Achieved at : 2026-02-12
Rank : 1
(world record)
Lups : 100
Approved :
Yes
Voting completed : 2026-02-13
| General Rules: |
Play with default settings unless otherwise specified. No use of trainers, cheats, saved game files, auto-fire (when not default present in-game), emulator save states, or other emulator advantages. No use of code modifications that give the player an advantage over other players. 1 player only. No continues. It is discouraged and may lead to voters not accepting your score to - excessively point farm - use glitches or other game exploits |
| Specific Rules: | Play the game in 1 player mode with default settings. |
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TGP
Firebug is a platform arcade game for the BBC Micro released by Acornsoft in 1984. The game was written by Walter Mansell, who also wrote Acornsoft's Boxer and Crazy Tracer as well as several other notable Beeb games.
Firebug is named after the villains of the game, firebugs who are trying to burn down a warehouse. The fires they set head towards the edges of the screen and will destroy any petrol or fire extinguishers they encounter. As the on-duty fireman, your task is to collect all the pink containers of petrol and dump them in the water tank at the top of the screen. Attached to some walls are fire extinguishers, which you can use to put out some of the fires. A level ends when all of the petrol containers have either been destroyed by fire or safely collected by you.
The game has an interesting lives mechanic. You don't lose a life if you contact an enemy or the fire. Instead, you just fall to the bottom of the screen. This is still a negative, because it takes time to climb back up and the fires keep heading towards those petrol containers! Instead of lives, if 10 petrol canisters are destroyed, the fire reaches 100 degrees Celsius and the game ends. Other hazards you face include moving pistons and clouds of smoke (or steam?).
For those who remember Walter's earlier game, Boxer, then Firebug will have a familiar feel. Firebug is quite an advancement on Boxer though, with better graphics and a more complex gameplay element. It definitely feels like a Walter Mansell game and that is not a bad thing. His games are pretty solid.
The graphics are colourful and chunky - they are well animated too. Sound is ok, not much room for a lot of sound in this game, but what there is fits ok. Each level has a different layout to master and eventually more than one twisted fire-starter will appear to cause you more headaches. Controls are generally alright, but I found the position of the jump button a bit awkward to use, so I rarely did any jumps. You can jump the fires, but it isn't easy. Overall, I would recommend this game for fans of the era.
This run was made on the 12th February 2026. The emulator is Pantheon, running on PC. There are no adjustable skill levels and the final score was 11,710 points.
Time stamps:
00:30 Title screen and controls.
00:36 Game starts.
00:53 First petrol can saved.
01:20 First petrol can destroyed by fire and the temperature goes up to 10 degrees.
01:38 Last petrol can destroyed, level ends.
01:44 Level 2 begins.
02:16 Hit by a piston!
02:55 Temperature reaches 50 degrees!
03:18 Last can collected, level ends.
03:25 Level 3 begins.
05:56 Last can collected, level ends.
06:01 Level 4 begins.
06:43 10th can catches fire. Game Over! Final score 11,710 points.
06:50 Initials entry and High Score table.
Firebug is named after the villains of the game, firebugs who are trying to burn down a warehouse. The fires they set head towards the edges of the screen and will destroy any petrol or fire extinguishers they encounter. As the on-duty fireman, your task is to collect all the pink containers of petrol and dump them in the water tank at the top of the screen. Attached to some walls are fire extinguishers, which you can use to put out some of the fires. A level ends when all of the petrol containers have either been destroyed by fire or safely collected by you.
The game has an interesting lives mechanic. You don't lose a life if you contact an enemy or the fire. Instead, you just fall to the bottom of the screen. This is still a negative, because it takes time to climb back up and the fires keep heading towards those petrol containers! Instead of lives, if 10 petrol canisters are destroyed, the fire reaches 100 degrees Celsius and the game ends. Other hazards you face include moving pistons and clouds of smoke (or steam?).
For those who remember Walter's earlier game, Boxer, then Firebug will have a familiar feel. Firebug is quite an advancement on Boxer though, with better graphics and a more complex gameplay element. It definitely feels like a Walter Mansell game and that is not a bad thing. His games are pretty solid.
The graphics are colourful and chunky - they are well animated too. Sound is ok, not much room for a lot of sound in this game, but what there is fits ok. Each level has a different layout to master and eventually more than one twisted fire-starter will appear to cause you more headaches. Controls are generally alright, but I found the position of the jump button a bit awkward to use, so I rarely did any jumps. You can jump the fires, but it isn't easy. Overall, I would recommend this game for fans of the era.
This run was made on the 12th February 2026. The emulator is Pantheon, running on PC. There are no adjustable skill levels and the final score was 11,710 points.
Time stamps:
00:30 Title screen and controls.
00:36 Game starts.
00:53 First petrol can saved.
01:20 First petrol can destroyed by fire and the temperature goes up to 10 degrees.
01:38 Last petrol can destroyed, level ends.
01:44 Level 2 begins.
02:16 Hit by a piston!
02:55 Temperature reaches 50 degrees!
03:18 Last can collected, level ends.
03:25 Level 3 begins.
05:56 Last can collected, level ends.
06:01 Level 4 begins.
06:43 10th can catches fire. Game Over! Final score 11,710 points.
06:50 Initials entry and High Score table.