"An oxymoron"

Bomberman is synonymous with exciting multiplayer battles that rock with the force of dozens of explosions going off at once. Story? Pfft. Bomberman needs no story. Yet this is what Bomberman Story provides: a cheesy narrative set over vast, but sparse worlds, and some rather under-cooked RPG elements.

Let's get this out of the way first: if you don't mind a childish and pointless story, the rest of Story may be enough to grip you. If not, don't say I didn't warn you. Exploration takes place over several planets where the aim is to find a hidden dungeon area, dive head first into it, blow a boss character to chunks and then vamoose back to your ship. It sounds like a Zelda game, but with bombs instead of a sword and shield. There are puzzles to solve, but much less lateral thinking is required; the focus is instead on lame mini-games.

Yes, when you want to open a doorway on the other side of the room, you don't simply flick a switch on, but enter a room where you have to manipulate bombs in various ways to activate them. Need a bridge to cross troubled waters? Build it yourself by flipping wooden logs onto their sides. All of the mini-games are handled via stylus and the controls are perfectly serviceable, but if you have ever played Bomberman Land Touch!, most of the mini-games here are comparatively dry on humour and void of substance.

But the mini-games aren't the focus this time around; the RPG system is. There are several types of bombs for you to use including ones that lure enemies together, some that can be stacked on top of each other to give a more powerful blast, and some that explode in various shapes. You're not confined to a grid-based environment anymore so utilising everything you've got here is of vital importance. You also have a life bar to worry about, but as you blast foes and gain experience (more if you successfully string together combos) this, along with your general firepower, will increase. You can also outfit Bomberman with various equipment pieces, or temporarily jack some drugs into him to increase your other stats such as walking speed. However, there isn't nearly enough to compensate for action which is poor, even for a solo Bomberman game; weaving about inept creatures that aren't any sort of challenge in the freer environment isn't my cup of tea (I can't comment much on the multiplayer aspect, but it's still no Super Bomberman).

Bomberman Story is aesthetically different to the usual anime-inspired look the series has. It reminds me a lot of Donkey Kong Country's pre-rendered graphics, but less detailed, and as a result, the environments are mostly plain and the enemies look just as unexciting. The big boss characters look especially out of place in a Bomberman game, but at least they fun to fight which can't be said for most of the grinding/avoiding whilst walking the overworld.

If you really want multiplayer Bomberman for your DS, check out Bomberman Land Touch! which also contains a brilliant mini-game orientated single-player mode. If you were honestly looking for a good Bomberman RPG... well, that's really an impossibility, but it's by no means bad here. I thought the story was horrible, though, and considering the title of the game, that's a disappointment. But you can still blow stuff (and other Bombermen) up in the hectic multiplayer which is all that really counts. The question is, are you willing to carry the mediocre luggage that comes with it?

VERDICT - 6.0/10 Multiplayer is sweet, but that's nothing new.

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 12/03/07

Game Release: Bomberman Story DS (AU, 11/22/07)