80’s arcade coin-op throwbacks have been slowly making their way out of the wonderful, but often quite difficult to entice itch.io into the Steam store more often of late. There is a core nucleus of developers who make this neo-retro vibe their thing, and Tanzi Games is one of them. Bomcat isn’t their first game, but it is the first to break out beyond a personal itch page. I’m hoping it brings them some love and sales, because Bomcat is a small but joyous gem.
Takobrain has stolen your girlfriend and tied her up at the top of each single-screen level. The baddie has also placed himself in a shield, and your goal in each level is to blow up the shield and then ascend the ladder to the next level. You do this by collecting giant bombs and lobbing them at various control panels dotted around the level. When you pick up a bomb, you can’t climb up, so you’ll need to plan out which bomb to use for each control panel. You’ll also need to be quick and timely because the bomb will explode after a few seconds of touching it, and the levels are swarming with enemies patrolling their platforms.
Bomcat moves predictably and precisely, just as the best retro 2D arcade platformers do. Jumps take a bit of getting used to, as Bomcat doesn’t jump very high, but he can leap relatively far. Screen wrapping also occurs for both you and the enemy, and each level is designed with that in mind. When bombs detonate, they won’t just blow up control panels if they are within reach; they’ll kill enemies, too. This is crucial for all the score attack fiends out there, because this will rack up a decent score, especially if one bomb clears out several enemies and a panel simultaneously. The quicker you go, the more points you’ll get for the remaining time on what is a generous timer. You’ll never run out of time. It’s far more likely you’ll either die or complete a level.
Bomcat’s sole drawback is its length. There are six levels in total, with completely different enemy patterns between easy and hard modes. Easy mode allows for continues if you score well, hard gives you three lives, and that’s it. I’d have loved a few more levels or some way to repurpose them, because each level is unique. The first gets you used to the concept. Level two adds moving platforms, three adds floating balloons, four shoots bombs down shafts, and five asks you to lob bombs into tunnels. Level six is the boss battle, and whilst it’s interesting (and funny), it isn’t much of a challenge. I died far more getting to the boss than beating it. I get that 80’s arcade coin-ops were short and sweet, but Bomcat could take a leaf from Looney Landers or Cash Cow DX in adding new ways to retool earlier levels for a continued challenge.
As it stands, Bomcat is a mighty fine game. If you know it is short going in, and you can shift your focus to chasing your own high scores on a local leaderboard, then it’ll give you a few fantastic hours of fun. Bomcat is around for a good time, not a long time, and that’s ok with me… mostly.
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