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The return of the leaping lunatic who was first seen jumping all over the screen picking up bombs. Now he's back and instead of grabbing bombs, he's after a much more lucrative prize: bags of treasure. Jack is still able to produce prodigious leaps but in a much more controlled environment.

You've got to get through over 40 screens, collecting 10 bags of treasure on each one. The screens are made up of a number of platforms floating around in the air, on which the bags are placed. Also occupying some of the platforms are reptiles who shuffle back and forth along them. In the background are some superb pictures that play no part in the action but look great. They include Stonehenge, the Taj Mahal and the Sydney Opera House; all delightful views.

You make your way around the platforms by jumping, but you can't just jump into thin air. You can jump up or down to platforms above or below you, and you automatically jump when walking off the edge of a platform if there's another one at the same level to jump onto. This is a very easy system to get used to and allows you to zip round the platforms grabbing treasure at a great pace. After you've picked up the first bag of treasure another one will start to flash, if you can pick up all the flashing bags, a bonus life is awarded. If you manage only six, seven or eight flashing bags then you still gain healthy bonus points. This is one of the game's most interesting points because the platforms are arranged so that it gets more and more complicated working out how to get to the bags in the correct sequence.

If you thought you were going to get away with it being that simple, then you've got aliens who are going to make life hell for you. If you arrive on one of their platforms they'll try to push you off it, losing you a life. You can push back of course, but you've got only limited strength available to do it with. You can also stab the aliens, but this has little effect.

At first dealing with the aliens is easy but as time passes and you struggle to get the bags in the right order, the aliens mutate into stronger and faster-moving forms. Eventually they can start jumping around the platforms themselves and at great speed. This poses you a dilemma on every level: do you go for the bags in the right order and risk the aliens getting you, or do you get them quick and forsake the bonus score while they're still weak?

Bombjack II is a lot better than its predecessor, but you'll get the chance to find that out for yourself because Bombjack is given away free!

Bombjack was good; Bombjack II is brilliant. Colourful, noisy, challenging, exciting - it's got all the ingredients of a winner. Forty levels of joystick-wrenching gameplay with interesting graphical backgrounds (and bags of gold to collect!). You even get Bombjack (the original) free - don't pass this game by!

No problems!

Graphics 89%
P. Superbly detailed backgrounds.
P. Colourful, detailed characters.

Sonics 47%
N. Just a few sound-effects.

Grab Factor 90%
P. Working out how to complete levels is enormously addictive.
N. Great control method and easy to play.

Staying Power 88%
P. Lots of complicated levels.
N. The addiction will wear off after a few days.

Overall 91%
Bombjack given away free - you can't lose.