Bomberman is one of the oldest characters of game lore, gracing nearly every console and dabbling in various genres along the way. Bomberman has always had reputation of multiplayer fun, while more recent games have him becoming more of an adventurer. While these later endeavors have failed to stand out on their own merit, Bomberman multiplayer never seems to get old. Now Hudson have unleashed Bomberman’s GBA debut, and it is explosive. Bomberman Tournament combines the classic multiplayer with a decent RPG-action adventure with both modes of play backed by Bomberman-style puzzle gameplay. A killer package, especially when full multiplayer capabilities can work off of just one cartridge.

In Japan, the game appeared as Bomberman Story. For North America, Activision wisely changed the title to accentuate the multiplayer. Yes, there is a “story” here, a quest to save the missing “Bomberman Max” on a mysterious planet. Some classic Bomberman foes are hidden in dungeons & you must defeat them, uncover their scheme & find Max. Characters are weak, dialogue is bland and motives are paper-thin. Nothing too engaging but it gets the job done. It plays well too and that’s what’s really important.

My initial impressions provide a good look at Bomberman Tournament’s plot, basic gameplay & the role of Karabons. In brief, Bomberman walks and drops bombs, with power-ups and Karabon companions granting new abilities as you progress. There are three types of areas in quest mode: towns, the outdoor “overworld” areas and dungeons. Towns are where you can buy healing potion (you can only hold 1 at a time, a limitation which really ups the stakes), gain info or battle your Karabon. The overworld is where enemies lurk; you can blow them up & destroy shrubbery in search for Karabon stats and occasionally uncover a secret or mini-game. Finally, dungeons are more puzzle-like and are where bosses dwell.

Towns & character dialogue go from bland to worse. The first town seemed to have more personality & things to do than towns that followed, perhaps because there was more explanation starting out. There is often no personality or insight to be found talking to townsfolk and only occasional benefits. The names of the towns even reveal their dullness (“Alpha,” “Beta,” and so on).

Karabon fighting is more of a diversion than an essential part of the game but I found it fun the more I played. It’s a great way to earn money & at one point in you’ll need to compete & win to obtain a necessary item. The animations for the various creatures fighting/winning/losing are humorous too. To achieve victory, you must win 5 matches in a row & each Karabon can only be used once. Every battle, you pick 3 strategies from combinations of attack, special attack, or defend. Then you are pitted against a succession of 5 rival Karabon, never knowing what type/level they are. Special attacks can be especially strong or useless, depending on types competing. It’s a game of chance with almost no strategy.

The overworld contains enemies ranging from stupid to crafty. Bombs are a risky weapon too, so you must master your bomb laying abilities to defeat foes successfully. The only power-ups to be found by bombing shrubbery and rocks in the overworld are Karabon stats. As peripheral Karabon fighting is to the main game, it quickly becomes a pointless chore to “clear” each & every landscape. Occasional mini-games are also scattered throughout the way. Most of them are simple, but still enjoyable breaks from the regular gameplay.

Dungeons feature old school Bomberman gameplay. You progress through each dungeon by bombing blocks & baddies to find a trapped Karabon and then locate the computer “SID” to fuse two Karabons into a new Karabon type. The new type will allow you to reach the boss, but also empower the boss to turn into a giant monster. Kind of weird, but I guess it works on the planet Phantoon.

The most frustrating aspect of the dungeons is that it’s very easy to die. When you die, you most go back to the start and laboriously re-bomb your way through. Enemies stay dead unless you venture outside the dungeon. Getting through with enough health to face the boss is difficult and defeating a boss may take several attempts. It’s around the third or fourth time that frustration sets in. Yet by this time, you know you’ll be able to do it if you can be bothered to try again.

The overall game experience for the quest mode is neither horrid nor remarkable. Some of it seems too formulaic, with things set up conveniently. It’s more than your average Bomberman game but it’s less than um, most games I’d put this much time into. Its worst point by far is its lack of originality; the game is so wants to be Zelda it hurts. It does work out pretty well gameplay wise and Bomberman gameplay is rooted at the heart of it all but it’s still a blatant Zelda copycat. It’s almost as if Hudson dropped ol’ BM into the land of Hyrule—or tried to.

If Bomberman Tournament were to be judged on merit of its quest mode alone, I would score it much lower. Fortunately, it’s but a nice addition to one of the greatest multiplayer games ever. Bomberman multiplayer returns better than ever in portable form with a few new bells & whistles.

The premise of Bomberman multiplayer is simple: bomb obstacles to reveal power-ups and attempt to blow up your opponents, while not getting blasted yourself. It’s part mindless mayhem, part strategy and all fun. The best part is that you only need one cartridge, a link cable and friends with GBAs to enjoy the beloved Bomberman tradition. There’s even an amusing loading screen, with a long fuse burning down as a meter. Barring any abrupt disconnections, the play experience between linked GBAs is smooth and flawless. Even without human opponents, you can play by yourself with computer-controlled opponents. With three levels of difficulty, they’re sure to provide you with a challenge.

The line bomb is an interesting new item, provided you take time to learn how to use it. There is a new sandal item that slows you down, but this can only be found in the fishing mini-game. Otherwise, all the previous items from Bomberman multiplayer and several of the classic battle levels are here. The Revenge Mode returns, allowing you to toss bombs from the sidelines after being bombed out. On “Super” setting, you can actually return to the game if you are able to knock someone out. It’s not easy to do, but it adds a whole new level of insanity. The fishing mini-game comes into play after each round when enabled. The winner of the match gets to cast off into a sea of power-ups. Whatever is snagged, the player begins the next round with that power-up.

You can’t pause during multiplayer, which is a mixed blessing. It prevents the game from being paused without warning (which would be distracting) but prevents giving attention to real-world affairs without risking your neck. However, you can’t even pause against computer opponents.

My biggest gripe with multiplayer is much more trivial though: the lack of Bomberman costumes. Competing players are represented by different colored bombermen. It works, but previous games had an old Bomberman, a pimp Bomberman, a fat Bomberman and/or the bomber bad guys (Magnet Bomber, Pretty Bomber, Plasma Bomber, Golem Bomber and/or Brain Bomber). None of this variety is included in BT. A small, whiney gripe here to be sure, but fans of the series know what I’m talking about. With multiple “costumes” included, this would be the most complete Bomberman yet.

Regardless, it’s a Bomberman game with both a decent one-player mode and the multiplayer we’ve grown to love in one awesome package. Bomberman fans are advised to pick this up instantly. Newcomers to Bomberman may want to rent before committing but it is certainly a perfect introduction to the series.