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Arcade Archives: Bomb Jack Twin
Jan. 16th, 2026 09:25 amThis week's Arcade Archives release is... Bomb Jack Twin (Tecmo, 1993)
Arcade Archives (previous-gen consoles)
PSN
Switch
EU
Arcade Archives 2 (current-gen consoles)
PSN
Switch 2
EU
Xbox
US
Regarding the publisher, this was originally released by NMK as, similar to Riot, they picked it up after Tecmo didn't see much success in location testing but NMK had more luck by cranking up the difficulty for a loketest in Berlin (this is all mentioned in the Hamster stream for the game as pointed out and translated by Eonstro on the LordBBH Discord, thanks). However, Hamster themselves point out that while they own the NMK library nowadays, this game belongs to Tecmo, so I've listed them as the publisher for consistency. Anyway, we have the JP ROM here and no special Preference Settings (you can select the starting round, but this was a dip switch setting anyway).
Remember Bomb Jack? He's back! In Twin form. This is an update / sequel to one of Tecmo's earliest hits, so early it was back when they were called Tehkan, where you jump through single-screen stages trying to grab every bomb (preferably the lit bombs, which follow a set pattern but only one bomb is lit at a time so you have to be careful) while avoiding the many enemies on the field (only picking up a power coin can stop them). Of course, this is 1993 so we get a fresh coat of paint (and a soundtrack by Manabu Namiki, his very first) and some new features added. Chief among them is the 'Twin' part of the title, allowing for co-op play with a girl Bomb Jack as Player 2! The controls have also been tightened up with more flowing movement (you move faster, there's less of a stop when you land, you no longer have to hold Up to do your max-height jump), you no longer have to pick up a non-lit bomb to restart the lit bomb chain after losing a life, and there's also a new timed bonus stage every other world with no enemies to bother you.
Despite these additions made to smooth the gameplay over a little, this game is hard. As mentioned in the Hamster stream, the location test results indicated that setting the difficulty as high as possible was the way to go, and this really goes all-in on that with numerous and relentless enemies that will not stop, ever, until you are dead. The original Bomb Jack gets a little cramped with its enemy numbers but this feels even more calustrophobic, with more of them appearing at once and them all being faster and more aggressive. The fact that the game is generally faster too makes this something akin to Bomb Jack for Super Players, so if you felt the original was just too easy, this is the one for you. The really cute presentation definitely helps too (Bomb Jack himself has a really cute set of animations) but get ready for a challenge!
Regarding the publisher, this was originally released by NMK as, similar to Riot, they picked it up after Tecmo didn't see much success in location testing but NMK had more luck by cranking up the difficulty for a loketest in Berlin (this is all mentioned in the Hamster stream for the game as pointed out and translated by Eonstro on the LordBBH Discord, thanks). However, Hamster themselves point out that while they own the NMK library nowadays, this game belongs to Tecmo, so I've listed them as the publisher for consistency. Anyway, we have the JP ROM here and no special Preference Settings (you can select the starting round, but this was a dip switch setting anyway).
Remember Bomb Jack? He's back! In Twin form. This is an update / sequel to one of Tecmo's earliest hits, so early it was back when they were called Tehkan, where you jump through single-screen stages trying to grab every bomb (preferably the lit bombs, which follow a set pattern but only one bomb is lit at a time so you have to be careful) while avoiding the many enemies on the field (only picking up a power coin can stop them). Of course, this is 1993 so we get a fresh coat of paint (and a soundtrack by Manabu Namiki, his very first) and some new features added. Chief among them is the 'Twin' part of the title, allowing for co-op play with a girl Bomb Jack as Player 2! The controls have also been tightened up with more flowing movement (you move faster, there's less of a stop when you land, you no longer have to hold Up to do your max-height jump), you no longer have to pick up a non-lit bomb to restart the lit bomb chain after losing a life, and there's also a new timed bonus stage every other world with no enemies to bother you.
Despite these additions made to smooth the gameplay over a little, this game is hard. As mentioned in the Hamster stream, the location test results indicated that setting the difficulty as high as possible was the way to go, and this really goes all-in on that with numerous and relentless enemies that will not stop, ever, until you are dead. The original Bomb Jack gets a little cramped with its enemy numbers but this feels even more calustrophobic, with more of them appearing at once and them all being faster and more aggressive. The fact that the game is generally faster too makes this something akin to Bomb Jack for Super Players, so if you felt the original was just too easy, this is the one for you. The really cute presentation definitely helps too (Bomb Jack himself has a really cute set of animations) but get ready for a challenge!
(Oh, and if you were waiting for Touchdown Fever on PSN, it's out now in all regions. Why was there a delay? I dunno, don't ask me.)