As we leave the truly immersive Celtic folklore world of Dun Darach we stumble and repeatedly fall into our next helping in the Your Sinclair Top 100. Delivered to us at No.#56 in what seems a rather hurried heap is Bounty Bob Strikes Back and you may need a hat to hide the patches of hair you’re about to pull out.
Bounty Bob Strikes Back arrived on the ZX Spectrum back in 1985, programmed by both Bill Hogue, Tim Miller along with the loading screen being delivered by the artist F. David Thorpe. It was published by U.S. Gold, who had also the mighty Dam Busters released in the same year. Bounty Bob was a follow up to the game Miner 2049’er, which never saw the light of day on the ZX Spectrum, but was released on the Atari 2600, the Commodore 64 along with numerous others.
With twenty-five mines to traverse, Bob must collect all the items from within and also run over all of the pieces of solid floor too – you can tell the floor has been passed over as it changes colour ever so slightly. With each platform given a slight angle, the game also has a false-solid 3D appearance.
The game however – for myself – is a big disappointment, the first negative point being the look of the game as it sings of a direct lift from another machine. Nothing of Bounty Bob looks like it belongs on the ZX Spectrum, it simply looks like it belongs on an Atari or a C64. Then we have the goals you need to do to complete a level – initially I assumed it was collect the flashing pieces and to remove the enemy mobs, this isn’t the case. What looks like a graphic glitch as you walk is actually part and parcel of completing the game! Then finally the jumping is a pain in the backside and you feel you are being unfairly penalised for a slight mis-jump.
Bounty Bob Strikes Back isn’t fun – the only good part about the game is the pleasant animation inputting your name on the high score table and in truth that is all.
Originally published July 3, 2016. Updated June 30, 2023.
