One thing that still amazes me is finding out who created these games. So many were licensed out. While Atari had many hits of their own, most of the games I really got into were the Namco ones.
This game is one of many I've stumbled onto by Technos. Isn't it enough they pretty much invented the fighting game (Karate Champ), the beat-em-up (Vigilante, Double Dragon), and the wrestling game (tag-team wresling, Mat Mania)? Super Dodgeball and River City Ransom on the NES will always be classics too.
I have to admit that the first jet-pack game I thought of was Section Z. Capcom considers Section Z, Side Arms, and Forgotten Worlds to be the "Jet-pack Hero Trilogy".