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Bombuzal

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"Kablooey" redirects here. For the 2008 film, see Kabluey.
Bombuzal
Commodore 64 cover art
Developer(s)Image Works
Publisher(s)Image Works
Kemco
Designer(s)Antony Crowther
David Bishop
Platform(s)Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Super NES
Release1988
Genre(s)Puzzle
Mode(s)Single-player

Bombuzal is a puzzle video game designed by Antony Crowther (credited as "Ratt" in the game) and David Bishop for Image Works.[1] The game was released in 1988 for the Amiga, Atari ST and Commodore 64. It was also released in 1989 for MS-DOS and in December 1990 in Japan for the Super Famicom, with the North American version released in August 1992 renamed as Ka-Blooey.

The game has a sequel/remake available for the Nintendo 64 called Charlie Blast's Territory. Among its notable features is the ability to play using either an overhead or isometric view.

Gameplay

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Teleporter as rescue

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 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.[2] The game features level designs by several gaming celebrities, including Jon Ritman, Andrew Braybrook, Geoff Crammond and Jeff Minter.

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

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The game received mixed reviews. It received 97% and 92% ratings from Zzap!64[4][5] magazine for the C64 and Amiga versions respectively, compared to a review in Commodore User[6] 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 in the compilation BrainBlaster with Xenon 2 for the Amiga. This compilation was reviewed in 1991 in Dragon #165 by Hartley, Patricia, and Kirk Lesser in "The Role of Computers" column. The reviewers gave BrainBlaster 5 out of 5 stars.[7]

The Amiga version of Bombuzal was included as a fully working game on the cover disk of the first issue of Amiga Power.

The Super Famicom incarnation of the game was later released for release on the Online service for the Nintendo Switch console in July 2021.[8]

References

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  1. ^ Bombuzal on Hall of the Amiga site
  2. ^ Super Nintendo Instruction Booklet page 21.
  3. ^ Zzap!64 review, Newsfield Publications, issue 44, page 18
  4. ^ Maff Evans; Paul Glancey; Kati Hamza (December 1988), Bombuzal review, Zzap, pp. 18–19
  5. ^ Gordon Houghton; Kati Hamza (January 1989), Bombuzal review, Zzap, p. 103
  6. ^ Tony Dillon (November 1988), Bombuzal review, Commodore User, pp. 26–27
  7. ^ Lesser, Hartley; Lesser, Patricia; Lesser, Kirk (January 1991), "The Role of Computers", Dragon (165): 47–55.
  8. ^ "Nintendo Switch Online's next three SNES games revealed". Eurogamer. 28 July 2021.
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