Approximate Release Date: August 31, 1992
Genre: Puzzle
Developer: Mirrorsoft
Publisher: Kemco

The music in Ka-Blooey is some of the most awful I’ve ever heard.

The music starts off fine, if not generic. But occasionally during puzzles, the music will flare up and start blasting samples of the announcer saying “get ready” over and over again, often overlapping itself. I don’t know if Ka-Blooey‘s sound designer was attempting to evoke the sounds of the era’s really bad rap and hip-hop music, but it’s terrible.

It kicks in around 3:03 in today’s video if you want to experience it yourself!

That’s the only thing that really stands out about Ka-Blooey, though. It’s a puzzle game done in a Q*bert-esque isometric perspective where you have to detonate every bomb on the level without falling off the stage or getting blown up yourself. Some bombs have larger explosions than others, so you have to take care to start a chain reaction instead of getting up close to it.

I could talk about how I don’t like the isometric view because pressing left to go up makes my brain hurt, or how the map button doesn’t show the entire level which seems like an important thing to have for solving these puzzles. No, Ka-Blooey‘s biggest sin is that it is Ka-Boring. Skip.

Tomorrow: I’d hate to burst anyone’s bubble, but Super Buster Bros. is a much better game than this one.

Title screen

Main menu

Bombs are scattered around the first level.

The overhead map view

You can move bombs along a track.

Setting off an explosion

The password screen

The ground disappears after you step on it.

The map is kinda useless with larger puzzles.