Bomberman Story Review

Bomberman started life years ago as a small, bubble-headed, explosives-mad chap who had one goal in life: to blow up all his friends. Starting off in one corner of a single-screen grid filled with a random selection of boxes, the idea was to systematically destroy the boxes by dropping bombs next to them in order to carve a route through the grid to your fellow Bombermen, then blow them up too. The gameplay was simple, it was addictive, it was an instant hit and it was about as perfect as arcade action gets.

The trouble was, because this initial game was more-or-less flawless, in terms of evolving the gameplay for future titles, there wasn’t that much that could be done. So instead developer Hudson tried taking Bomberman into different areas, adding him to scrolling shoot-´em-ups, 3D action-adventures and RPGs, some of which were okay, some downright appalling, and none of which got anywhere close to being as good as the original top-down grid-based action game. These games did, however sell, mainly because almost all of them included – often almost as an afterthought – a version of the grid-based Battle mode, and this was what gamers wanted.

And this was the sole reason I bought myself a copy of Bomberman Land Touch, when – pining for my PSP which had been sent away for repairs – I finally gave up on my resistance to the idea of playing games with a plastic pen and bought myself a DS. The ONLY reason I bought Bomberman Land was for the two-screen, 8-player Battle mode, I really wasn’t bothered about the main game, but – being the tight type that I am – I figured that as I’d paid the money for it, I’d at least give it a go, and after just a few minutes of game time, I was hooked! For in addition to a first-class Battle mode, the Story mode of Bomberman Land offered a veritable Aladdin’s Cave of stylus-based mini-games, which convinced me once and for all that the stylus WAS a good idea. (I should perhaps explain that the reason I stayed clear of the DS initially was the result of an ill-conceived attempt by a game reviewer colleague trying to demonstrate the joys of the machine by making me play the DS version of Mario 64 on it – as I said at the time, for me, the perfect method of controlling Mario is with a control pad, so why on earth would I want to try and use a pen?!) But the wealth of touch-screen challenges in Bomberman Land was awesome, and I spent many a happy hour playing through the game to ensure I unlocked them all. Which was why I had high hopes for Bomberman Story DS, which I assumed would simply offer more of the same!

Sadly, you don’t have to play for long to realise that Bomberman Story is NOT Bomberman Land. Whereas in the latter the exploration element of the game was minimal, and served only really as a connection between the multiple different stylus mini-games, in Bomberman Story there are just a handful of mini-games, and the exploration element pretty-much IS the game. This is because what this title is, ultimately, is an RPG. White Bomber (or ‘Cheerful White’, as he is known) is now attached to the galaxy-spanning ‘Justice Department’, and he’s on a mission to track down stolen scientific data. To do this he must explore planets, talk to inhabitants, build experience, unearth useful items and generally do all the usual kind of things that you do in an RPG.

As RPGs go, there’s nothing actually wrong with this one – you can obtain and utilise a variety of different items, there are plenty of colourful inhabitants to talk to and monsters to battle, and doubtless it’ll keep RPG-fans hooked, even if it’s not quite up to the same standard, plot or puzzle-wise, as, say, the Final Fantasy series. The problem is that if, like me, you buy the game because you love the arcade action of Bomberman, then the story mode is going to be a disappointment… as far as this reviewer is concerned, Bomberman does not belong in RPGs! Where he does belong is in simple, frenetic, explosive arcade action games, and luckily, the Battle mode in this game offers exactly that. The two-screen, up-to-8-player action offers five different battle modes: Normal battle, Blocks (where bomb blasts change the colour of the floor), Stars (gather more than the other players), Escape (find the hidden key and escape the level) and Crown (reach the crown and win). There are also 10 different battle item power-ups, a wealth of different battle arena environments, all of which can be played over 2 screens, or restricted to just one to make things even more hectic, and then there’s the inclusion of an improved ‘revenge’ mode, that gives you the chance to get back into the action if you’ve been knocked out. As with all previous games, everything’s customisable, so for Bomberman purists, all the new mod-cons can be turned off so that your Battle experience is as close to what it would’ve been back in the very first Bomberman game, whereas the more adventurous amongst you can create a variety of the weird, wild, slightly more unpredictable bomb-blasting experiences. Best of all is multiplayer fun can be had with only one copy of the game.

Ultimately, this game offers the best Battle mode yet, even just slightly pipping Bomberman Land with its variety of power-ups and stages. As such, if all you want is a top Bomberman battle, and you’re either an RPG fan, or not actually bothered about the single-player Story mode, then this is definitely worth a look. If however, you don’t really like RPGs, but do like the idea of a wealth of stylus-challenging mini-games, and don’t really mind that your Battle mode is missing a few extra stages, then I’d heartily recommend picking up a second-hand copy of Bomberman Land Touch instead, which offers far better all-round entertainment than this newer incarnation. If you haven’t got either Bomberman game though, make sure that you DO buy one of them, because ever DS owner deserves to treat themselves to a little Bomberman battle action every now and then.