''Saboten Bombers'' is a 1992 arcade platform game developed by NMK and published by

Tecmo was a Japanese video game company founded in 1967. It had its headquarters in the Kudankita district of Tokyo. Its subsidiary, Tecmo Inc, was located in Torrance, California. Prior to 1986, Tecmo was formerly known as Tehkan. Tecmo is known for ...

. It wouldn't receive a home release until it saw ports 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 ...

and

PlayStation 4 The PlayStation 4 (PS4) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February 2013, it was launched on November 15, 2013, in North America, November 29, 2013, in ...

as part of

Hamster Hamsters are rodents (order Rodentia) belonging to the subfamily Cricetinae, which contains 19 species classified in seven genera. They have become established as popular small pets. The best-known species of hamster is the golden or Syrian ...

's ''

Arcade Archives is a series of emulated arcade games from the late 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s developed and published by Hamster Corporation. A sub-series called focuses on re-releasing Neo Geo titles in their original arcade format, unlike many s ...

'' lineup on April 8, 2021.

Gameplay

''Saboten Bombers'' is a single screen platform game in which the main characters are anthropomorphic

cacti A cactus (: cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae (), a family of the order Caryophyllales comprising about 127 genera with some 1,750 known species. The word ''cactus'' derives, through Latin, ...

named Wanpi (1P) and Tsuupi (2P). The gameplay consists of throwing

bombs A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the Exothermic process, exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-tra ...

at the enemy pests that infested a house where player cacti reside and avoiding being hit by bombs thrown by enemies. However, explosions from players' own bombs pose a threat to players as well as enemies. Because players' bombs tend to move fast and bounce off walls during the game, throwing them carelessly are tantamount to suicide. There are a variety of enemies and colorful backgrounds. Some enemies can withstand more than one bomb attack, and some can escape bombs while still being swept away before explosions - both of which compel players to toss multiple bombs at them. Physical contacts with enemy minions do not kill players, but with bosses do. When all enemies are defeated, a stage is cleared, allowing players to move on to the next stage. The game consists of over 100 levels with every tenth stage featuring bosses, and also a versus mode in which the player competes against the computer-controlled opponent. The game has many collectable items, the most notable of which is the cake which gives the player an extra life after collecting eight pieces.

Reception

In Japan, ''Game Machine'' listed ''Saboten Bombers'' on their May 15, 1992, issue as being the twelfth most popular table arcade unit at the time.

References

{{reflist 1992 video games Arcade Archives games Arcade video games Arcade-only video games Hamster Corporation franchises Hamster Corporation games Nintendo Switch games NMK (company) games Platformers PlayStation 4 games Tecmo games Video games developed in Japan