Kaboom!
Encyclopedia
Kaboom! is an Atari 2600
game designed by Larry Kaplan
and published by Activision
in 1981. It was also released for the Atari 5200
and the Atari 8-bit family
of computers. A 16-bit remake for the Super Nintendo was in the works at some point, but the game was never released. In the late 1990s, a keychain version of the game was created by Tiger Electronics
.
Kaboom! was originally going to be an Atari-produced port of their 1978 arcade game
Avalanche
to the Atari 2600. Activision's game was well-received and successful commercially, selling over one million cartridges by 1983.
Gameplay in Kaboom! consists of using a paddle controller
to catch bombs dropped by the "Mad Bomber" with a set of three buckets. 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 missed. As the game progresses, the "Mad Bomber" traverses the top of the screen much more erratically, dropping bombs at increasingly higher speeds, making each of the seven higher levels more difficult.
When Kaboom! was originally sold, anyone who scored above 3,000 points could send Activision a picture of his or her television screen to receive membership in the Activision Bucket Brigade and a Bucket Brigade patch.
While the "Mad Bomber" is dropping bombs, he has an unhappy face. If the player misses and a bomb is dropped, he smiles while the bombs on the screen explode. The game manual mentions that something "special" will happen after 10,000 points. When the player reaches that score threshold, the "Mad Bomber"'s face appears surprised/upset, even if the player drops a bomb.
The highest score possible is 999,999, which can be accomplished in 2 hours 46 minutes with perfect continuous play. The game ends with bombs frozen in mid air and the buckets disappearing.
Game Room
service for its Xbox 360
console and for Windows-based
PC
s in June 2010.
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
game designed by Larry Kaplan
Larry Kaplan
Larry Kaplan is an American video game designer and programmer. He initially worked at Atari and was responsible for a lot of their sales. Due to the lack of recognition for his work, he left Atari and became one of the five co-founders of Activision....
and published by Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
in 1981. It was also released for the Atari 5200
Atari 5200
The Atari 5200 SuperSystem, commonly known as the Atari 5200, is a video game console that was introduced in 1982 by Atari Inc. as a higher end complementary console for the popular Atari 2600...
and the Atari 8-bit family
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers manufactured from 1979 to 1992. All are based on the MOS Technology 6502 CPU and were the first home computers designed with custom coprocessor chips...
of computers. A 16-bit remake for the Super Nintendo was in the works at some point, but the game was never released. In the late 1990s, a keychain version of the game was created by Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics
Tiger Electronics is an American toy manufacturer, best known for its handheld LCD games, the Furby, and Giga Pets. When Tiger was an independent company, Tiger Electronics Inc., its headquarters were in Vernon Hills, Illinois....
.
Kaboom! was originally going to be an Atari-produced port of their 1978 arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
Avalanche
Avalanche (arcade game)
Avalanche is an arcade game released by Atari Inc. in 1978. The object is to catch avalanching rocks with a controllable set of paddles that diminish in number and size as the rocks fall faster and faster. -Technology:...
to the Atari 2600. Activision's game was well-received and successful commercially, selling over one million cartridges by 1983.
Gameplay
Paddle (game controller)
A paddle is a game controller with a round wheel and one or more fire buttons, where the wheel is typically used to control movement of the player object along one axis of the video screen...
to catch bombs dropped by the "Mad Bomber" with a set of three buckets. 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 missed. As the game progresses, the "Mad Bomber" traverses the top of the screen much more erratically, dropping bombs at increasingly higher speeds, making each of the seven higher levels more difficult.
When Kaboom! was originally sold, anyone who scored above 3,000 points could send Activision a picture of his or her television screen to receive membership in the Activision Bucket Brigade and a Bucket Brigade patch.
While the "Mad Bomber" is dropping bombs, he has an unhappy face. If the player misses and a bomb is dropped, he smiles while the bombs on the screen explode. The game manual mentions that something "special" will happen after 10,000 points. When the player reaches that score threshold, the "Mad Bomber"'s face appears surprised/upset, even if the player drops a bomb.
The highest score possible is 999,999, which can be accomplished in 2 hours 46 minutes with perfect continuous play. The game ends with bombs frozen in mid air and the buckets disappearing.
Ports
Kaboom! was made available on Microsoft'sMicrosoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Game Room
Game Room
Game Room is a gaming service for the Xbox 360 video game system, Microsoft Windows PCs, and Windows Phone 7. Launched on March 24, 2010, Game Room lets players download classic video games and compete against each other for high scores...
service for its Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...
console and for Windows-based
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
s in June 2010.
External links
- Kaboom! at AtariAgeAtariAgeAtari Age was a magazine distributed to Atari Club members from 1982 until 1984. It was published by The Atari Club Inc., a subsidiary of Atari, Inc.-History:...
- Crazy Bomber a Flash version of Kaboom!
- iKaboom! A similar game for the iPhone (Opens iTunes)