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"This game stars a caped hero whose mission in life is to collect bombs. This he sets out to do on various picture postcard screens, each one containing 24 bombs. The character appears in the middle of the screen and drops down to the floor. Dotted around him on the screen are the 24 bombs in rows and columns, and usually a number of platforms. The task is simple enough - just jump around the screen and collect all the bombs."

Not strictly speaking the introduction to a Super Seymour review, the above is actually a selection of quotes from the Bombjack review in AA issue 10 (from some six years ago). Oh how are the mighty fallen, we cry. A few months ago young Seymour could do no wrong, captivating the hearts of the gaming masses with his epic adventures in Hollywood.

But this is now, and now he's been flung Dizzy-style into a rip-off [Er, updated version - Ed] of a mid-Eighties arcade game. Seymour has nothing to do with this game. The star might just as well be Dizzy, Little Puff, Ollie & Lisa or Linda flipping McCartney for what it has to do with the on-screen activity.

Apparently, Seymour got this one because the Codies want to keep him in real-world settings while Dizzy wanders off into fantasy worlds. So what else might we have to look forward to: The Way Of The Exploding Seymour? Seymour's International Soccer? Shockway Seymour?

Once we've calmed down, we'll probably admit that unearthing fossilised classics, and revamping them for an audience - most of whom have never had the opportunity to enjoy the original! - is no crime. Nor is the financially sound idea of associating one of your most famous characters with the game any major felony. Providing the original game, and any new refinements, are of a quality that can carry it off.

Unfortunately, Bombjack was never really any great shakes. It has aged worse than a plum left in an airing cupboard for three years, and the Codies haven't used anywhere near enough Oil of Ulay.

Basically, you have to defuse some, er, barrels. These ignite one by one. A bar along the bottom of the screen shows the time left till the one currently flashing goes 'bang'. You get bonus points if you defuse them in the order in which they start to flash. But you can do them in any order. All it requires is flying over them. There are some baddies around, and these hinder you progress. Jump on their heads a few times for bonuses.

"Not much variety on the screens," and "gameplay may become repetitive and requires no thought," is what it says in AA10. How right our forefathers were.

Overall 31%
Bombjack is a very old game. Unfortunately, rigor mortis got to it before Codemasters did.