Born in the arcades, Elite converted this game to the Spectrum back in 1986 and it became an instant hit through pure addictiveness.

Essentially, the player was required to move a small, caped character around a platform-populated screen, collecting bombs for points and avoiding any of the on-screen baddies. Ah, it may sound easy but it certainly wasn't. Routes to collect the bombs in the most efficient way had to be planned, and once the air became full of baddies it was a nightmare to negotiate. The action continued in this fashion until the player had lost his last life and had to start from the beginning again.

Bomb Jack scored massively on the addiction front because the difficulty curve was just right and there was always, always the conviction that just because you lost your last life on a particular screen you knew you'd be able to clear it next time.

Naturally, the game spawned a few sequels and a handful of clones, but none of them could match the pleasure of playing the original. Bomb Jack was simply a superb arcade game, superbly converted.