Kaboom!

Kaboom!

Atari 2600 - USA - 1st edition.

Developer Activision Publisher Activision Published 1981-07-?? Platforms Atari 2600, Atari 5200, Atari 8-bit Genres Action, Ball and paddle, Catcher, Single-screen Themes Law enforcement Multiplayer Alternating versus, Simultaneous versus Distribution Commercial

Kaboom! is a catcher video game developed and published by Activision in 1981 on the Atari 2600, and in 1983 for the Atari 8-bit and Atari 5200. The game's designer, Larry Kaplan, admitted that he based the game on Avalanche. A sequel called Kaboom!: The Return of the Mad Bomber, was planned for the SNES, but never published.

In the game, the Mad Bomber is on top of a building throwing bombs down on the public. Your job is to catch the bombs in a stack of buckets in order to extinguish their fuses. If you miss a bomb, it explodes, and you lose a bucket. If you lose all your buckets, the game ends.

Despite pretty repetitive game play, Kaboom! sold over a million copies putting it among the top 30 best selling titles on the Atari 2600. It also helped revive the Atari 2600 Paddle Controller which saw very few games being made for it by 1981. The Atari 8-bit and 5200 ports included a 2-player versus mode where one player controlled the Mad Bomber.

Personal

Own?	Yes. Atari 2600 cartridge and manual.
Won?	No. The game doesn't have a proper ending, but it does have a planned game over at 999,999 points.

The second batch of Atari games I bought from my friend in middle school had a copy of this game. I played it for a little while, found it quite dull, and gave up on it. I have never even come close to reaching the planned game over at 999,999 points.

Review

2	3	2	2	2

Best Version: Atari 8-bit

— This section contains spoilers! —

Good

• The premise is cute, and the mad bomber graphic is pretty good.
• There is a minor, but silly, change in the face of the Mad Bomber when you read 10,000 points.

Bad

• The game is too difficult. The twitchy turns of the Atari 2600 Paddle Controller paired with the erratic movements of the Mad Bomber result in a very steep difficulty curve. And, with very little in the way of incentive, becoming a skilled player isn't very rewarding.
• While the game attempts to make losing a bucket not quite so catastrophic by dropping you down a level, it still becomes measurably more difficult when your bucket stack gets smaller.
• The game has a difficulty setting, which is nice, but it only makes the game harder than it already is, which isn't very helpful. An easy mode would have been nice.

Ugly

• There just isn't enough game here. You see everything the game has to offer within the first few minutes of game play.
• The game's difficulty tops out at level 8, which only takes about 1 minute to reach, and, after that, you're just playing the same level over and over again until you lose, or, you hit the planned game over with a score of 999,999, which takes over 3 hours.

Media

Box Art

• 

  Kaboom! - 2600 - USA.

• 

  Kaboom! - 2600 - USA - Revision 2.

• 

  Kaboom! - Atari 8-bit.

• 

  Kaboom! - 5200 - USA.

Documentation

• 

  Manual - Atari 2600 - USA.

• 

  Manual - Atari 8-bit - USA.

• 

  Manual - Atari 5200 - USA.

• 

  Bucket Brigade patch.

• 

  Atari 5200 advertisement with River Raid.

• 

  Strategy guide - How to Win At Home Video Games.

• 

  Strategy guide - How to Master Home Video Games.

• 

  Strategy guide - Be a Home Videogame Superstar: Secrets to the Best Games for Your Atari VCS.

• 

  Atari 5200 advertisement with River Raid.

Screenshots

• 

  Playing level 2.

Videos

Commercial.

Longplay - 2600.

Game play - Atari 8-bit.

Game play - 5200.

Play Online

Atari 2600, Atari 5200

Representation

Strong female character?	Fail	There are no women.
Bechdel test?	Fail	There are no women.
Strong person of color character?	Fail	There are no people of color.
Queer character?	Fail	There are no queer characters.

Ports

Port	Released	Porter	Publisher	Notes
Atari 2600	1981-07-??	Activision	Activision	Original release.
Atari 8-bit	1983-10-??	Activision	Activision	More detailed graphics.
Atari 5200	1983-11-??	Activision	Activision	Nearly identical to the 5200 port.

Credits

Role	Staff
Design	Larry Kaplan
Programming (Atari 2600)	Larry Kaplan
Programming (Atari 8-bit and 5200)	Paul Willson
Graphic Programming	David Crane

Links

           

• atariage.com/software_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=630 - AtariAge - 5200.