Saboten Bombers is a colorful platform game developed by NMK and published by Tecmo for Japanese arcades in April 1992. Players control a friendly cactus character — Wanpi for the first player, Tsuupi for the second — who defends the family home from invading bugs and rival cacti by hurling bombs around a single-screen stage. The bounce-then-explode bomb mechanic and platform layouts give it a rhythm similar to Taito’s Bubble Bobble, spread across more than 100 stages with a boss fight on every tenth level.
How to Play
The goal on each stage is to clear every enemy before they overwhelm you, either by catching them in a bomb blast or steering clear until the blast is gone — the bombs you throw bounce unpredictably and can just as easily hurt your own cactus. The default browser controls map movement to the arrow keys, with Z to throw a bomb and Enter for start/coin. Saboten Bombers also supports two players: clear stages together in co-op, or switch to versus mode and compete head-to-head against a CPU opponent.
Tips
- Don’t crowd your own blast: since bombs bounce erratically before detonating, throw and back away rather than standing near where one lands.
- Grab the cake pieces: enemies drop them, and picking them up earns extra lives that matter over 100+ stages.
- Brace for a boss every tenth stage: these fights break the usual clear-the-screen rhythm, so keep a few bombs in reserve heading in.
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