Jump Bug

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1981 video games

title: "Jump Bug" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1981-video-games", "adk-(company)-games", "arcade-video-games", "banpresto-games", "multiplayer-and-single-player-video-games", "multiplayer-hotseat-games", "nec-pc-9801-games", "platformers", "rock-ola-games", "scrolling-shooters", "sega-arcade-games", "video-games-developed-in-japan"] description: "1981 video games" topic_path: "technology/web" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jump_Bug" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary 1981 video games ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox video game"]

Field	Value
title	Jump Bug
image	Jump Bug Poster.png
caption	North American arcade flyer
developer	Hoei Corporation
Alpha Denshi
publisher
platforms	Arcade, Arcadia 2001, PC-98
released
genre	Scrolling shooter, platform
modes	Single-player, multiplayer
arcade system	Namco Galaxian
::

is a 1981 scrolling shooter platform game developed by Alpha Denshi under contract for Hoei Corporation. It was distributed in arcades by Sega in Japan and Europe, and by Rock-Ola in North America. The player controls a bouncing Volkswagen-esque car (or "bug") in a forced scrolling world. The car can eliminate enemies by shooting them and collect money bags by landing on them. The world is divided into several separately themed areas which are seamlessly connected. Jump Bug was ported to the Arcadia 2001, Leisure Vision, and PC-98 home systems.

Jump Bug is one of the earliest forced scrolling horizontal shooters, following the chain of games just like Scramble and Super Cobra from earlier in 1981. It is the first game in the nascent platform game genre to include horizontal and, in one segment, vertical scrolling. It uses a limited form of parallax scrolling, with the main scene scrolling while starry night sky is fixed and clouds move slowly, adding depth to the scenery. This was a year before Moon Patrol (1982), with its three moving layers.

Gameplay

The player controls a constantly bouncing car resembling a Volkswagen Beetle (which acquired the nickname "bug"). It drives through a city, mountains, a large pyramid, and a body of water with islands where the car is mostly underwater and moves more slowly. The height of the jump and speed of a fall are controlled with the joystick. The player can shoot various enemies that appear. Points are gained by collecting treasure, killing enemies, and jumping on clouds. Each treasure collected adds to a meter; an extra life the first time it is filled.

The game smoothly scrolls as the player's car moves to the right, but in the pyramid segment the game also scrolls vertically in a coarser manner. Here the player is able to move in any direction, including to the left, while looking for the exit.

Reception

In Japan, Jump Bug was tied with Scramble and Space Panic as the 14th highest-grossing 1981 game.

Notes

References

(13 October 2006). "アーケードTVゲームリスト国内•海外編(1971-2005)". Amusement News Agency.
(January 1982). "Jump Bug Advert (Japanese, new Sega coin-ops, 3rd page from left, bottom left)". Amusement Press Inc., Osaka, Japan.
"ジャンプバグレトロゲームしま専科".
(15 December 1981). "Overseas Readers Column - Hoei Grants "Jump Bug" —Rock-Ola for U.S.A. and Sega for Other Areas—". Amusement Press, Inc..
(26 December 2013). "iPhone Game Blueprints". [[Packt Publishing Ltd]].
{{KLOV game. 8250
(15 February 1982). ""Donkey Kong" No.1 Of '81 — ''Game Machine's Survey Of "The Year's Best Three AM Machines"'' —". [[:ja:アミューズメント通信社.

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