"An Enjoyable, Ablbeit Seminal Bombing Experience"

One of the longest-running and greatest franchises in all of gaming is Bomberman. Unlike some long-running franchises *cough* Megaman, every installment has brough new gameplay elements, improvements, and more fun then most can handle. After playing Bomberman titles on seemingly more console then I can count on my finger and toes, I figures that it was about time I busted out the gool ol' NES and play the original title to enjoy the humble roots of the series.

Aside from several missing gameplay elements (what do you expect?), the key thing missing in the original installment is cosmetics. The classic look of the B man and his enemies just isn't there. The bland-looking enemies, Bomberman's unrecognizable body structure, and the one-color backgrounds instantly date the game. The sound is also relatively bland. Although the unimpressive presentation is... um... unimpressive, I don't hold it against the game since this is a late-80's game we're talking about here. Also, on a brighter note, the presentation really doesn't affect the gameplay at all.

The unique powerups, innovative level design, and multiplayer madness we all love about the more recent Bomberman titles just aren't here. Still, this title has the basic blow 'em up gameplay of the latter B man titles, but without the various bells and whistles that spice up all the other titles, we basically get a bare-bones Bomberman experience. Sure, the basic gameplay is what we come for, but the extras that come with other titles only increases out enjoyment, right? If you have to choose between this title and say, Super Bomberman 2, you should definitely go with the second choice. Now lets check out the box scores.

Graphics (4/10): Blah. We're looking at first-gen NES right here, what do you expect? Even though Super Mario Brother was released before this game and looks much better, it doesn't really matter anyway, since the bland graphics don't get in the way of gameplay.

Sound (4/10): Again I say blah. Tinny music, tinny noises accompanying explosions and tinny noises accompanying the deaths of enemies or Bomberman pretty much tell the story here.

Control (10/10): As far as I'm concerned, as long as all the moves are easy to do and all the buttons are responsive, its perfect in my book.

Gameplay (7/10): There's quite a bit missing here, particularly the multiplayer. On some occasions I still fire up Saturn Bomberman when a few friends are over. It doesn't rekindle the fun of the 10-player games I used to have, but fun as hell the same. Because of the lack of multiplayer and the cosmetics that really beef up other B man titles, this original is best for a ROM download and a couple hours of bombing pleasure. Sure, this game is no Mario Bros. 3, but its still one of the better NES games, and worth a couple hours of enjoyment, particularly for die-hard Bomberman fans.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 06/29/01, Updated 06/29/01