Bounty Bob strikes out

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Bounty Bob Strikes Back is a ladders and levels game and a sequel to a previous US Gold game, Miner 2049er.

In it Bounty Bob must reclaim the 20 separate caverns of Yukon Yohan's mine by standing on each piece of every platform. The sections of the platform change colour as Bob walks across them.

Bonus points are awarded for collecting goodies which hover in mid-air around the cave. Hazards are present in the form of radioactive amorphous blobs which patrol each platform.

Normally these mutants are fatal to the touch. However if Bob collects certain items the blobs change colour and it is Bob's touch which is fatal to the mutants.

The addition of different types of lift adds more variety to the screens. These have various modes of operation and some even take the form of matter transporters.

Graphically the game is a disaster. The background designs are crude and the character definitions are even worse. I found this surprising as US Gold's software is usually of the highest standard.

The graphics of the Commodore 64 version were created with loving care, but the BBC version must have been written during the programmer's teabreak.

The back of the cassette cover shows a very impressive screen shot. To be fair they do state that this picture is from the Commodore 64 version - in tiny writing.

The ladders and levels section of the software market is one of the most competitive areas in which to launch a new game and I can't help thinking that Bounty Bob should have never struck back - he should have got out while he was ahead.

Jon Revis