Post by Manspeed on Jun 7, 2008 12:35:38 GMT -5
Hello, and welcome to my Third Party feature! On this show, I aim to cover any and every aspect of the history of the character we have all come to know and love, the bomb-slinging hero himself: Bomberman! Each episode will revolve around one or more games from this series, with the occasional special event to cover something more.
Bomberman's history is a relatively rich one, and there is a sad lack of devotion to it around the web. Maybe it's because it's more popular in Japan, though that may not be saying much since there's still things in Japan that are far more popular than Bomberman. That could very well be the reason why only a fraction of his games have been released here. Don't worry, I'll be going over the Japan-only games as well, by any means necessary.
I will be posting episodes of it as often as possible, so stay tuned!
Now, onto our feature presentation...
Bomberman
System: NES
JP release date: 1985
US release date: 1987
Images:
US Boxart
JP Boxart
Title screen
Gamplay shot
Story:
According to the manual, it goes like this: Bomberman is a robot that works in an underground bomb factory all day (not specified where the factory is located). Word is that if he escapes, he can finally become human, so he decided to use the bombs to blast his way out. There's a twist ending if you can make all the way through...
Gameplay Info:
Now for how the game works. It’s simple. Use the control pad to move, and press A to drop a bomb. You can use bombs to blow up soft blocks, which may yield power-ups. Bombs are also needed to destroy the enemies, but if you get caught in the blast, you die. If you can destroy all the enemies in the stage, the exit will open up. You just have to find the exit first, as it’s probably hidden under a soft block. There’s fifty levels total, each more difficult than the last.
Here are all the enemies you’ll run into:
Balloom
Looks like a balloon. He moves slowly and isn’t very smart. Worth 100 points.
Oneal
He resembles a slime from Dragon Warrior, except with feet. He’s a tad smarter and faster than Balloom. Worth 200 points.
Doll
Not sure why he’s called Doll, because he looks like a red beehive or something. He’s smarter than Balloom but just as slow. Worth 400 points.
Minvo
Very fast and pretty smart to boot. He looks like a spinning poker chip. Worth 800 points.
Kondoria
I’m assuming he’s supposed to be a bacterium of some sort. Regardless, He’s the slowest enemy in the game, but also the smartest. Even worse, he can pass through soft blocks. Worth 1000 points.
Ovapi
He’s slow and not too smart, but he can still pass through walls. He also looks almost exactly like Blinky from Pac-Man. Worth 2000 points.
Pass
A little floating tiger head. I’d consider him more original if he didn’t have such a dumb name. He can’t even pass through walls! Either way, he’s still dangerous as he’s both very fast and very smart. Worth 4000 points.
Pontan
He resembles a red, less excited version of Minvo, but don’t be fooled; this guy is the most dangerous enemy in the game. He’s the fastest and smartest, and he can indeed pass through walls. Watch out and be very careful. Worth 8000 points.
-There’s one power-up hidden on every stage. Be sure to find all of them, as they’ll give you a huge advantage. Here they are:
Bomb-Up
Collecting these allows you to drop more bombs at once.
Fire-Up
Collect these to increase the range of your bombs’ explosions’.
Speed-Up
There’s only one of these in the whole game. Find it to make Bomberman run faster.
Wall Pass
This allows Bomberman to walk through soft blocks, just like the enemy. If you die, you’ll lose it.
Remote Control
If you get this, you can blow your bombs up from a safe distance by pressing B. Very valuable, so don’t lose it.
Bomb Pass
This will allow Bomberman to walk through bombs. You’ll lose it if you die.
Fire Pass
Another very valuable item. This prevents Bomberman from getting hurt by explosions. Be careful not to lose it.
What does this item do? It makes Bomberman temporarily invulnerable to enemies and explosions!
Bonus Items
One of these six bonus items is hidden on each stage. It’s up to you to figure out how to make them appear. Each of them is worth a lot of extra points.
-Every five or so stages, you will get a bonus stage. In this stage, you will be invulnerable for the entire duration, so your goal is to destroy as many of the endless supply of enemies as possible. This is a good way to get a lot of points.
Remakes/Ports:
-One year after its release in Japan, the game would be ported over to the MSX in the form of Bomberman Special. I can’t find any real difference between the two aside from the palette based on what little information I have at hand. All I know is that it seems like an extremely similar decision to when Hudson ported SMB to the MSX in form of Super Mario Bros. Special, right down to the word “Special” being written in cursive. Here's where that small amount of info is located
-A replica of this game is included as part of Atomic Punk, which I’ll be covering later.
-Another replica of this game is a part of Bomberman: Party Edition, which I’ll also be covering later.
-This was one of the games fortunate enough to be part of Nintendo’s Classic NES Series on GBA.
-The game was included as part of a compilation cart called Hudson Best Collection Vol.1 for GBA in Japan.
Personal Comments:
I don’t really have much to say about this game. It’s pretty good as far as “first of many” titles go. It has all the basic power-ups. It has the first appearance of Bomberman’s trademark look. It even has the tried and true green and gray maze area. Just remember that Hudson hasn’t thought of the multiplayer idea yet before you play it. It’s obvious that the formula for this game would be rehashed in practically every Bomberman game yet to come. Only gripes I really have are the fact that there’s only one power-up on each stage, and the obnoxiously long password system. Then again, most games from this era were required to be that difficult/frustrating, so I guess I’ll leave the carping to the AVGN.
The only thing I’d really like to speak about is this game’s position regarding continuity. The story puts forth that Bomberman is a robot that’s escaping from an underground factory to become human. When you beat the game, you finally get to see what Bomberman’s human form looks like, and let me tell you… it definitely means that any depiction of Bomberman past this game is supposed to be a different character. Thankfully Hudson dropped this backstory afterward and gave Bomberman his own little universe to frolic in.
The only problem I see is that they could never seem to make up their minds about where Bomberman lived or what he was supposed to be. Sometimes he’d be living on Earth (usually futuristic, a la Mega Man) and other times he’d be living amongst other Bombermen on a faraway planet. In addition this, Bomberman himself (and others like him) seemed to alternate between being a robot/cyborg/android and being a completely organic being.
The other thing that may or may not have any bearing on all of this is the boxart. On both the JP and US boxarts, Bomberman looks nothing like he does in the game. Does this have anything to do with anything? The only problem I have with this is that it might’ve resulted in the creation of the train wreck called BOMBERMAN: Act Zero, which depicts our hero in a manner very reminiscent of this game’s boxart. From what I understand, that game is also supposed to be a retelling of this game’s storyline, so… you get the idea by now.
Other:
-I’ve read that Bomberman’s sprite in this game is actually that of an enemy from another Hudson classic, Lode Runner. If what I’m reading is true, then that means that Bomberman is actually supposed to be one of those enemies, and this game tells the story of how he broke free of his enslavement and became a real living thing. Shockingly enough, when you finally beat the game, the human form he takes on is revealed to be….
-Despite having different styles, both versions of this game’s box depict Bomberman as a badass space warrior robot, even though he looks completely different within the game. Marketing trick?
-Since the cute sprite from inside the game became Bomberman’s default look, it’s probably safe to assume that BOMBERMAN: Act Zero might’ve been inspired by this game’s boxart, seeing is how it depicted exactly what this game was not.
-For that matter, the Bomberman spin-off Robowarrior might’ve also been an inspiration, and that was only a couple years after this game was released.
-This is probably the most re-released Bomberman game of the whole series, clocking in at five if you include the ones as part of a larger game, and only if you don’t consider Bomberman ‘94’s multiplayer mode to be a game by itself.
-Those last two bonus items are actually the faces of two very important people from HudsonSoft. Can you guess who they are? (Hint: Neither of them are video game characters.)
Links:
Wikipedia page
Strategy Wiki page
Official Hudson of Japan page
Gameplay footage 1
Gameplay footage 2
Ending footage
Bomberman's history is a relatively rich one, and there is a sad lack of devotion to it around the web. Maybe it's because it's more popular in Japan, though that may not be saying much since there's still things in Japan that are far more popular than Bomberman. That could very well be the reason why only a fraction of his games have been released here. Don't worry, I'll be going over the Japan-only games as well, by any means necessary.
I will be posting episodes of it as often as possible, so stay tuned!
Now, onto our feature presentation...
Bomberman
System: NES
JP release date: 1985
US release date: 1987
Images:
US Boxart
JP Boxart
Title screen
Gamplay shot
Story:
According to the manual, it goes like this: Bomberman is a robot that works in an underground bomb factory all day (not specified where the factory is located). Word is that if he escapes, he can finally become human, so he decided to use the bombs to blast his way out. There's a twist ending if you can make all the way through...
Gameplay Info:
Now for how the game works. It’s simple. Use the control pad to move, and press A to drop a bomb. You can use bombs to blow up soft blocks, which may yield power-ups. Bombs are also needed to destroy the enemies, but if you get caught in the blast, you die. If you can destroy all the enemies in the stage, the exit will open up. You just have to find the exit first, as it’s probably hidden under a soft block. There’s fifty levels total, each more difficult than the last.
Here are all the enemies you’ll run into:
Balloom
Looks like a balloon. He moves slowly and isn’t very smart. Worth 100 points.
Oneal
He resembles a slime from Dragon Warrior, except with feet. He’s a tad smarter and faster than Balloom. Worth 200 points.
Doll
Not sure why he’s called Doll, because he looks like a red beehive or something. He’s smarter than Balloom but just as slow. Worth 400 points.
Minvo
Very fast and pretty smart to boot. He looks like a spinning poker chip. Worth 800 points.
Kondoria
I’m assuming he’s supposed to be a bacterium of some sort. Regardless, He’s the slowest enemy in the game, but also the smartest. Even worse, he can pass through soft blocks. Worth 1000 points.
Ovapi
He’s slow and not too smart, but he can still pass through walls. He also looks almost exactly like Blinky from Pac-Man. Worth 2000 points.
Pass
A little floating tiger head. I’d consider him more original if he didn’t have such a dumb name. He can’t even pass through walls! Either way, he’s still dangerous as he’s both very fast and very smart. Worth 4000 points.
Pontan
He resembles a red, less excited version of Minvo, but don’t be fooled; this guy is the most dangerous enemy in the game. He’s the fastest and smartest, and he can indeed pass through walls. Watch out and be very careful. Worth 8000 points.
-There’s one power-up hidden on every stage. Be sure to find all of them, as they’ll give you a huge advantage. Here they are:
Bomb-Up
Collecting these allows you to drop more bombs at once.
Fire-Up
Collect these to increase the range of your bombs’ explosions’.
Speed-Up
There’s only one of these in the whole game. Find it to make Bomberman run faster.
Wall Pass
This allows Bomberman to walk through soft blocks, just like the enemy. If you die, you’ll lose it.
Remote Control
If you get this, you can blow your bombs up from a safe distance by pressing B. Very valuable, so don’t lose it.
Bomb Pass
This will allow Bomberman to walk through bombs. You’ll lose it if you die.
Fire Pass
Another very valuable item. This prevents Bomberman from getting hurt by explosions. Be careful not to lose it.
What does this item do? It makes Bomberman temporarily invulnerable to enemies and explosions!
Bonus Items
One of these six bonus items is hidden on each stage. It’s up to you to figure out how to make them appear. Each of them is worth a lot of extra points.
-Every five or so stages, you will get a bonus stage. In this stage, you will be invulnerable for the entire duration, so your goal is to destroy as many of the endless supply of enemies as possible. This is a good way to get a lot of points.
Remakes/Ports:
-One year after its release in Japan, the game would be ported over to the MSX in the form of Bomberman Special. I can’t find any real difference between the two aside from the palette based on what little information I have at hand. All I know is that it seems like an extremely similar decision to when Hudson ported SMB to the MSX in form of Super Mario Bros. Special, right down to the word “Special” being written in cursive. Here's where that small amount of info is located
-A replica of this game is included as part of Atomic Punk, which I’ll be covering later.
-Another replica of this game is a part of Bomberman: Party Edition, which I’ll also be covering later.
-This was one of the games fortunate enough to be part of Nintendo’s Classic NES Series on GBA.
-The game was included as part of a compilation cart called Hudson Best Collection Vol.1 for GBA in Japan.
Personal Comments:
I don’t really have much to say about this game. It’s pretty good as far as “first of many” titles go. It has all the basic power-ups. It has the first appearance of Bomberman’s trademark look. It even has the tried and true green and gray maze area. Just remember that Hudson hasn’t thought of the multiplayer idea yet before you play it. It’s obvious that the formula for this game would be rehashed in practically every Bomberman game yet to come. Only gripes I really have are the fact that there’s only one power-up on each stage, and the obnoxiously long password system. Then again, most games from this era were required to be that difficult/frustrating, so I guess I’ll leave the carping to the AVGN.
The only thing I’d really like to speak about is this game’s position regarding continuity. The story puts forth that Bomberman is a robot that’s escaping from an underground factory to become human. When you beat the game, you finally get to see what Bomberman’s human form looks like, and let me tell you… it definitely means that any depiction of Bomberman past this game is supposed to be a different character. Thankfully Hudson dropped this backstory afterward and gave Bomberman his own little universe to frolic in.
The only problem I see is that they could never seem to make up their minds about where Bomberman lived or what he was supposed to be. Sometimes he’d be living on Earth (usually futuristic, a la Mega Man) and other times he’d be living amongst other Bombermen on a faraway planet. In addition this, Bomberman himself (and others like him) seemed to alternate between being a robot/cyborg/android and being a completely organic being.
The other thing that may or may not have any bearing on all of this is the boxart. On both the JP and US boxarts, Bomberman looks nothing like he does in the game. Does this have anything to do with anything? The only problem I have with this is that it might’ve resulted in the creation of the train wreck called BOMBERMAN: Act Zero, which depicts our hero in a manner very reminiscent of this game’s boxart. From what I understand, that game is also supposed to be a retelling of this game’s storyline, so… you get the idea by now.
Other:
-I’ve read that Bomberman’s sprite in this game is actually that of an enemy from another Hudson classic, Lode Runner. If what I’m reading is true, then that means that Bomberman is actually supposed to be one of those enemies, and this game tells the story of how he broke free of his enslavement and became a real living thing. Shockingly enough, when you finally beat the game, the human form he takes on is revealed to be….
Lode Runner himself
. Yep, this entire game is meant to be a prequel to Lode Runner
. Of course, later games in the series break away from this story entirely and regard Bomberman as a completely separate character residing in his own world, but it’s nice to know that Bomberman and Lode Runner used to be connected in some way.-Despite having different styles, both versions of this game’s box depict Bomberman as a badass space warrior robot, even though he looks completely different within the game. Marketing trick?
-Since the cute sprite from inside the game became Bomberman’s default look, it’s probably safe to assume that BOMBERMAN: Act Zero might’ve been inspired by this game’s boxart, seeing is how it depicted exactly what this game was not.
-For that matter, the Bomberman spin-off Robowarrior might’ve also been an inspiration, and that was only a couple years after this game was released.
-This is probably the most re-released Bomberman game of the whole series, clocking in at five if you include the ones as part of a larger game, and only if you don’t consider Bomberman ‘94’s multiplayer mode to be a game by itself.
-Those last two bonus items are actually the faces of two very important people from HudsonSoft. Can you guess who they are? (Hint: Neither of them are video game characters.)
Links:
Wikipedia page
Strategy Wiki page
Official Hudson of Japan page
Gameplay footage 1
Gameplay footage 2
Ending footage
