Editing Kaboom! (video game) (section)

==Development==
[[File:David Crane (10453626776) (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[David Crane (programmer)|David Crane]] (pictured in 2013) created code for the design of the Mad Bomber.]]

[[Larry Kaplan]] designed ''Kaboom!'' for [[Activision]].{{sfn|Weiss|2014|p=123}}  Kaplan, [[Alan Miller (game designer)|Alan Miller]] and [[David Crane (programmer)|David Crane]] had all previously worked at [[Atari, Inc.]]{{sfn|Montfort|Bogost|2009|p=99}} They believed Atari undervalued its programmers, leading Crane and Miller to leave Atari in August 1979 to make their own company called Activision. Kaplan followed soon after.{{sfn|Montfort|Bogost|2009|p=100}}{{sfn|Fleming|2007}} Prior to the release of ''Kaboom!'', Kaplan developed ''Bridge'' for the Atari 2600, a game based on [[contract bridge]], which was released in December 1980.{{sfn|Activision|1980|ref=bridge-tips}}{{sfn|Leisure Time Electronics|1980|p=37|ref=Bridge}}

''Kaboom!'' was inspired by the 1978 Atari arcade game ''[[Avalanche (video game)|Avalanche]]'' designed by Dennis Koble.{{sfn|Weiss|2014|p=123}}{{sfn|Drury|2012|p=88}} Kaplan was open about the influence in later interviews, saying "I just ripped off ''Avalanche''."{{sfn|Weiss|2014|p=123}} 
Kaplan said he was limited with the games graphics, and since he could not reuse the falling rocks from the arcade game, he changed it to being a single figure dropping bombs. Kaplan credited Crane for designing the mad bomber and buckets.{{sfn|Weiss|2014|p=123}} Crane said that in 1979, he was working on creating a realistic animation of a man running. The character would eventually be used for ''[[Pitfall!]]'' (1982), but Crane originally tried to use the character in a "Cops and Robbers"-themed game which was never published. The character in this game had a black and white colored horizontal stripe shirt, which was later used in ''Kaboom!'' for the Mad Bomber.{{sfn|Hunt|2012|p=81}} Crane said that at the time, Kaplan's game had ''[[Pong (video game)|Pong]]''-like paddles and did not reflect the high quality graphics in Activision's games. Crane said he developed the graphics for the Mad Bomber, bombs, and the water buckets as well as adding coding that changed the facial expression of the Mad Bomber based on the gameplay.{{sfn|Milne|2025|p=37}}

Paul Wilson adapted ''Kaboom!'' to the [[Atari 5200]] and [[Atari 8-bit computers]].{{sfn|Weiss|2014|p=124}}{{sfn|Activision|1983|ref=ComCov}} These two ports were identical to each other.{{sfn|The Video Game Update includes Computer Entertainer|1983|p=135|ref=5200Rev}} Wilson's version featured a "Pitch and Catch" mode, which allowed two players to take turns controlling both the buckets and the Mad Bomber.{{sfn|Weiss|2014|p=124}}