Bomb Bee, Namco's 1979 arcade sequel to its first in-house designed game, Gee Bee, is this week's Arcade Archives and Arcade Archives 2 release.
Developed by the Pac-Man creator, Toru Iwatani, Bomb Bee, much like its predecessor, is a brick-breaking arcade game that incorporates elements of pinball. It plays similarly to the previous title in the series, so it will likely be familiar to those who picked up Gee Bee's Arcade Archives & Arcade Archives 2 release last month. But it also adds in some new features, such as the ability to earn extra lives and the inclusion of a 1000-point bumper, which, as the title suggests, doubles as a bomb when hit multiple times.
The game will be released tomorrow (Thursday, 20th November) across Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, Xbox Series X|S, PS4, and PS5. It will cost $7.99 for the Arcade Archives release (Switch/PS4), with the Arcade Archives 2 release (Xbox Series X|S, PS5, & Switch 2) being priced slightly higher at $9.99.
As we've come to expect, the regular Arcade Archives release will include a HI SCORE MODE, CARAVAN MODE, and online leaderboards, while the Arcade Archives 2 release will also introduce an additional TIME ATTACK MODE.
Here's the official description:
"BOMB BEE" is a brick breaker released by NAMCO LIMITED (current Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc.) in 1979. The biggest feature of this sequel to GEE BEE, as its title suggests, is the bomb!
Find the hidden bombs in the playfield, set off explosions, and aim for a high score! Like its predecessor, this title also supports mouse control. Let's BOMB BEE with simple controls!
At this moment, there's no word on whether the third game in the "Gee Bee trilogy", Cutie Q, will also be joining Arcade Archives and Arcade Archives 2 in the future, but given that both of the previous entries have now been locked in, it wouldn't surprise us if we have some news to share in the next couple of months.
What are your thoughts on this week's release? Let us know in the comments!