Bump 'n' Jump


Burnin' Rubber is an overhead-view racing game created by Data East and released in arcades as both a dedicated board and as part of their DECO Cassette System. It was distributed in North America by Bally Midway and later ported to other platforms. The Atari 2600, Intellivision, and ColecoVision versions as well as the North American arcade and Nintendo Entertainment System versions are titled Bump 'n' Jump.
The goal is to drive to the end of a level while bumping enemy vehicles into the sides of the track and jumping over large obstacles such as bodies of water.

Gameplay

Because of the bird's eye view, players cannot see the large obstacles until it is too late to jump, so the game displays a flashing exclamation point when the large obstacles are about to appear.
The enemy vehicles are cars and trucks. Cars can be bumped into obstacles or jumped upon and destroyed, while trucks cannot be bumped; they can only be jumped upon to destroy them, and will sometimes drop obstacles that will destroy the player or one extra life. At the end of each level players receive bonus points for the number of enemy vehicles crashed. Going from one level to another is characterized by a change of seasons. Players get points for bumping other cars and causing the other cars to crash, but one bonus isn't apparent: If the player completes a level without destroying another car by bumping it or jumping on it, the player receives a 50,000 point bonus.

Ports

Mattel Electronics licensed Bump 'n' Jump from Data East and in 1983 released an Intellivision version and then a version for the Atari 2600. They also produced a version for ColecoVision distributed by Coleco in 1984.
Data East released a port of Burnin' Rubber titled Buggy Popper for the Nintendo Entertainment System in Japan in 1986. It was released in North Anerica by Vic Tokai in 1988 as Bump 'n' Jump. Adding a level of complexity, the NES version of the game also requires that players pick up cans of gasoline that are interspersed throughout each course, as their car uses up fuel steadily throughout the game if the car goes too fast.
The arcade version was made available on the PlayStation Portable in North America by G1M2 with its original title. The game also appears on the Data East Arcade Classics compilation with its original name.

Legacy

In 1996, Next Generation listed it as number 65 on their "Top 100 Games of All Time", lauding the innovative jumping and bumping mechanics, the variety of cars, and the strong sensation of speed and tension.
Two clones were released for the Commodore 64. Burnin' Rubber in 1983 uses the chorale parts of Johann Sebastian Bach's Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben cantata for the soundtrack. Bumping Buggies was produced in 1984.

High scores

On 25 December 2011, Charlie Wehner of Missouri beat the arcade version's world record with a score of 3,175,880. On 14 September 2013, John McNeill of Brisbane, Australia claimed the world record with a score of 5,869,264 however due to ownership issues with Twin Galaxies at the time, the score was not officially recognised until January 5, 2015.
On 13 October 2019, Matthew Cleasby of Eccleston set the Bump 'n' Jump Play Expo Weekend Record with a score of 11,308.
The world record using MAME was achieved by John McNeill of Brisbane, Australia on 2 March 2012 with a score of 2,531,168.