Bomberman Generation

"An instant classic."

Bomberman Generation was released by Majesco, more than surpassing any of my expectations. It’s easily one of the best Gamecube game currently out there.

Gameplay 9/10

The game is split into multiple “worlds”, most with 6 levels each. Almost every world has a sub-boss and boss, with each serving as a refreshing change of pace. Charaboms, however, is where things get interesting. Cute Pokemon type things, you acquire the abilities of whichever Charabom you equip, adding new strategy to the game and it’s battles. You’ll find Charaboms that’ll allow your bombs to follow targets, ones that decrease damage done to you, and ones that let you bounce on bombs. You’ll receive some Charaboms freely, but most of the time you’ll have to partake in a Charabom Battle.

You’ll also receive different bomb elements, which will allow you to access goodies previous out of reach; Megaman style. With Ice Bombs you can freeze water, Wind Bombs will move leafs, Light Bombs make objects solid, and so forth. My only real gripe is the difficulty of some of the later bosses, making them absurdly easy compared to the ones before them.

Story 5/10

You’re typically clichéd plot: Valuable cargo gets hijacked and you have to go recover it. It’s not a deep and complex story, but it doesn’t need to be for this type of game. If you wanted character development, you should of gotten Final Fantasy X.

Controls 8/10

The control scheme is well thought out, and my only complaints are with the Gamecube controller itself. You can place bombs with the A button, and detonate them, provided you have that Charabom, with the B button. The L and R buttons make rotating the camera a snap, while the Z button calls up your menu. Often times I found myself trying to switch bomb types, and ended up changing Charaboms instead.

Graphics and Sound 9/10

The graphics for Bomberman Generation are cel-shaded, following Zelda’s trend. The graphics do the job nicely, but for nit-pickers sake, the shadow sucks. I, personally, enjoyed the music, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s the same song for every world. Then there are the voices. They can be very annoying with their high-pitched voices, akin to a prepubescent teen.

Replay Value 10/10

One word: Multiplayer. Bomberman Generations returns to the SNES-type battle system, with flat fields for massive mayhem. You can have up to 4 battlers fighting simultaneously, with any of them being a human or a computer controlled bot. There are different battle types for multi-player, making a mockery of your reflexes.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 06/11/02, Updated 06/11/02