Arcade Archives: City Bomber

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This week's Arcade Archives release is... City Bomber (Konami, 1987)

PSN
EU
US

Switch
EU
US

Both the Japanese and International ROMs are included, with different factory settings for the time limit. Preference Settings allow players to adjust game speed.

"... Which, if true, means doom for us all. In local news, the legendary cat burglar known only as '305' has pulled off another one of their daring heists, this time stealing an unknown amount of money from a corrupt casino just outside the city limits. As we understand it, they're making a break for it right now in their customised jalopy. Reports from previous heists indicate this is no ordinary car, with a mounted gun that some also claim can be upgraded with cannon fire, the ability to jump complete with wings for extra height and even wilder, gigantic sawblades mounted to the front to rip through oncoming traffic. Outlandish as it seems, this bandits making a break for it, with the police and local legitimate businessmen in hot pursuit. Whether they can make it out in time is anyone's guess, but maybe some of you at home are rooting for this plucky would-be Robin Hood! Coming up next on 573 News, we interview Ninja from USA Racheal on what it's like being a kunoichi in the modern day, stay tuned!"

(Yes, you are a criminal in this game, don't listen to the flyer!)

Oh hell yes, this is a real favourite of mine- I first played it on the infamous Microsoft Game Room where the sound emulation was terrible, but this finally has a good home emulation now! At first glance, City Bomber looks like it should be something like Spy Hunter, and there's certainly similarities, but it plays quite a bit differently. Instead of lasting as long as you can on a limited number of lives, you actually have no life limit, but instead have a strict time limit to deal with. Make it to the gate at the end of each stage before time's up! At first, your car's a little slow and only has a weak shot to defend itself with as well as a jump for avoiding things, but destroying coloured cars gives you power-ups to improve your shot, jump and speed (plus time-limited sawblades for maximum damage) and destroying any car will, at the end of a stage, give you extra time for the next level. You might think a driving game would be trickty to play with a joystick, but it works pretty well- hold Up to accelerate and then let go to maintain that speed (this is useful for making sharp turns) or hold Down to slow down, which is important for not falling off the road in later stages. It's extremely fast-paced and challenging, and while there's definitely a lot of memorisation involved (mostly where environmental hazards are like trees and lava pools), it's an absolute blast to play and has some really great presentation, using a lot of scaling to really sell the action like when you shoot down helicopters from above and the bouncing power-ups! I must admit, the game gets really difficult once you reach Stage 4, but runs are so quick that you'll be compelled to have just one more try... Perfect to play on Switch with a Flip Grip to see how far you can get!