Kaboom! (Atari 2600) review on HonestGamers

Systems > Atari 2600 > K > Kaboom! > Staff Review

Sign into your user account to view or leave feedback for this review. Don't have an account yet? You can click here to open one. It only takes a minute, and it's free!

Review by Jackie Curtis
December 14, 2008

Notorious serial bomber Baron von Blitzkrieg is astir once more, perched against an entirely gray background atop a solid olive green wall, awaiting his cue to strike. Still adorned in the black-and-white striped jailbird outfit he broke out of the big house in – the ensemble accessorized by the black mask with cutout eyeholes stretched across the width of his face – the criminal mastermind holds his soon to be unleashed explosive in the palms of his hands, a scowl perpetually across his face, only fleeting for the few brief seconds when victory is his. The crew-cut culprit stands motionless, emotionless, daring us to dare him.

The player presses the button.

Baron immediately sets to work, darting lightning fast back and forth across the span of the wall, unleashing bomb after bomb downward at the earth beneath. On his first strike the bombs fall slowly and in short numbers, but with each successful completion of a round they hurtle toward the ground quicker and in greater amounts. Soon they’re dropping out of his hands at a breakneck, dizzying pace.

Success comes via the three vertically stacked trays at the base of the wall. As the bombs fall the player must attempt to catch them on the trays, strafing left and right, mimicking the movements of the shifty von Blitzkrieg. Failure is met not only by being sent back to the last round, but with the removal of the bottommost of the trays, making it that much more difficult to foil this fugitive by making the margin of error that much slimmer.

That’s all there is to it.

Kaboom! stands as evidence that simple ideas complemented by seamless mechanics will weather the tests of time. The split-second reflexes and precise timing required to excel here is unparalleled by today’s Devil May Cry’s; only through extensive practice will you establish the nimble fingers necessary to see how frantic this title can be, and once you have a taste you'll want more. The only flash presented here is the flickering colors that occur when a bomb touches the ground, but in spite of this I still can’t get enough. Forget sprawling landscapes and characters with clouded pasts necessary to captivate audiences today; all Kaboom! does is throw a bomb-dropping maniac on the screen and ask us to clean up the hectic, free-falling mess he leaves in his wake.

It does it well.

Rating
8	Excellent Most of the elements of this game come together in fine form, meaning it's an experience you won't want to miss.
Read more about the review rating scale...

Staff reviews represent the opinion of the individual staff member that wrote them and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the site staff as a whole. If you disagree with the contents of this review, you may click to leave feedback on our dedicated forum. Thank you!

HG 2009 Fundraising Progress: $348 / $2500 (14%)

Click to learn about the Fundometer or to advertise.

Game Profile & Content

All

Staff Score (Avg): 8.0 User Score (Avg): 8.0 Press Score (Avg): N/A
Reviews: 2 Guides: 0 Cheats: 0 Ratings: 2	High Scores: 0 Screenshots: 1 Videos: 0

Title: Kaboom!
Genre: Action
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Activision
Release Date: 1981
ESRB: N/A
Save: N/A
Platforms: Atari 5200, Atari 2600

Do you own this game? Register for a free account to track it and other games in your collection!

Voice Your Opinion...

Average User Rating (2 ratings)

Only registered users can rate this game!

Atari 2600 discussion forums

While you're here...

Pitfall! is another Atari 2600 game in the Action genre that has been attracting activity lately, so you might want to check it out and see what all of the fuss is about!