Bomber Man 83: Eric and the Floaters RomHack by Garrett Gilchrist (graphics) Most people first encountered Hudson Soft's Bomberman in his 1985 NES/Famicom game. But there was an earlier, forgotten version of Bomber Man for home computers in 1983. The MSX and ZX Spectrum versions were localized in Europe as Eric and the Floaters, due to concerns over the title of the game being associated with terrorisn. This was followed by a first-person sequel, 3D Bomberman, in 1984. These versions looked very different, with 1-bit sprites. Eric is a man in suspenders and a feathered hat. There is only one enemy, a balloon who has several different facial expressions, and will become agitated and unpredictable. Exits can be destroyed, causing four more enemies to appear. The game is endless. For the NES/Famicom, Bomberman was redesigned to resemble an enemy from Hudson's popular Famicom/NES version of Lode Runner. In NES Bomberman's ending, he transforms into the Mario-inspired Lode Runner character, with a plug for that game. The NES Bomberman -apparently coded in one 72-hour session- has some gameplay differences from the 1983 Bomber Man, but it's certainly an iteration on the same game. This ROMhack is a demake, restoring the earlier artwork and characters from the 1983 and 1984 MSX games. The player character is once again Eric, in his suspenders and hat. The different enemies are now all variations on the Floater enemies, with the different faces the Floaters had originally. The exits and rare collectible treasures are from the MSX games. The font is the 1983 font, and the fancy new title screen is based closely on 1984's 3D Bomberman. The character graphics are nearly unchanged from MSX, albeit with some tweaks. Walking animations for Eric and the Floaters are three frames here instead of two, so there's some extra animation. Death scenes are one frame shorter. Eric has slightly less colors, and the Floaters have more, with white eye/teeth highlights and a dark outline. Background tiles and explosions are unchanged, but have different color palettes. (I'd planned to use more palettes for Eric on the title screen, but the attribute table is drawn with just two short commands around 1EFA-1F07. This is very limiting and I didn't have a solution for it at press time.) THE GAME: You play a man who is trapped inside a maze. Place your time bombs wisely to defeat the balloon monsters. If the balloon monsters get caught up in an exploding time bomb, they will pop and disappear. Don't let them get you, and don't blow yourself up. You can break down weaker walls with your time bombs. These walls can hide treasures and exit doors. Pick up treasure to receive bonus points. Defeat all the monsters on the screen and find the exit to proceed to the next stage. Bomber Man 1983 originally released on: PC-8801, PC-6001mkII, MZ-700, MZ-2000, Sharp X1, FM-7, MSX, ZX Spectrum Setting RAM address $94 to a non-zero value before entering a level will cause the game to render hidden tiles (doors and powerups) as red half-destroyed walls until they are revealed. RARE BONUS ITEMS: You have about eight and a half seconds to find and grab an item before it disappears. 3D Bomberman Doll Points: 10,000 Method: Reveal the exit and walk over it before killing any enemies. Stages: 6, 8, 14, 16, 22, 24, 30, 32, 38, 40, 46, 48 Money Bag Points: 20,000 Method: Circle the outer ring of the level after killing every enemy in the stage. Stages: 1, 7, 9, 15, 17, 23, 25, 31, 33, 39, 41, 47, 49 Treasure Chest Points: 30,000 Method: Reveal the exit, walk over it, and continue to walk in any direction (do not let go of the D-Pad) for approximately 15 seconds before killing any enemies. Stages: 4, 12, 20, 28, 36, 44 Mixed Drink Points: 500,000 Method: Kill every enemy, then create 248 chain reactions with your bombs (one chain reaction = one bomb detonating another). Stages: 3, 11, 19, 27, 35, 43 Penny-Farthing Points: 10,000,000 Method: Kill every enemy without destroying a single wall. Stages: 2, 10, 18, 26, 34, 42, 50 Model T Points: 20,000,000 Method: Destroy every wall and bomb the exit three times without killing any enemies (including those that come out of the door). Stages: 5, 13, 21, 29, 37, 45 NMIHPPBPCAFHABDPCPCH - Level 01 HIJDIJFJDLHFLOPDJDJN - Level 02 BAJDINANMJGGCPOOLOLG - Level 03 DJOLBGLGKGJAHIEMNMNN - Level 04 NMKGDDONMHLCGKKGKGKJ - Level 05 ABGKKBPHILHFLOPCPCPC - Level 06 FEBABGLEFLHFLOPCPCPA - Level 07 HIFEMIIABJGGCPOBABAN - Level 08 NMEFPHCMNJGGCPOBABAF - Level 09 JDGKKBPHILHFLOPGKGKL - Level 10 HIPCOHCMNLHFLOPEFEFG - Level 11 ABJDIFJKGGJAHIEPCPCN - Level 12 JDBABANOLJGGCPODJDJF - Level 13 ABNMKNAIHFAJNMMKGKGF - Level 14 ABIHPGLEFCNNJDBEFEFN - Level 15 ABABEMKJDAFHABDCPPCN - Level 16 JDDJOIIOLCNNJDBABOLH - Level 17 JDNMKLGHILHFLOPGKEFH - Level 18 DJABEKMPCFAJNMMOLFEL - Level 19 FEGKKJFNMAFHABDABOLN - Level 20 NMKGDDOIHJGGCPONMIHN - Level 21 NMCPIIIOLFAJNMMGKEFF - Level 22 NMPCOIIOLCNNJDBBAHIJ - Level 23 NMGKKEEHILHFLOPPCGKL - Level 24 HIKGDODCPGJAHIEPCGKJ - Level 25 ABHIMGLBANCLFEINMIHH - Level 26 MNGKKDOOLGJAHIEKGCPC - Level 27 OLDJOIIKGLHFLOPEFLOL - Level 28 IHJDIKMEFNCLFEINMIHF - Level 29 IHDJOIIKGLHFLOPMNJDA - Level 30 DJJDIDOOLFAJNMMEFLOC - Level 31 IHIHPBPCPNCBOLIHIJDH - Level 32 OLFEMANMNFADDJMABFEF - Level 33 MNDJOODJDHLPPCKBAMNA - Level 34 DJABEMKMNNCMIHIMNDJC - Level 35 BADJOIIIHAFDDJDIHOLA - Level 36 DJFEMPBPCGJKEFEEFBAC - Level 37 DJKGDIIIHJGBOLOABFEH - Level 38 DJCPIODFECNOBABABFEN - Level 39 IHEFPPBGKFAIMNMOLKGJ - Level 40 IHLOEHCMNNCMIHIIHOLJ - Level 41 DJEFPHCMNJGBOLOABFEH - Level 42 MNGKKIIOLGJKEFEKGPCJ - Level 43 BAPCOMKDJJGBOLODJIHJ - Level 44 OLNMKDOIHFAIMNMGKLOF - Level 45 OLIHPMKNMFAIMNMABFEH - Level 46 OLABEMKNMCNOBABPCEFL - Level 47 OLOLBFJGKGJKEFEFEPCL - Level 48 OLFEMFJGKLHPPCPLOMNL - Level 49 NMABEKMKGNCLFEIIHFEL - Level 50 BOFEDJJDDJGKEFOLFMIH - Level 74 NMIHPLGKGJDJDJDJDJDH - Begin with maximum Blast Radius / 4,500 points.