[a] The game involves a Mad Bomber dropping bombs at increasing speeds as the player controls a set of water buckets to catch them.

was programmed by Larry Kaplan with David Crane coding the graphics for the buckets and Mad Bomber.

It was the last game designed by Kaplan for Activision, who left the company shortly after it was released.

General critical reception of the game commended its graphics, particularly the Mad Bomber whose expression changed depending on how well the player performed.

Retrospective reviews were more generally positive with it being praised for its simple and addictive action qualities and being among the best games released by Activision during its early era.

: The Return of the Mad Bomber was shown at the 1991 Summer Consumer Electronics Show for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, but was never officially released.

[4] The player starts with three water-filled buckets and must catch the bombs to defuse them and gain points.

A two-player option is available where the players take turns controlling their buckets and have their own individual scores displayed.

The character in this game had a black and white colored horizontal stripe shirt, which was later used in Kaboom!

[15] Wilson's version featured a "Pitch and Catch" mode, which allowed two players to take turns controlling both the buckets and the Mad Bomber.

[26] Kunkel and Laney Jr. addressed the similarities to the game Avalanche, but found Kaboom!

[32] Rick Vogt in The Miami Herald also enjoyed the graphical small touches on the Mad Bomber's reactions, while ultimately finding that the game would only predominantly appeal to children who were "easily frustrated with the space games saturating the market.

[35] A reviewer in Softline dismissed the gameplay, stating that there was "no real game here, just a test of paddle controls."

The reviewer suggested that Atari computer games had "passed the stage of evolution of Kaboom!

in 2003, stating that it involved twitch gameplay, a style which was popular in arcades and consoles around the time of the games release.

was "one of the most addictive and entrancing twitch games ever made" which "manages to walk the line, perfectly balanced between challenge and cheapness.

[38][39] Mat Allen of Retro Gamer referred to Kaboom!, along with River Raid (1982), Pitfall II: Lost Caverns (1984), Ghostbusters (1984), Little Computer People (1985) and Alter Ego (1986), as one of the best games from Activision's classic period.

[40] Following the release of Kaboom!, other companies developed similar games, such as Lost Luggage (1982) by Apollo and Eggomania (1983) by U.S.

Three follow-ups to older Activison properties were shown at the Summer Consumer Electronics Show in 1991 for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, including one titled Kaboom!

Kaplan said that he felt Jim Levy of Activision was "pushing the superstar approach, the media loves it [...] it's taking things out of context and it's lying.