Mighty Bomb Jack
By: Tecmo
Year: 1987
Lives: 3 (no password or save)
Levels: 16+final level
Number of Endings: 4
Special Features: Jump REALLY high, odd mini-superhero character, hilarious poorly translated manual.
Replayablility: Very High
Availability: somewhat rare

Before I say anything about this game, how about a few mistranslated quotes from the manual? Not interested in funny shit like that? Fine, skip this paragraph.
1. "NOTE: The mastery of the above mentioned operations will allow the player to gain a higher scores and increased level of game satisfaction!"
2. "In order to get the secret coin, you must acquire MIGHTY POWER-3 first, then you will be pleasantly surprised beyond the points collected!"
3. "Other surprises await you inside these treasure boxes, please enjoy!"
4. From the character list- "Heel- It narrates the pyramid legend weirdly, 'Weird! Weird'"
5. "I wonder if you could meet all four endings? You might need five S coins to meet the fourth (4) ending. Now, let's challenge it!"
6. (From map) "Much is comprised in the treasure box surrounded by the blocks."
7. (From map) "Anyway, open the treasure box!"

Mighty Bomb Jack is easily one of the most unusual games I've played on the NES. For that reason, I understand why it is easy to have a love/hate relationship with the game. One of the Internet's most famous personalities (*cough, Seanbaby, cough*) even included it in his list of 20 worst NES games. However, I have quite a different opinion of it. I'll start with the bad, and then explain why this is a welcome addition to your NES library.

First off, the graphics suck. No doubt about it, it's hard to figure out what the character is supposed to be. If you look at the game's label, you will see that Mighty Bomb Jack is some sort of superhero that just happens to wear a Viking-like hat (?!). Also, the enemies have little detail as well, and are quite unusual. Critters such as lobsters, parrots, mummies, and flying turtle-things chase you all over the level. They never seem to follow a set pattern of movement, so it's hard to plan your jumps. Also, they just pop out of nowhere, so when landing from a jump, it is difficult not to step on one as well. Some people probably would complain about the lack of variety between some of the levels. It seems that at times Tecmo just took one level, moved one background object around and changed the background color to create a new level. Sometimes you will find yourself in hallway-like levels that remind me of Metroid's similar concepts to move from room to room.

MBJ has some great features that counteract the bad. First off, the control is innovative and excellent once you get the hang of it. Press A and up on the control pad to jump extra high, push A and down to make small jumps. Tap the jump button to 'float' across the screen. You have to use all the jumping techniques to evade the enemies successfully. MBJ also has tons of secrets. You really need to jump on every block and chest to find all the hidden stuff. Sometimes you'll come across a Sphinx, which will open up a bonus room door. For some chests to open, you have to use a Mighty Coin and change colors by pressing the B button. Mighty Coins are found in some of the chests, but be sure not to get 10 of them. If you do, you get sent to the "torture room" for being greedy, which I found really funny. In order to get out of the torture room, you have to jump 50 times without being hit by the enemies which are bouncing all over the room. Whenever you run out of lives, the game gives you a GDV (Game Deviation Value) rating, which I've also seen in other Tecmo games like Solomon's Key. This is supposed to be some sort of ranking of your playing skills, but I find it to be very vague. It seems like every time I play, I get either a GDV of 47 or 48. Just weird.

I found the music in the game to be well done. You pretty much hear the same tune throughout the whole game, but it's one that is upbeat and gets stuck in your head like the Bubble Bobble song. Also, the game is worth it for the challenge level alone. With only 3 lives and no continues, it's definitely a game I have yet to beat. I found this to be consistent with the insanely high challenge levels that Tecmo put in its other NES games such as the Ninja Gaiden series, and Fire 'n Ice. For collectors, this game is also somewhat rare, and finding it complete is also a challenge because it came with a map that is seldom found today. I also suggest trying to find the manual for the funny mistranslations as well. Once you get used to the unique control methods, I believe Mighty Bomb Jack is a game that you can play almost anytime and will take a long time to beat.

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