 | Bomber Man       |
The titular Bomber Man is a human, who is unnamed in Japan but is known as Eric internationally. He used bombs to blow up brick blocks and floating balloon-like enemies throughout twenty mazes in the catacombs in search of treasure.
The title screen of the Japanese version identified the game as Bomber Man, which was the literal English translation of the title on the game packaging, 爆弾男 (Bakudan Otoko).
Hudson Soft was a prolific computer developer in the 1980s, and as such Hudson Soft published Bomber Man on many different computer platforms available during that time period. It was released in Japan for the MSX and PC-8001 mk II in July 1983. Other computer platforms that received the game in 1983 in Japan included the FM-7, MB-6890, Multi-8, MZ-700, MZ-2200, Pasopia, PC-6001 mkII, PC-8801, and X1.
Hudson Soft localized the game for release in the United Kingdom as Eric and the Floaters. This was done to distance the game from the terrorist bombings known as The Troubles. These were carried out by the Irish Republican Army primarily in Northern Ireland, but occasionally in Ireland, the UK, and parts of Europe during a thirty-year period from approximately 1968 until the signing of the Good Friday agreement in 1998.
Kuma Computers published the MSX version of Eric and the Floaters in the United Kingdom in 1984. Hudson Soft also converted Eric and the Floaters for the ZX Spectrum. This version, also released in 1984, was published in the United Kingdom by Sinclair Research.
