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| GENRE |
| Action/Puzzle |
| DEVELOPER |
| Hudson |
| PUBLISHER |
| Nintendo |
| NUMBER OF PLAYERS |
| 1 |
| CONNECTIVITY |
| No |
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Bomberman
It's not hard to figure out why Nintendo went to Hudson Soft to develop the Mario Party series -- their flagship Bomberman series has long been celebrated for its fast-paced multiplayer action. That's why many fans were dismayed to find that the original Bomberman, re-released for Nintendo's Classic NES series, was a single-player game. Many have accused Nintendo of pulling a heinous "bait and switch" on their fans by re-releasing a Bomberman game that lacks the trademark battle mode, but those who stick with Bomberman will find that it's still a solid game to play alone.
visuals
Despite the deceptively stylish original boxart, Bomberman is the same cute little guy we've all come to know and love. His enemies are colorful little blobs with eyes, and his environment is a dull, endless sea of gray blocks and slightly textured gray blocks. There's nothing too fancy going on here.
audio
Music is decidedly cheerful, with clever audio cues to remind you when you've defeated all of the enemies or collected the level's powerup. Sound effects are mostly generic, apart from Bomberman's curious "tap-dancing" as he walks.
gameplay
You're presented with an overhead view of a semi-destructable maze. Your goal is to clear out each level by destroying all of the enemies and finding the exit hidden behind one of the destructible walls. Your only tools are your bombs. When you set one down, it explodes and shoots jets of fire in all directions. The game is one long series of "set down the bomb, get out of the way, repeat." Although there's a fair assortment of enemies in each level, each varying in speed and intelligence, you'll soon find that you are your own worst enemy. You're susceptible to your own bombs, so you have to be constantly vigilant about where it's safe to walk -- the leading cause of death in the game is self-destruction. Although every level is depressingly bland and your task barely varies from one end of the game to the other, the game manages to avoid sinking into absolute tedium. Every level is randomly generated, which means you'll have to judge your progress differently every time you play. The further you get in, the more complex the mazes become and the more advanced foes you'll have to face. The game gets hair-pullingly frustrating when you're down to the last three levels and you're facing enemies that can pursue you through walls, yet the game never feels impossible. Unlimited continues help to soothe the sting of defeat, and there's always the chance that you'll get a lucky start on a level to help you through. There are also a wide assortment of power-ups to find and gather to make things more interesting. Permanent power-ups will increase your blast radius and the number of bombs you can carry -- both a blessing and a curse, because it makes it easier to find yourself in the line of fire. Temporary powerups will give you special abilities that last only until you die, such as the ability to walk through walls, the skates to move quicker, and the nigh-imperative remote detonator to give you complete control over when your bombs explode. Gaining and keeping control of these special abilities adds a little spice to what would otherwise be drab and menial work. Like all the Classic NES games, Bomberman has had a save feature added. This is a very lucky thing, because the passwords are about twenty characters long. Unfortunately, the game will only save the most recent password seen on the Game Over screen -- which means you'll have to lose all of your lives in order to save your progress. Although this is kind of a drag, at least there's a Sleep function available if you want to keep a long marathon game running.
multiplayer
N/A
overall
Although Bomberman really hit its stride when it became a party game, the original is still worth a run through. It's hard to explain the addictiveness that sets in after a few levels, but it's safe to say that it's head and shoulders above the likes of Donkey Kong and Ice Climber. It's a solid recommendation for anyone who's interested in the Classic NES series, but action fans who like a little bit of quick-thinking strategy should enjoy it as well.
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