Bounty Bob, Level 26 - The End

...this isn't actually a level, they've just decided to call the end of the game "Level 26" for some reason. As your reward for beating the game, you get taken to a special screen where you can fiddle with some of the game's variables. The main one, of course, is that you can start the game with five lives instead of four! Also, you can start at any level you choose... I'm not sure how. You need a special code, but I don't know what the codes are. Better to just use saved states, save yourself the trouble. And... that's it! One last toast to the toughest game I've ever played on the Atari... alas, played strictly with a PC emulator, no joystick. What's the second toughest, you ask? Championship Lode Runner a close second; I don't know how I ever figured out those levels. Just tenacious, I guess.  Zeppelin was a tough one too.   Can Pastfinder actually be won?  Apparently it can't.  Seems like a game is either tough or fun to play.  Bounty Bob Strikes Back! starts out fun, then gets tough.  The discussion goes on.........

Bounty Bob, Level 25 - The Floating Transporter

If you love levels where you only get one shot at doing something right, well... see how there are eight Energy Bars on this level? That's RIGHT! You've got to get all eight of those things right. So, you eat an Energy Bar, back up a little bit, then jump to the far platform. You've got to jump so that you don't land on the slide and slide right down. Piece of cake, right? Oh, and the other gimmick for which this level is named: as you might have guessed, when you teleport to Booth 2, you immediately plummet to the ground, thanks to the Gravity Lift under it! These guys thought of everything, I tells ya. Personally, I would've ended with Level 24, but that kind of decision is way way above my pay grade... I guess that's it.

Mr. Robot, Level 'V'

SPOILER ALERT: Ah, we've finally made it to the last level of Mr. Robot from Datamost (TM)(C)(R). Now, you're probably asking yourselves: Level 'V'? That's the last level, 'V'?!! Well, the last level in Boulder Dash is 'P', right? Well, 'T' if you count the four bonus levels. Plus, the last level in Boulder Dash is a little anti-climactic... even in Boulder Dash II, if memory serves! Which I think is nice, personally. Anyway, remember how I mentioned earlier that in one of the tougher Mr. Robot levels, I had to use two saved states? THREE on this one. If I remember correctly... I must've tried to block this one out... you have to get this absolutely perfectly... otherwise, you can't finish it. Good thing you've got all those extra lives, right? This one should make short work of 'em! Happy gaming! On the bright side, you get to start all the way over on Level 'A'! I think I'm going to grab that musical note next time... again, less adventurous as the years pass.

Bounty Bob, Level 24 - Mutants on the Move!

...I hate it when the levels are those dark colors like that. Well, I'm an old man now, and the older you get, the less adventurous you get. Lord, help me make it to whatever age I can start collecting Social Security checks. Anyway, for those of you who ever wondered what it would be like if the "aliens" or "mutants" in this game would have a little more equitability with Bounty Bob, and not just be trapped in their little horizontal loops, well... this level's for you! The only thing is... as you can see, there are NO powerups. So, not only do you have to deal with mutants that have a little more freedom, you don't get an opportunity to take 'em out! For me personally, this is kind of a bad level to have so close to the end, because I have no patience as a gamer, and I usually end up losing on this one. A fine investment of 40 minutes, what can I tell ya? What else... can't think of anything else right now. Happy Suffering!

Mr. Robot, Level 'U'

I should have been more careful about my recurring feature.  WILL YOU GET KILLED IF YOU JUST STAND THERE?  On this level... yes.  As you can see, our hero / avatar is standing on one of those delightful Conveyor Belt-type dealy boppers.  Incidentally, if you love those Conveyor Belt-type dealies, well... this level will cure you of that!  Alas, this level will seem like Child's Play compared to........................

Bounty Bob, Level 23 - Advanced Pulverizers

Oh, these are the moments any and all gamers should live for. That's part of the genius of the Doom series. Sure, you can figure out how to do the levels after enough tries... but what about all those bonus areas? That's the fun sh... stuff. My friend had to help me out with this one level in ... probably Doom II, where you get one of those Green Globes of Temporary Invulnerability, you run up to this ledge, fire a rocket against the wall, and that will give you enough momentum to fall into this one box. I truly hate to spoil the surprise in Level 23... I know, right? How old is this game? Almost 40 years now! Wow... I'll just say that this level can be completed, even though it might not look like it. I WILL say, however... each platform has one of those alien thingies, and you get to them from the middle, so the best piece of advice I can give you is to first do the platforms that have their "power pills" on the far side of the pulverizers. And by that, I mean you have to get past the pulverizer to get to them... does that make sense? And of course, the pulverizers in this level are far less forgiving and predictable than the ones in level... 9 of the original? Level 9! I'll be dam... darned.

Bounty Bob, Level 22 - Advanced Cannon

One last easy one before we get into the real hard levels! It took me a while to get the rhythm of this one, but once I got it down... piece o'cake. Then again, it is quite a bit like Level 10 of Miner 2049'er. The explosives are in the same place, the CANNON is in the same place... See, if I was real good, I would've already made a screen grab of that one, but I'll steal one off the web instead.

See what I mean?  Clearly, in the original game, they were going for simplicity.