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Bounty Bob Strikes Back!
View on Wikipedia| Bounty Bob Strikes Back! | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer | Big Five Software |
| Publishers | |
| Programmer | Bill Hogue |
| Artists | Curtis Mikolyski Bill Hogue |
| Platforms | Atari 8-bit, Atari 5200, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, BBC Micro, Atari 7800 |
| Release | 1985: Atari 8-bit,[1] 5200, C64, CPC, Spectrum |
| Genre | Platform |
| Mode | Single-player |
Bounty Bob Strikes Back! is a platform game released as the sequel to Miner 2049er. It was designed and programmed by Bill Hogue for Atari 8-bit computers[1] and published by his company, Big Five Software. The game adds a 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—now 40K versus the 16K of the previous game.[2] Ports to the Atari 5200, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, and ZX Spectrum were released in 1985.
In 2001,[a] Bill Hogue released a combo of Miner 2049'er and Bounty Bob Strikes Back for free with a custom, embedded Atari 8-bit emulator.[4]
Gameplay
[edit]
Gameplay is similar to Miner 2049er in that the player must walk along every platform of a level within the time limit while avoiding mutants. Unlike the original, after losing a life, pieces of platforms remain covered and destroyed enemies do not reappear, thus making it easier to complete a level.[5]
Bounty Bob adds a slight 3D effect to the platforms. There are 25 levels versus the original's 10.[6]
Development
[edit]Following the critical and financial success of his game Miner 2049er, programmer Bill Hogue began work on a game titled Scraper Caper in which Bounty Bob beaome a fire fighter. Although the game was heavily advertised, it was never released; Hogue instead created Bounty Bob Strikes Back.[5]
On Atari systems, the game is a bank-switched cartridge of 40KB total program and data mapped onto 16KB of address space.[7][1]
Bounty Bob Strikes Back was shown at the January 1985 CES and then, in April 1985, ads began appearing in magazines.[1]
Reception
[edit]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 $146 in 2024).[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
[edit]On reflecting on the sequel, Hogue said he 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]
In 2024, the current incarnation of Atari published an Atari 7800 cartridge that also works on the Atari 2600+ and the Atari 7800+.[12][13]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Leyenberger, Arthur (1985-04-01). "Winter CES: Part 2". ANALOG Computing. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Hogue, Bill. "Big Five Software - Emulator". Big Five Software. Archived from the original on 9 September 2001.
- ^ Hogue, Bill (18 January 2007) [2001]. "Big Five Software - Emulator". Big Five Software. Archived from the original on 14 September 2019.
- ^ a b c Hawken & Jones, p. 37.
- ^ Hawken & Jones, p. 38.
- ^ Stehlik, Petr (2023-04-29). "Atari800 emulator supported cartridge images". GitHub. Retrieved 2023-06-11.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Panak, Steve (June 1985). "Panak Strikes". ANALOG Computing. No. 31. p. 68.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Bounty Bob Strikes Back! 7800". Atari. 2024. Retrieved 2024-12-22.
- ^ Gardner, Matt (2024-08-20). "Atari 7800+ Remakes Classic Console With 2600 Game Compatibility". Forbes.
Sources
[edit]- Hawken, Kieren; Jones, Darran. "Ultimate Guide: Bounty Bob Strikes Back!". Retro Gamer. No. 191.