Atomic Bomberman

"I need to say something in favor of this game"

I like to read the reviews of the games I'm currently playing, just to see what other people think about them. Sometimes the reviewers don't agree with my opinion, and that's OK, but when I read the Atomic Bomberman reviews it was like ''OMG, what happened here?!?!?!''

This game is rules!!! Is extremely fun, especially with friends. I bought a multi-tap and a copy of Super Bomberman 2 to play with my friends, and this game made them obsolete in just one day. I've played several Bomberman games, and I feel that this game is the pinnacle of the multiplayer Bomberman evolution.

Graphics: 8/10
Especially considering this game isn't new, the graphics are nice and detailed. They could have been better, but let's keep in mind that there's also a lot of sound going on in this game, so better graphics would have had a bad effect in the gameplay slowing it down.
The B-men have a pseudo-3D look that gives them a more modern look. The arenas have different themes (classic, Egyptian, trash city, sea) and are very uniform and consistent with it.

Sound: 10/10
The music: A-fits with the arena atmosphere, or B-gets with the action. In some stages (the Egyptian level) it does both; is basically techno-like tunes. But they are so good!
Now, onto the effects...
The effects are incredible!!! Buster Bunny and Stimpy voice actors made all the samples for this game. From a hundred variations of dying screams to taunts and catchy phrases when your B-Man grabs an item, they make the game so funny, if you don't believe me try playing without sound, it takes so much from the game...

Gameplay: 8/10
The gameplay is the classic Bomberman one, lay bombs to kill the other B-Men, grab items to get more bombs, firepower, etc. Which is great, actually.
Now, why and 8? Because I understand what the other reviewers say: there's no single-player option. If you are alone, all you can do is play against the AI. But I don't agree about the AI being too smart.
Playing multiplayer Bomberman in the SNES is a walk in the park. Even if the AI is set to maximum difficult, in 5 minutes you totally dominated it's behavior, the game just gets boring.
Although the Atomic Bomberman AI won't replace a human player, it does offer some more challenge. Even if you manage to predict its moves, you can still lose, and it'll be still challenging.
Another great addition is that this game is faster any other Bomberman I've seen. After playing AB, any other Bomberman will be too slow for you.

Control: 10/10
Two players on the keyboard, and as many pads as you may want. I have an SNES pad adapted to my PC trough the parallel port and it works perfect, USB pads works perfect, a normal pad plugged in the sound card works perfect, and even an old 2axis-2button joystick work perfect. Basically, if Windows detects it, it'll work.
The Bomberman themselves respond quickly (which is a must, considering the game's speed) with no delays at all, no matter the kind of control you are using.

Overall: 9/10
Great graphics, incredible sound, fast-paced gameplay, what else can you ask for?
Buy it!
I live in Argentina, and here the game goes for something like $30...for 10 bucks (that's what I saw) you shouldn't miss this one.

PS: I have two PC's, and playing in them has been one of the most enjoyable netgaming experiences I've ever had, no lag at all and the game is very fluid.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 03/18/03, Updated 03/18/03