"Congratulations! You smashed 17 cars."

All driving games generally involve two thing – road obstacles and other motorists, both of which are to be avoided at all costs. Bump n’ Jump stripped things down to the basics – you bumped the other cars off the road, and jumped over everything else that stood in your way. Nice and simple, and a heck of a lot of fun.

The controls were simple. You steered, you sped up and slowed down, and when all else failed, you jumped what was in front of you. Most cars could be forced off the road with a not-so-gentle bump. Other obstacles were more formidable, such as dump trucks, which could not be successfully bumped and would lighten their load on a random basis by dumping a pile of debris in your path.

And if that weren’t enough to keep you on your toes, you also had to contend with various obstacles that could only be survived by making a leap of faith. Sometimes the road would simply end, forcing you to jump safely to the other side of the void. And to make matters worse, the only warning you were given, thanks to the limited visibility on the vertically-scrolling screen, was a flashing exclamation point – a warning of an impending jump. And if that weren’t enough, your car had to exceed 100 MPH to pull off a successful jump. If you were light on the accelerator, you were doomed but if you achieved the necessary speed, you were soon airborne and out of harm’s way – for the moment at least.

After the first level of the game, players would find themselves cycling through all four seasons, with each offering their own unique obstacles. Winter, for example, brought with it patches of slippery ice. All in all, there were 32 unique levels to successfully navigate through.

And surprisingly enough, there was a big point bonus awaiting any player who was able to successfully navigate a level without bumping any cars. Of course, asking a player to avoid hitting other cars is a tall order in the world of driving games and few likely achieved those bonus points. After all, the game was called Bump n’ Jump – and it just didn’t seem right to deny oneself the pleasure of destroying everything that dared to get in your way. All in all, it made for a addicting and fun gaming experience and Bump n’ Jump had no shortage of enthusiastic fans.