Retro|Spective 117: Bomberman

[Neon Ignition]

History in Games:
1985 - Bomberman
1987 - Bomber King
1990 - Bomber Boy
1990 - Bomberman '90
1991 - Bomberman Arcade
1991 - Bomberman II
1991 - Bomber King Scenario II
1992 - Bomberman World
1992 - Bomberman '93
1993 - Super Bomberman
1993 - Bomberman '94
1994 - Super Bomberman 2
1994 - Bomberman GB
1994 - Mega Bomberman
1994 - Bomberman: Panic Bomber
1995 - Super Bomberman 3
1995 - Bomberman GB2
1996 - Super Bomberman 4
1996 - Saturn Bomberman
1996 - Bomberman GB3
1996 - Bomberman B-Daman
1997 - Super Bomberman 5
1997 - Neo Bomberman
1997 - Atomic Bomberman
1997 - Bomberman 64
1997 - Saturn Bomberman Fight!!
1997 - Pocket Bomberman
1998 - Bomberman World
1998 - Bomberman Wars
1998 - Bomberman Hero
1998 - Bomberman Fantasy Race
1998 - Bomberman Party Edition
1998 - Bomberman Quest
1999 - Bomberman B-Daman Bakugaiden: The Road to Victory
1999 - Bomberman 64: The Second Attack
1999 - Bomberman Max
2000 - Bomberman B-Dama Bakugaiden V: Final Mega Tune
2000 - Bomberman Online
2000 - Bomberman Land
2001 - Bomberman Tournament
2001 - Bomberman Kart
2001 - Bomberman 64
2002 - Bomberman Max 2
2002 - Bomberman Generation
2002 - Bomberman Jetters: The Legendary Bomberman
2002 - Bomberman Jetters
2003 - Bomberman Online
2003 - Bomberman Land 2
2003 - Bomberman Jetters Collection
2004 - Net de Bomberman
2004 - Bomberman Hardball
2005 - Bomberman DS
2005 - Bomberman Land 3
2006 - Bomberman Land Touch!
2006 - Bomberman PSP
2006 - Bomberman: Act Zero
2007 - Bomberman Land Wii
2007 - Bomberman Story DS
2007 - Bomberman Land PSP
2007 - Bomberman Live
2007 - Bomberman Land Touch! 2
2008 - Bomberman Blast
2008 - Bomberman DS 2
2009 - Bomberman Ultra
2009 - Bomberman Blitz
2010 - Bomberman Live: Battlefest
2011 - Bomberman Dojo
2017 - Super Bomberman R

Overview:
So many games born of the simple mechanic of laying a bomb to try and trap an opponent in its flames. The Bomberman series has spanned a huge number of titles and aside from the odd excursion into different genres such as racing etc the variety in the series has often come from playing with the number of on screen characters or the visual perspective. Most recently the series was revived in a very old school form but to great success. With such consistency you'd expect a consistent quality bar but the games have ranged from the acclaimed through to the derided, though with the last game doing well fans once again find themselves waiting to see what's next for this 35 year old franchise.









Share your thoughts and memories of the Bomberman series, what has been his greatest and worst hours?

[vanpeebles]

Eric and the Floaters.

[wakka]

The best entry is the gritty reboot, obv:

[Asura]

Share your thoughts and memories of the Bomberman series

My main thought is that the games are generally good in 2D, but bad in 3D.

Being 2D in actual gameplay, the games really should be in 2D. This is the main reason I haven't bought the Switch game; 3D offers the game nothing and just increases the chance that something isn't readable at a critical moment, which is a big problem in Bomberman as critical moments are what the game is all about.

The Saturn game is probably the series high-point for multiplayer. Can't really speak for the more single-player-centric instalments. Another highlight though are the DS versions, which feature identical multiplayer gameplay that allows for game-sharing, meaning 8 players can play even if only 1 player has a cart. I've played that a bunch at various events with random people and it was always great.

[Leon Retro]

The Bomberman franchise should have had more games...

I remember loving Super Bomberman on the SNES -- it was a 'go-to' game in the early '90s. I also imported one of the later games from Japan which had loads of new content.

I also enjoyed a few of the PC Engine editions that had a lot of charm about them.

After that, I spent a lot of time with Saturn Bomberman. I liked the hi-res sheen and how the game benefited from a higher resolution. It's such a nice version of the game.

I'll always have a soft spot for all the SNES Bomberman games the most -- such feel-good games.

[wakka]

Mega Bomberman was the one I sunk the most time into, a blinder in multiplayer. I liked the kangaroos, too!

I’ve played various other ones over the years and they’re all pretty good, all pretty much the same thing really. The only thing I will say is that the single player ‘quest’ modes are always terribly dull. It just doesn’t really work unfortunately. But it’s one of the greatest multiplayer games ever devised, so maybe that doesn’t matter too much

[Neon Ignition]

Peak Bomberman for me remains the SNES series, the recent R was a solid extension of that as well but there's something about the Super series that clicks more than most of the other games that they've put out. I remember trying Bomberman Kart back in the day too which wasn't great at all.

[vanpeebles]

"The original home computer game Bomber Man (爆弾男 Bakudan Otoko) was released in July 1983 for the NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-6001 mkII, Fujitsu FM-7, Sharp MZ-700, Sharp MZ-2000, Sharp X1 and MSX in Japan, and a graphically modified version for the MSX and ZX Spectrum in Europe as Eric and the Floaters."

1983!

[wakka]

Eric and the Floaters lol. What a name. I think my dad's got one of their LPs...

[Neon Ignition]

The teaser is back!

RS118 won't release till the new year but here's it's...

Clue - The Street Gangs of '89

[Leon Retro]

Clue - The Street Gangs of '89

Final Fight? It was going to be called Street Fighter '89.

[Neon Ignition]

Good guess but not the one

[Leon Retro]

Good guess but not the one

River City Ransom?

[Neon Ignition]

Cha-Ching!

[Leon Retro]

Cha-Ching!

What's my prize?