Kaboom!
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A2600_Kaboom!.png
Kaboom! is an Atari 2600 game designed by Larry Kaplan and published by Activision in 1981. It was also released for the Atari_8-bit_family of computers. In the late 1990s, a [keychain version (http://www.handheldmuseum.com/Tiger/Keychains.htm)] of the game was created by Tiger Electronics.
Kaboom! was originally going to be an Atari-produced 2600 port of their 1978 arcade game, "Avalanche." Activision's game was very successful, selling over one million cartridges by 1983.
Gameplay in Kaboom! consists of catching bombs dropped by the "Mad Bomber" with a set of three buckets using a paddle controller. Points are scored for every bomb caught, extra buckets (maximum of three) are awarded at every 1,000 points, and one bucket is lost every time a bomb is dropped. Bombs fall at increasing higher speeds, making higher levels exponentially more difficult than the earlier levels.
When Kaboom! was originally sold, anyone who scored above 3,000 points could send Activision a picture of their screen and receive membership in the Activision Bucket Brigade and also receive a Bucket Brigade patch.
While the "Mad Bomber" was dropping bombs, he had an unhappy face. If the player missed and a bomb is dropped, he smiled while the bombs on the screen exploded. The game manual mentioned that something "special" would happen after 10,000 points.
When the player reached that score threshold, the "Mad Bomber"'s face would appear surprised/upset, even if the player dropped a bomb.
External Links
- Kaboom! entry at AtariAge.com (http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=257)
- Mad Bomber -- an Open Source SDL-based clone of Kaboom! for various modern platforms (http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/madbomber/)
- Avalanche entry at the Killer List of Video Games (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=6976)