mediocrity." [9] He didn't like the unskippable animations when a new entry is added to the high score table, especially as the scores only persist until the computer is turned off.

In the final issue of Your Sinclair , the ZX Spectrum version was ranked number 56 on "The Your Sinclair Official Top 100 Games of All Time." [10] In 2004, the ZX Spectrum version was voted the 19th best game of all time by Retro Gamer readers in an article originally intended for a special issue of Your Sinclair bundled with Retro Gamer. [11]

Legacy

On reflecting on the sequel, Hogue said thought it was a great follow-up to the original game, but "perhaps not the groundbreaking game we wanted it to be and I guess that still disappoints me." [5]

Notes

  1. ↑ The first version of the emulator, published in 2001, contains the "20010720" timestamp on its "Help/About..." window. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ZX Spectrum</span> 1982 series of home computers

The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit home computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research. It is one of the most influential computers ever made, and it is also one of the best selling computers ever, with over five million units sold. It was first released in the United Kingdom on 23 April 1982, and around the world in the following years, most notably in Europe, the United States, and Eastern Bloc countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atari 8-bit computers</span> Home computer series introduced in 1979

The Atari 8-bit computers, formally launched as the Atari Home Computer System, are a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 with the Atari 400 and Atari 800. It is the first home computer architecture with coprocessors, enabling more advanced graphics and sound than most of its contemporaries. Video games are key to its software library, and the 1980 first-person space combat simulator Star Raiders is considered the platform's killer app.

<i>Jet Set Willy</i> 1984 platform video game

Jet Set Willy is a platform video game originally written by Matthew Smith for the ZX Spectrum home computer. It was published in 1984 by Software Projects and ported to most home computers of the time.

<i>Miner 2049er</i> 1982 video game

Miner 2049er is a platform game developed for Atari 8-bit computers by Bill Hogue and released by his company, Big Five Software, in 1982. The player controls Bounty Bob through multiple levels of a mine, with the goal of traversing all of the platforms while avoiding or defeating enemy mutants. At a time when "climbing games" such as Donkey Kong had four screens, Miner 2049er had ten.

<i>Manic Miner</i> 1983 video game

Manic Miner is a platform game written for the ZX Spectrum by Matthew Smith. It was published by Bug-Byte in 1983, then later the same year by Software Projects. The first game in the Miner Willy series, the design was inspired by Miner 2049er (1982) for the Atari 8-bit family. Retro Gamer called Manic Miner one of the most influential platform games of all time, and it has been ported to numerous home computers, video game consoles, and mobile phones.

<i>Realm of Impossibility</i> 1983 video game

Realm of Impossibility is an action game created by Mike Edwards for Atari 8-bit computers and published by Electronic Arts in 1984. It was originally released in 1983 as Zombies and published by BRAM, a company formed by Edwards and a friend. BRAM previously developed and published Attack at EP-CYG-4.

<i>Ghostbusters</i> (1984 video game) 1984 video game

Ghostbusters is a licensed game by Activision based on the film of the same name. It was designed by David Crane and released for several home computer platforms in 1984, and later for video game console systems, including the Atari 2600, Master System and Nintendo Entertainment System. The primary target was the Commodore 64 and the programmer for the initial version of the game was Adam Bellin. All versions of the game were released in the USA except for the Amstrad CPC and ZX Spectrum versions, which were released only in Europe, and the MSX version, which was released only in Europe, South America, and Japan.

<i>Chuckie Egg</i> 1983 video game

Chuckie Egg is a video game released by A&F Software in 1983 initially for the ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, and Dragon 32/64. It was ported to the Commodore 64, Acorn Electron, MSX, Tatung Einstein, Amstrad CPC, and Atari 8-bit family. It was later updated for the Amiga, Atari ST, and IBM PC compatibles.

<i>Ace of Aces</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Ace of Aces is a combat flight simulation video game developed by Artech Digital Entertainment and published in 1986 by Accolade in North America and U.S. Gold in Europe. It was released for the Amstrad CPC, Atari 8-bit family, Atari 7800, Commodore 64, MSX, MS-DOS, Master System, and ZX Spectrum. Set in World War II, the player flies a RAF Mosquito long range fighter-bomber equipped with rockets, bombs and a cannon. Missions include destroying German fighter planes, bombers, V-1 flying bombs, U-boats, and trains. In 1988 Atari Corporation released a version on cartridge styled for the then-new Atari XEGS.

<i>Trailblazer</i> (video game) 1986 video game

Trailblazer is a racing video game developed by Mr. Chip Software and published by Gremlin Graphics for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 8-bit family, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 16/Plus/4 in 1986. It was ported to the Amiga and Atari ST.

<i>Beach Head II: The Dictator Strikes Back</i> 1985 video game

Beach Head II: The Dictator Strikes Back is a 1985 video game for the Commodore 64, a sequel to Beach Head, developed and published by Access Software. It was designed by Bruce Carver and his brother, Roger, and was released for the Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and ZX Spectrum.

Happy drives are series of disk drive enhancements for the Atari 8-bit and Atari ST computer families produced by a small company Happy Computers. Happy Computers is most noted for the add-in boards for the Atari 810 and Atari 1050 disk drives, which achieved a tremendous speed improvement for reading and writing, and for the ability to "back up" floppies. Happy's products were among the most popular Atari computer add-ons. They were still in use and active in the aftermarket as of 2009.

<i>Into the Eagles Nest</i> 1987 video game

Into the Eagle's Nest is a video game developed by Pandora and published for Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST, Commodore 64, IBM PC, and ZX Spectrum starting in 1987.

<i>Boulder Dash Construction Kit</i> 1986 video game

Boulder Dash Construction Kit is the fourth game in the Boulder Dash series. It published for the Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit family in 1986 by Epyx. Ports were released for the Apple II, Atari ST, Amiga, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and MS-DOS. The Spectrum version was rereleased as Boulder Dash IV: The Game. Boulder Dash Construction Kit includes new levels and a level editor.

<i>Transylvania</i> (video game) 1982 video game

Transylvania is an adventure video game published by Penguin Software. It was released for the Apple II in 1982 followed by ports to the Atari 8-bit family and Commodore 64. A Macintosh conversion was published in 1984, then versions for the Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS in 1985.

Big Five Software was an American video game developer and publisher in the first half of the 1980s founded by Bill Hogue and Jeff Konyu. The company developed games for the Tandy TRS-80 and later Atari 8-bit computers. Most of its TRS-80 games were clones of arcade video games, such as Galaxy Invasion (Galaxian), Super Nova (Asteroids), Defense Command, and Meteor Mission II. Big Five also sold an Atari joystick interface called TRISSTICK which was popular with TRS-80 owners.

<i>Golden Oldies: Volume 1 - Computer Software Classics</i> 1985 compilation of video games

Golden Oldies: Volume 1 - Computer Software Classics is a retrospective compilation of four games from prior to the microcomputer era: Adventure, Eliza, Life, and Pong. It was published in 1985 for the Apple II, Atari 8-bit family, Commodore 64, and DOS. Atari ST and Amiga versions followed in 1986. Despite the "Volume 1" in the title, no further collections were released.

<i>Bristles</i> (video game) 1983 video game

Bristles is a video game by Fernando Herrera for Atari 8-bit computers and published by the company he co-founded, First Star Software, in 1983. It was ported to the Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Exidy's Max-A-Flex arcade system. As Peter the Painter, the player uses ladders and elevators move through a cutaway view of a house to paint all the walls.

<i>Stealth</i> (1984 video game) 1984 video game

Stealth is a pseudo-3D rail shooter designed by Tracy Lagrone and Richard Sansom. The game was published in 1984 by Broderbund for the Atari 8-bit and Commodore 64 home computers.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Leyenberger, Arthur (1985-04-01). "Winter CES: Part 2". ANALOG Computing . Retrieved 2023-06-11.
  2. ↑ Friedland, Nat, ed. (May 1985). "New Products". Antic. Vol. 4, no. 1. San Francisco, CA: Antic Publishing. p. 90. ISSN   0745-2527 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ↑ Hogue, Bill. "Big Five Software - Emulator". Big Five Software. Archived from the original on 9 September 2001.
  4. ↑ Hogue, Bill (18 January 2007) [First published in 2001]. "Big Five Software - Emulator". Big Five Software. Archived from the original on 14 September 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 Hawken & Jones, p. 37.
  6. ↑ Hawken & Jones, p. 38.
  7. ↑ Stehlik, Petr (2023-04-29). "Atari800 emulator supported cartridge images". GitHub . Retrieved 2023-06-11.
  8. ↑ Billboard Publications (2 June 1985). Borg, Donald G (ed.). "Software best sellers". The Record. Vol. 90, no. 305. Hackensack, NJ: John Borg. p. O-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ↑ Panak, Steve (June 1985). "Panak Strikes". ANALOG Computing. No. 31. p. 68.
  10. ↑ Nash, Dennis, ed. (September 1993). "Let the People Decide! The Results". Your Sinclair . Vol. 1, no. 93. Future Publishing. pp. 11–12 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ↑ Whitehead, Dan (25 June 2009). "The 50 Best Speccy Games Ever!". The YS Rock'n'Roll Years. Nick Humphries. Archived from the original on 13 July 2009.

Sources


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.