Bomberman is probably Hudson’s biggest mascot outside of its trademark “Hudson Bee” logo. Bomberman has been around since the 8 bit days of console video games & he’s earned quite a reputation since then. There were 2 NES Bomberman games, about 5 on SNES (many didn’t come to the US) and also several incarnations on the Genesis, Turbo Grafix 16, Saturn, PSX, PC and N64. There have been multiple variations on the character Bomberman, from racers to strategy games to the 3D platform games that appeared on N64. Despite his various appearances, Bomberman is infamous for puzzles and multiplayer battle royals. With Super Bomberman, Hudson introduced the multitap for SNES. Four player Bomberman was so much fun, it no doubt helped influence Nintendo to include four controller ports into the N64.

Now Bomberman is coming to the Game Boy Advance in Bomberman Story, which will be published by Activision in North America as Bomberman Tournament.

Bomberman’s latest adventure begins at the Bomber Base, where a distress call summons Bomberman Max, (a super hero bomberman) to action on the planet Phantarion. After arriving, Bomberman Max reports the sudden formation of “strange buildings” all over the planet’s surgace…then suddenly loses all contact. Now, it’s up to the original Bomberman to travel to Phantarion, find out what happened, and attempt to rescue Bomberman Max.

Upon landing on Phantarion, Bomberman encounters Karabon, a small pink animal critter who becomes BM’s companion. Karabon (a creature that also appeared in Bomberman: Second Attack on N64) will travel with you throughout the game and assist you throughout. Karabon apparently can be trained and even combine his powers with other creatures. Karabon is one of several creatures that will help you, with four different types of abilities. While all the creatures and abilities are not known, screenshots reveal that the kangaroos (that you could ride in the SNES games) are in the game.

Bomberman Tournament seems to combine the original puzzle style gameplay of the classic Bomberman games with N64 adventure games, but in an overhead 2D setting. The game takes you all across the planet Phantarion; you must travel across deserts, make your way through ice castles and enemy infested woods. Naturally, you’ll have bombs and other power ups to help you make it through. You can also interact with townspeople who will advise you on your journey.

While this new quest looks like it could be quite good, Bomberman wouldn’t be complete without battle mode and luckily, the game should not disappoint on this front. Many different multiplayer levels will be included in the game, along with variations, such as a conveyor belt mode and mine attacks. Bomberman will support the link cable and support four player battles with just one cartridge. Even if your friends don’t have the game, there will be no excuse for them not to play Bomberman. Provided you play enough battle mode, you can unlock the secret mode, “Fishing Bonn bar” though we’re not quite sure what that is yet.

Bomberman Story has been released today (April 27, 2001) in Japan and will retail for 5,200 yen, excluding tax. Activision will release Bomberman Tournament as a launch title for the GBA in the U.S. on June 11th.

We'll have more on this game when we see it at E3!