Platform: Nintendo DS
ERSB: Everyone
Genre: Action
Number of Players: 1-8 Single-card play
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: June 21, 2005
Official Website
Writer: Typhoid

Bomberman: Still a Blast

Rating 8.0

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they hear about this game is, “another one? I’ve played it, why should I buy THIS one?” First, it’s a great pick-up and play handheld game (though you should read the manual first to identify the power-ups). The clincher for me is that you can have up to EIGHT people playing simultaneously on their DS’s if you only have one card.

If for some reason you’re from another planet and have not heard of the Bomberman series, it is a simple top-down game where the objective is to blow up your enemies with cannonball-style bombs before you die or the time runs out. This version has 100 stages for single player.

Graphics:
Same old Bomberman: simple cartoon-style graphics. They could be a little more exact, as the controls and graphics together conspire against you. It’s very difficult to see whether you have maneuvered your Bomberman to safety behind cover to escape a bomb blast. Even if you have plenty of time to duck behind a rock and are certain you’re safe, your butt might be BBQ because the graphics aren’t precise enough.

Controls:
The basic controls are super easy: move with D-pad, drop bombs with “A,” and use the stylus to control your inventory. However once you get into microphone commands and other extra controls, it gets more difficult.

Sound:
The good news is that the sound isn’t usually required in the game, so I can listen to my iPod while I’m playing. The music in this game would drive me insane if I had to listen to any more of it.

Flow:
One of my biggest complaints is that I wish you could save every level. Instead it auto-saves in select levels, and it’s not very often. There is one redeeming save feature called “quick save” which you can use to continue your game where you left off. However should you die or turn off your DS without quick saving, you’re going to have to start from the last auto-save point (usually world X-1 or X-6). If you are your own worst enemy (I blow myself up a lot), you’ll end up having to replay the same boards often.

Fun Factor:
This is extremely fun, as both a single-player and multi-player game. The amazing thing is that as simple a game as it is, it never gets old. Part of the reason is that if you are playing multi-player, it will never be the same experience twice. Another reason is that part of the fun IS Bomberman’s simplicity.

Female Aspect:
When I used to play the older Bomberman games on my Mac, I loved being able to choose a female character (even if she was wearing a dress). The characters appear to be androgynous now, though usually that means that they were designed as male but the game creators decided they could be “considered” either. The only difference between players now is color, and you only get that choice in multi-player. In the end this game is BomberMAN and they make no effort to hide that it’s supposed to be male characters aimed at male players.

Replay Value:
Very high for both single-player and multi-player. In fact it qualifies for my beloved “mind-numbingly-addicting” category.

Improve those controls, let me play as a female, allow me to save every level, and it’d be a lot better.