Bomberman
DS
GAME: BOMBERMAN DS
PLATFORM: NINTENDO DS
DEVELOPER: HUDSON SOFT
PUBLUSHER: UBISOFT
RATING: G8+
The Bomberman series is a genre unto
itself. The multiplayer action has
been the highlight of many a multiplayer
gaming session and even though the
single player game is lacking, the
multiplayer mode makes Bomberman DS
a must have title for the Dual Screen
handheld.
First, the bad news. The single player
campaign is about as simple and repetitive
as it gets. This bare bones gameplay
mode starts off with a bang and is
quickly stifled into a whimper. A
large crystal explodes over Bomberland
and ten shards are scattered across
ten themed worlds. As Bomberman, it
is your duty to blow things up, down,
sideways and inside out and, if you
have the time, return the crystal
shards and restore peace to the land.
I've made it sound a lot more fun
than it is.
The top screen displays the action
while the touch screen is used as
a menu. Powerups, collected when blocks
are destroyed, are added to your inventory
and can be stored for later use. Touching
the appropriate icon activates them.
The touch screen interface seems tacked
on and doesn't really add much tot
he gameplay. At the end of ten stages,
you face off against a boss. Defeat
ten bosses and win the game. Or not.
There's no reason to, no incentive
to finish the game and the multiplayer
proves too tempting a game mode to
pass up.
The good news? Bomberman multiplayer
rocks! This is possibly the greatest
Bomberman game ever, and definately
the best portable Bomberman title
ever released. The sheer number of
options is staggering and what's more,
every single option is made available
for eight players from one cartridge!
If you don't have friends to play
with you can go against up to as many
as seven bots.
Gameplay modes range from standard
everyman for himself to super powered
madness, team battles, catch the crown,
and even a domination mode where your
bombs change the colour of the floor.
Bomberman multiplayer also makes use
of the DS' unqiue features. The microphone
can be used to detonate by bombs by
yelling and the touch screen is used
to launch bombs at your opponents
in revenge mode.
The presentation in Bomberman in
simple and minimalist so, while it
won't blow you away with next generation
graphics and sound, it will charm
you and allow you to focus solely
on the intense action at hand. The
only voice work in the game comes
from excited yells whenever you grab
a power up. There's no voice work
and all action can be followed visually
without audio cues.
As for the girlgamer angle, aside
from the title, there is no reference
to gender anywhere within Bomberman.Characters
are differentiated solely by the colour
of their outfit. No exploitative females
here. The graphics are cute, the background
music boppy and with never a hint
of slowdown to hurt the near perfect
gameplay, Bomerbman DS is the perfect
under the radar multiplayer hit.
Bomberman has always been a party
favourite and the DS iteration is
no exception. If you've ever played
Bomberman, you should know that this
is one of the best Bomberman games
ever. If you've never played Bomberman,
this is the perfect place to start.
This deserves to be in your collection.
Review by R J Gaffney
