Bump ‘n’ Jump

How to play Bump ‘n’ Jump online

• Steer left and right: left and right arrow keys
• Speed up / slow down: up and down arrow keys
• Jump: Space bar (only works at 100 mph or faster)
• Start a new game from the first roadway: F12 (the console’s Reset switch)
• Continue from the last roadway you reached, after a game ends: F11 (the console’s Select switch)
• Background music on or off: F2 (the TV type switch; colour = music on, black-and-white = music off)

Gameplay

The road scrolls up the screen and your speed can range from 20 to 220 mph. You score points simply for covering distance, and 300 more for every computer car you crash. There are two ways to destroy one: shove it sideways into the edge of the road, or jump and land right on top of it. Jumps also carry you across water. The faster you take off, the further you fly, and you can steer in the air to pick your landing spot.

The other cars do not all behave the same way. The green and blue race cars are the easiest to push around. The skull car is aggressive, stays close behind you and barely moves when you hit it. The heavy tractor is also hard to bump very far. The dump truck drops debris on the road now and then, and it explodes if you touch it.

You start with five cars and earn an extra one every 40,000 points. After each roadway you see how many cars you crashed, your bonus and the next season: the scenery cycles through spring, summer, autumn and winter. The game ends when your last car is wrecked.

Tips

• Keep your speed above 100 mph. Below that you cannot jump, and water you cannot clear costs you a car.
• Pick on the race cars. The green and blue cars fly off the road with a light tap. Jump on skull cars and tractors instead, since they hardly budge.
• Keep clear of dump trucks. Both the truck and its debris are deadly to touch.
• Consider a peaceful run. Getting through a whole roadway without crashing a single car earns 50,000 points, far more than the 300 per crash.
• Use the continue. After a game over, press Select (F11) instead of Reset to start again from the last roadway you reached.

From the arcade to the 2600

Data East released the arcade original in Japan in November 1982, where it was called Burnin’ Rubber. Bally Midway brought it to North America as Bump ‘n’ Jump in March 1983, and it was among the top-earning arcade games in both markets. Mattel licensed the game and released it in November 1983 for both its own Intellivision and, through the M Network label, the Atari 2600. The 2600 cartridge was later reissued by Telegames.