Bomberman Online

"Easily the best Bomberman game yet."

Anyone out there *not* a fan of Bomberman?Show of hands.No?Didn't think so.You'd be hard pressed to find someone who didn't like blowing his or her friends to smithereens without having to deal with that dastardly ''murder'' charge.And don't get me started on that ''illegal use of explosives'' bit.Now it's all leagal.If only Bomberman Online were around before Ted Kazinski (The Unibomber) did his dirty deed,all would be right with the world.

Unibomber: ''Take that Bill Gates! Take that! Hahah! This is so much easier than making my own! Woo!''

That's right.He'd actually say ''Woo''.Like my synopsis says,this has got to be the best Bomberman game yet.Upon purchasing this game,my first few lines were ''Wow.Damn,Bomberman has really outdone himself this time.''The game is full of spiffy little animated clips and the character graphics are a copy of those in Sonic Shuffle and to a lesser extent,Jet Grind Radio.It fit's though,Bomberman is a cartoony kind of guy and the graphics really work for him when he's looking scared at a Boss character or suprised at well..everything else.This game is great.The gameplay is your standard Bomberman fare.You blow up your friends or some AI.Some REALLY GOOD AI.The only reason this game is a nine instead of a ten is because of the insane amount of difficulty the Story mode brings to the table.In stage 1-3 alone,your pitted one against seven.And then the boss of that stage simply refuses to be taken down by the likes of a mere mortal.Or at least someone without a way to cheat.These guys are HARD.I know that maybe some people want harder games,but at the very least,the first stages should be some degree of easy,to ease you into the game.Controller sales will skyrocket.Aside from the insane difficulty,the rest of the gameplay is spot on.There are multiple modes to play in.There's the standard ''last man standing'' mode as well as others like;

Hyper Bomber: Collect three pannels and exit through the gate to win.The pannels are hidden in the blocks that you can blow up.Watch out though,get blown up yourself and you loose all the pannels you've collected! Very fun.

Submarine: The field is divided in to two sides,and you and your opponents bombs will switch from one side to the other,so you have to try and predict where they'll be next to blow them up.No powerups.It's kinda fun.

Pannel Paint: Bomb the pannels on the floor and they change to your color.Try to get more pannels your color than your opponent can,but if you die all your pannels go back to neutral! VERY fun.

Ring Match: You start off in a really small ring,and the object is to blow up your opponents.You get one point for blowing them up and loose one for getting blown up yourself.The pannels glow red if it's not safe to stand there so it's easy to keep track of safe spots even when the action is high.Dangerously fun!

Hours of entertainment.The music and sound are top notch too.Although you might not notice it in the midst of a high paced bomb battle,they add to the nice enviroments and great characters.The game wouldn't be the same without it.All in all,Bomberman Online is an amazing game that should definately not be missed.I reccomend buying it.

Fun factor: High

Multiplayer: Yes

Controllers KIA: 2

Difficulty: VERY HARD

Reviewer's Score: 9/10

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 11/09/01, Updated 11/09/01