Although we didn’t really play too much of Bomberman Tournament at E3, it has just been recently released in the U.S. by Activision. I rented it at Blockbuster last night for about $5 and “for the sake of the Planet” have been playing it all day. Throughout the day I received numerous calls & with some of my closer friends, I excused myself by I saying I was playing the new Bomberman. They understood.

As I juggled writing the impressions and the playing the game, I kept meeting the gaze of the Bomberman doll I acquired at my first E3 years ago (I got it by begging and hanging out at the Atlus booth till near the end of the show) which clutches the side of a nearby cabinet. I am a self-proclaimed Bomberman fanatic. Even though I haven’t played every single game he’s been in & didn’t play any of his N64 adventures to completion, the good times I have had with the character’s games have been enough to keep me coming back for more, time and again.

Multiplayer is at the heart of Bomberman; the instruction book even asks, “What would a Bomberman game be without multiplayer?” (I know! Mediocre, a la Bomberman Hero!) At any rate, the multiplayer is here and it’s the one that made Bomberman famous, a la Super Bomberman. All the classic power-ups, plus a few new ones are here. There are also many of the old arenas: pipes, arctic, conveyors, racetrack, wrestling, & undersea (which features fish swimming by the screen). It’s just as sweet, frantic and addictive as it ever was.

The Revenge feature is back & allows you to throw bombs at your opponents after you are taken out. Set on super, you can come back after killing an opponent! Also, as in previous versions, rocks will fall from the sky as time on the clock begins to run out. A new addition to multiplayer is a fishing mini-game (which was said to be something you unlock; it’s available from the get-go) that’s awarded to the victor of the multiplayer battle. Essentially, you cast off with the A button in time with a moving gauge and then control your lure as it sinks into a sea of power-ups. The power-up reeled in is given to the winner at the start of the next round, who also begins as “Golden Bomberman” which is, um, invincibility? Haven’t seen it yet.

One random observation: you cannot pause in multiplayer… What? But my phone is ringing and I gotta… BOOM! Aw crap. I guess pausing in multiplayer could disrupt matches, though it is really awkward not being able to pause (or restart).

Unfortunately, I don’t have any other pals with GBAs so I couldn’t play multiplayer, though single player is pretty good & allows you to set CPU opponents to Easy, Normal or Hard & AI is pretty good accordingly (Easy is a bit stupid).

Also, if anyone forgot, Bomberman Tournament can deal with multiplayer with up to four folks playing off of just one cartridge. Like Chu Chu Rocket, this built-in four-player is a great feature considering that other GBA owners can be introduced to this multiplayer classic with just a link cable.

I was ready to buy at multiplayer alone. Then I loaded up quest mode & was quite surprised with what I found.

Whereas previous Bomberman quests were alright, this one is different, in that it is more like the one player mode of the older (NES, SNES) Bomberman one player modes. Bomberman Tournament’s quest mode fuses rudimentary RPG elements of gameplay with the classic puzzle style of Bomberman 1 player. I haven’t played any of the other handheld Bombermans (some of which had more adventure elements) so I can’t compare. I gotta say that I really like what I’ve played so far.

Your namesake weapon is explosive and can lay waste to both obstacles and enemies. However, the drawback is that its explosive power can also damage you or destroy power-ups you may have uncovered. Therefore, you must lay bombs carefully and frequently set them and then run out of harm’s way. This is the heart of Bomberman’s gameplay & challenge. (Tip: stay diagonal to where you laid your bombs!)

If you’ve read our preview, you know the basic plot of the Bomberman Tournament. The hero Bomberman Max (who had his own GBC title) disappears on the planet Phantarian and you set out to investigate. The game opens with a cinema scene as a scientist “Doc” calls in and tells you to find Max. On the planet, Doc briefs you on controls and also heals you whenever you come back to the ship.

Exploring the immediate area, you’ll find the house of Fujiwara, an expert on Karabons, who fills you in on the various types of Karabons. The species of animals on the planet are known as “Karabon;” like “Pokemon” or “Digimon” it’s just a general term for all kinds of monsters & not the name of any particular one. Karabon play a rather LARGE part in the game. There are four types of Karabon: Fire AKA Dragon; Water AKA Fish; Electric AKA Pommy and Earth AKA Beast. Certain types of Karabon are only effective in combat against specific others. Water beats Fire, Fire trounces Earth, Earth crushes Electricity & Electricity shorts out Water. Incompatible Karabon have no effect on each other; fire won’t hurt Electricity & Water won’t touch Earth for example. Therefore, you have to match Karabon fights carefully.

Instead of earning experience or finding power ups for yourself, you blow up shrubbery to find attributes that strengthen the Karabon you have equipped. Although the Karabon come across as Pokemon-like creatures as they are battled, earned & trained, their primary use is in the abilities that they grant Bomberman. These Karabon abilities are used as items, one at a time, with B. The first Karabon you acquire, Pommi (electric) can teleport you from town to town. Another called Ceedrun gives you a shield to deflect projectiles, while Elifan (a mini-elephant) gives you the ability to push blocks. The Karabon are true to form however & involve quite a bit of monster collecting and monster breeding of sorts, as you can combine Karabon into different types.

Other RPG elements come in the form of going on errands for townspeople in exchange for materials that allow you to progress – that sort of thing. One of the first tasks is being asked to take a picture of an animal called “Louie”… (no, it’s not Billy’s beloved cat, it’s one of those Kangaroos!) Also, there’s a lot of conversation with townsfolk but no “talk button” – you walk up to somebody, they say their spiel and then clam up. If you wanna read it again, you have to leave the room & come back, yet you can use A to read signs.

Overall, all of this helps round out the classic Bomberman one player but some of the conversation aspects are a little silly.

Townsperson: You don’t have a saw to knock down a tree? Improvise!

Um… gee, could it possibly involve using one of my bombs to blast a tree down? There are different types of bombs, obtained by taking different materials to the bomb shop, which will fashion new types of bombs for you. I’ve got a landmine so far, which is pretty wicked, unless you mislay it.

Some enemies are pretty stupid, like aliens who generally try to avoid you, but then stop and do a disco dance, making it easy to obliterate them with a boogiety-BANG! AI isn’t all cake though; I’ve already encountered snake creatures who eat bombs, forcing you to not only trap them within range of the blast, but try to sneak up on them too. Or you can drop another bomb as they slowly slither away, visibly digesting your round weapon. Nice touch.

There are mini games, including a bonus round that is a twist on the original Bomberman, found in a hidden arcade. There are also guessing games and timed puzzles.

As I’ve continued to play, I’ve found that the Zelda similarities are getting heavy. Blowing up shrubbery just as Link cuts it down, or bombing cracked stone walls to reveal caves... The Karabon are similar to Zelda’s items in that their abilities advance the plot & get you to different areas. Dungeon layout map looks pretty familiar, as does the overworld map...both are reminiscent to the original Legend of Zelda. I could no longer ignore it after I pushed a block to reveal a secret staircase descends downward to fairy that offers to heal you. It’s quite beyond just a nod to Miyamoto; this game is heading at 90 mph to Rip-Off City. But hey, what better game to imitate, right? Zelda! No real complaints, it’s just a tad bit blatant is all.

The dungeons are also old-school Bomberman copying old-school Zelda in some ways. It’s good, albeit a little tricky. Fortunately, two really nice boku positives of BM Tournament are that power-ups onscreen don’t disappear over time and blocks & enemies in a dungeon stay destroyed. Therefore, even if you have to continue multiple times in a dungeon, you can quickly catch back up to where you died. The first boss (an old BM foe, Magnet Bomber, morphed into a dragon) was a bit tricky, though after several tries I prevailed… Immediately following the battle, ol’ B.Man immediately runs & begins exploring a tropical setting. I’ve spent today playing thru about ¼ of this game & I can’t wait to get back to it.

The graphics look really bright & colorful. The characters have some really cool animations; especially when they die.

The music is very simple, yet despite myself, I ended up humming along with many of the tunes after playing for awhile. It’s almost repetitive – almost, but comes off as melodic overall. For multiplayer, there’s only one music track & it is an old BM tune, but no big whoop.

The first Bomberman 64 had awkward quest and multiplayer modes that comprised a fairly good overall package for its time. Bomberman Tournament has a very enjoyable quest mode and a slightly improved version of the classic multiplayer, with 4 for 1 cartridge play. It’s all you can ask for, then a little more. The worst thing I can think of to say is about quest mode’s heavy (& obvious) Zelda influence, but it’s still Bomberman at the core & very much its own game.

Hudson really seem to have taken the best aspects of the BM series & crammed ‘em all into this ‘lil cart. Therefore, I can already recommend an immediate purchase to any/all BM fans. Best overall Bomberman I’ve played in I don’t know how long. Newcomers should check it out, It’s the perfect place to sign on. Hats off to Activision for getting it released in the U.S. quickly!

I’ll end with this random cowinky-dink: I do no think (or mean to suggest) there is any intended reference to PGC whatsoever, but walking into one house in the first town and being asked to take a picture of Louie by one guy and then going into another house and being told by a girl she’s never heard of Max… Eerie stuff I tell you.