Bomb Zone

Bomb Zone is an action game released in 1983 by Fantasy Research for the IBM PC and compatible computers. The goal of the game is to earn points by defeating wave after wave of killer drones.

The game screen in Bomb Zone consists of a top-down view of the playfield which contains several bombs, killer drones, and the player's character. To complete each level, players need to destroy each of the drones on the screen with a bomb. The bombs aren't placed on the screen by the player, instead several will already be on the playfield at the start of each level and additional ones will periodically appear at random locations. Shooting a bomb with a bullet causes it to explode; if a drone (or even the player!) is close enough to the explosion, it will be destroyed. Anytime a bomb explodes, a crater is left behind which blocks movement for the player and all but the most powerful opponents. Craters remain for the duration of the level — if players detonate too many bombs without destroying a drone (or, on later levels where there are more drones to deal with) this can cause the screen to become quite crowded making navigating more difficult. Bombs will also explode on their own if left alone long enough; Different colors are used to indicate how close a bomb is to detonating with white indicating the longest duration and the color slowly changing to magenta just before it goes off. Players are given a limited amount of protection from some dangers in the form of a force field that will temporarily protect against collisions with the drones or projectiles when activated. Using the force field may come with a cost; the first three uses are free, but after that points are subtracted for each additional use. Players also need to be careful when firing bullets; if a bullet hits a killer drone it will be reflected back and if the player doesn't get out of the way a life is lost!

As the game progresses, additional types of enemies are added, the speed increases, and the overall difficulty increases. Points can be both awarded and lost; points are awarded for destroying opponents, detonating bombs, and completing a level. One point is subtracted for each shot fired and 10 points are lost each time the force field is used after the first three uses.