It’s a race to the finish- in Bump N Jump!

Hey Arcaders!

We have had our maze chase, and our platformer- now it’s time to race in the very unique and crazy Bump N Jump!

Bump N Jump is a game developed by Data East, and was first released in the arcade in 1982 (licensed to Bally/Midway). The game was released as Burnin’ Rubber worldwide.

The goal in this game is to drive from the beginning of a level to the end while bumping enemy vehicles into obstacles and jumping over various large obstacles such as overpasses, and large rivers. Due to the bird’s eye view, players cannot see the large obstacles until it is too late to jump, so the game displays a flashing exclamation point when the large obstacles are about to appear.

The enemy vehicles are separated into cars and trucks. Cars can be bumped into obstacles or jumped upon and destroyed, while trucks cannot be bumped; they can be jumped upon only to destroy them, and will sometimes drop obstacles that will destroy the player. At the end of each level players receive bonus points for the remaining gasoline in their car, and the number of enemy vehicles crashed. If, however, the player completes a level without bumping another car, the player receives a huge point bonus. Going from one level to another is characterized by a change of seasons. Apart from the change of scenery, the winter scenario also features the additional challenge of slippery roads.

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Bump N Jump had home ports on all the major systems of the day- Mattel had the rights to Bump N Jump. But Coleco had their own amazing port.  In 1986, an updated (or arranged) version of the game was developed for the Famicom. In japan, it was called Buggy Popper. The basic story behind this game is that the players’ girlfriend has been kidnapped, and you must race to her rescue. Adding a level of complexity, the NES version of the game also requires that players pick up cans of gasoline that are interspersed throughout each course, as their car uses up fuel steadily throughout the game. It was later published for the Nintendo Entertainment System by Vic Tokai in 1988.

Let’s take a look at them all!

On modern systems you could play Bump N Jump on the Wii and the Wii U via the Data East Arcade Classics.

Also play Bump N Jump via the Arcade Archives (no relation.)

So- what do you think of Bump N Jump? I’ve played this one more than Burgertime- and that says a lot Finishing this game  (traversing all the seasons) is a major accomplishment! Also- try jumping a three leap bridge- it’ll give you goosebumps!  Give Bump N Jump a go- it’s a fun jaunt  that never gets old!

Keep Playin Like it’s 1981!