Jump Bug
{{Short description|1981 video games}}
{{Infobox video game
|title = Jump Bug
|image = Jump Bug Poster.png
|caption = North American arcade flyer
|developer = Hoei Corporation
Alpha Denshi
|publisher = {{vgrelease|JP/EU|Sega|NA|Rock-Ola}}
|engine =
|designer =
|platforms = Arcade, Arcadia 2001, PC-98
|released = {{vgrelease|WW|December 1981{{cite book |last1=Akagi |first1=Masumi |title=アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005) |date=13 October 2006 |publisher=Amusement News Agency |language=ja |location=Japan |isbn=978-4990251215 |edition=First |url=https://archive.org/details/ArcadeGameList1971-2005/page/n51 |accessdate=16 August 2019}}{{cite web|title=Jump Bug Advert (Japanese, new Sega coin-ops, 3rd page from left, bottom left)|url=https://archive.org/details/game-machine-magazine-19820101p/page/n9/mode/2up?view=theater|work=Game Machine Magazine 1st. Jan. '82| date=January 1982 |publisher=Amusement Press Inc., Osaka, Japan|accessdate=12 October 2022}}}}
|genre = Scrolling shooter, platform
|modes = Single-player, multiplayer
|arcade system = Namco Galaxian
}}
{{nihongo foot|Jump Bug|ジャンプバグ|Janpu Bagu|lead=yes|group=lower-alpha}} is a 1981 scrolling shooter platform game developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei Corporation.{{cite web | url=http://www.ne.jp/asahi/retro/retro/review/sa/jumpbug.html | title=ジャンプバグ レトロゲームしま専科 | accessdate=2008-06-18 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080211104613/http://www.ne.jp/asahi/retro/retro/review/sa/jumpbug.html | archive-date=2008-02-11}} It was distributed in arcades by Sega in Japan and Europe, and by Rock-Ola in North America.{{cite magazine|title=Overseas Readers Column - Hoei Grants "Jump Bug" —Rock-Ola for U.S.A. and Sega for Other Areas—|magazine=Game Machine|issue=179|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=15 December 1981|page=30|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19811215p.pdf#page=16}} The player controls a bouncing Volkswagen-esque car (or "bug") in a forced scrolling world. The car can eliminate enemies by shooting them and collect money bags by landing on them. The world is divided into several separately themed areas which are seamlessly connected. Jump Bug was ported to the Arcadia 2001, Leisure Vision, and PC-98 home systems.
Jump Bug is one of the earliest forced scrolling horizontal shooters, following in the wake of Scramble and Super Cobra from earlier in 1981. It is the first game in the nascent platform game genre to include horizontal and, in one segment, vertical scrolling. It uses a limited form of parallax scrolling, with the main scene scrolling while starry night sky is fixed and clouds move slowly, adding depth to the scenery. This was a year before Moon Patrol (1982), with its three moving layers.{{cite book |last1=Uduslivii |first1=Igor |title=iPhone Game Blueprints |date=26 December 2013 |publisher=Packt Publishing Ltd |isbn=978-1-84969-027-0 |page=339 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5R4AgAAQBAJ&pg=PT339}}
Gameplay
The player controls a constantly bouncing car resembling a Volkswagen Beetle (which acquired the nickname "bug"). It drives through a city, mountains, a large pyramid, and a body of water with islands where the car is mostly underwater and moves more slowly . The height of the jump and speed of a fall are controlled with the joystick. The player can shoot various enemies that appea]. Points are gained by collecting treasure, killing enemies, and jumping on clouds.{{KLOV game|8250}} Each treasure collected adds to a meter; an extra life the first time it is filled.
The game smoothly scrolls as the player's car moves to the right, but in the pyramid segment the game also scrolls vertically in a coarser manner. Here the player is able to move in any direction, including to the left, while looking for the exit.
Reception
In Japan, Jump Bug was tied with Scramble and Space Panic as the 14th highest-grossing 1981 game.{{cite magazine|title="Donkey Kong" No.1 Of '81 — Game Machine's Survey Of "The Year's Best Three AM Machines" —|magazine=Game Machine|issue=182|publisher=Amusement Press, Inc.|date=15 February 1982|page=30|url=https://onitama.tv/gamemachine/pdf/19820215p.pdf#page=16}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.arcade-history.com/?n=jump-bug&page=detail&id=1236 Jump Bug] at Arcade History
Category:Multiplayer and single-player video games