Atomic Bomberman

"Bomberman bombs big-time with this way-too-limited game"

You've got to admire Bomberman for wanting to branch out and try something new, especially in such a powerful medium as the personal computer. He looks better than ever in this, his only PC appearance, and his bombs have the capacity to pack a great wallop, but the developing team messed up in one major aspect: the multiplayer experience. Online play was a huge gray area about the time this title hit store shelves, and doing it through DOS only compounded the trouble. What you're left with is a Bomberman game that is the antithesis of a Bomberman game - that is, a single player game with AI that doesn't fill your best friend's shoes very well.

One must credit Atomic Bomberman for its spectacular opening intro and its nice 3D models. Technology allows it to look like Bomberman doesn't just make a bomb out of nothing, he actually lays it down with his own two hands. Bombs fly and explode more furiously than in any previous B-Man game, and the power-up options make for a frenzy the likes of which the bombing community at large has never seen. On a slower system, the bogged-down feel is quite depressing, but a system with all the props can run this and make it feel like there's actually some mass destruction going on. You can play against as many as ten other AI opponents or as few as one, or let a set amount of CPU guys duke it out on their own. However, multiplayer is far different. The horrid online play and eventual limit of ports for game controllers make it hard for more than one person to play on one computer or many. The fun is torn to shreds when you realize that you can't share this initially awe-inspiring genocide with your best buds.

Another last-ditch attempt to keep Bomberman fans and novices alike in the game is the level editor. This option, something you have to look hard for to find, allows a potential action game architect to build an arena full of walls, bombable pieces of landscape, and environmental advantages, and then play it against any number of opponents. Like Excitebike's track editor, the fun is short-lived, but unlike Excitebike's track editor, there's no real feeling of satisfaction with what you've created. A stadium of destruction can be saved to the hard drive, but you won't come back to it often when you realize how much this game disappoints.

Sound and music are wisely kept in the background and consist of repetitive hip-hop techno beats that are fun to wreak havoc to. It wouldn't have been the same (for the worse) if the music had been a dominating part of the experience. Controls take a while to figure out. You may even need to check out the README to get a decent idea of what's going on. Once you get going, this game will provide about a week of entertainment before it finds a permanent on your CD tower - or someone else's.

Luckily, I picked up A-Bomb in a bargain bin at KB Toys for ten bucks, so it didn't feel like I wasted my money as badly as if I had bought it full-price as a new game. And at ten dollars or less, that's just what Atomic Bomberman is: a cheap thrill hampered to a large degree by the constraints of DOS-based online play and the strong lack of multiplayer fun ... or any fun at all. You can give this game a whirl, but I'm guessing that you won't think it much fun. Bomberman, sadly, is better suited to life on consoles. There he shall remain until a better online Bomberman can be made.

Score: 3

Reviewer's Score: 3/10, Originally Posted: 06/03/02, Updated 06/03/02