''Bombuzal'' is a

puzzle video game Puzzle video games make up a broad genre of video games that emphasize puzzle solving. The types of puzzles can test problem-solving skills, including logic, pattern recognition, Sequence, sequence solving, Spatial ability, spatial recognition, ...

Antony Crowther Antony Crowther (born 10 May 1965) is a former designer, programmer, and musician of Commodore 64 games. During the 1980s he worked for Alligata, Gremlin Graphics and later his own company, Wizard Development. Career The first computer game he ...

(credited as "Ratt" in the game) and David Bishop for

Image Works Image Works was a British video game publisher that served as a publishing label for Mirrorsoft between 1988 and 1992, when the parent company went bankrupt. History The first two games published under the Image Works label were '' Fernandez ...

. The game was released in 1988 for the

Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers produced by Commodore International, Commodore from 1985 until the company's bankruptcy in 1994, with production by others afterward. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16-b ...

Atari ST Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the company's Atari 8-bit computers, 8-bit computers. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985, and was widely available i ...

and

Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit computing, 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in ...

. It was also released in 1989 for

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...

and in December 1990 in Japan for the

Super Famicom The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, commonly shortened to Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a Fourth generation of video game consoles, 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan, 1991 in No ...

, with the North American version released in August 1992 renamed as ''Ka-Blooey''. The game has a sequel/remake available for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, in North America on September 29, 1996, and in Europe and Australia on March 1, 1997. As the successor to the Super Nintendo E ...

called '' Charlie Blast's Territory''. Among its notable features is the ability to play using either an overhead or

isometric The term ''isometric'' comes from the Greek for "having equal measurement". isometric may mean: * Cubic crystal system, also called isometric crystal system * Isometre, a rhythmic technique in music. * "Isometric (Intro)", a song by Madeon from ...

view.

Gameplay

To complete each of its 130 levels, the avatar has to destroy all bombs on the level. It must stand on top of the bomb to light it, then is only able to take one step away before the bomb explodes; it can also pick up and move bombs, but only the ones that are on Rail tiles. Bombs come in different sizes and it is only possible to ignite the smallest kind without dying. In most cases, the bombs have to be set off using a

chain reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that sys ...

to prevent the avatar from being killed in the explosion; at other times, separated small bombs can be destroyed one at a time. Each bomb/mine has a reaction zone. For example, a small bomb will only destroy the tile it is on, but will affect any other bombs/mines one tile away in the four main directions. A large bomb will destroy 13 tiles, and its reaction zone will be one tile farther away than the tiles destroyed in each of the four directions, and diagonally between these four points. The game features level designs by several gaming celebrities, including

Jon Ritman Jon Ritman is a game designer and programmer notable for his work on 1980s computer games, primarily for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC home computers. Career His first experience with a computer was when he was 13, his first computer was a ...

Andrew Braybrook Andrew Braybrook (born 1960) is a software engineer and former game programmer. He created video games such as ''Paradroid'', '' Gribbly's Day Out'', '' Fire and Ice'', ''Uridium'' and ''Morpheus''. He also programmed the Amiga and Atari ST conv ...

Geoff Crammond Geoff Crammond is a computer game designer and programmer who specialises in motor racing games. A former defence industry systems engineer, he claims to have had little interest in motor racing before programming his first racing game (Revs) b ...

and

Jeff Minter Jeff Minter (born 22 April 1962) is an English video game designer and programmer who often goes by the name Yak. He is the founder of software house Llamasoft and has created dozens of games during his career, which began in 1981 with games ...

. There are also two enemies, Sinister and Dexter, appearing on some levels. These continuously travel along with the level, with Sinister always turning left and Dexter always turning right. Neither Sinister nor Dexter actively pursues the avatar, but contact with either is fatal.

Reception

The game received mixed reviews. It received 97% and 92% ratings from

Zzap!64 ''Zzap!64'' is a computer games magazine covering games for computers manufactured by Commodore International, especially the Commodore 64 (C64). It was published in the UK by Newsfield Publications Ltd and later by Europress Impact. The magazi ...

magazine for the C64 and Amiga versions respectively, compared to a review in

Commodore User ''Commodore User'', (also referred to as ''CU'') later renamed to ''CU Amiga'', is a British magazine initially published by Paradox Group before being acquired by EMAP. Timeline ''Commodore User'' was launched in October 1983 with an initial pr ...

magazine awarding a mere 49%. The former reviews hailed it as an addictive puzzle game with "cute" graphics, while the latter criticized gameplay, graphics, and controls. The game was released by Spotlight Software and distributed by

Cinemaware Cinemaware was a video game developer and publisher. It had released several titles in the 1980s based on various film themes. The company was resurrected in 2000, before being acquired by eGames in 2005. Cinemaware Corp. (1986–1991) The co ...

in the compilation ''BrainBlaster'' with '' Xenon 2'' for the

. This compilation was reviewed in 1991 in ''

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

'' #165 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave ''BrainBlaster'' 5 out of 5 stars. The Amiga version of ''Bombuzal'' was included as a fully working game on the cover disk of the first issue of ''

Amiga Power ''Amiga Power'' (''AP'') was a monthly magazine about Amiga video games. It was published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing and ran for 65 issues, from May 1991 to September 1996. History The first issue of ''Amiga Power'' was publi ...

''. The Super Famicom incarnation of the game was later released for release on the

Nintendo Classics Nintendo Classics is a line of Video game console emulator, emulated retro games distributed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch family of systems and Nintendo Switch 2. Subscribers of the Nintendo Switch Online service have access to games for ...

service for the

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

console in July 2021.

References

External links

* * * {{lemon64 game, id=337
Remake in 3D for PC
1988 video games Amiga games Atari ST games Cancelled ZX Spectrum games Commodore 64 games DOS games Kemco games Nintendo Classics games Puzzle video games Single-player video games Super Nintendo Entertainment System games Video games about bomb disposal Video games developed in the United Kingdom Image Works games