Bomberman

"Why play single-player mode when you can play the real core of the game, Multiplayer mode?"

The Bomberman series was quite the unique one out of many puzzle games. It's mix of strategy and multiplayer made it a hard dual combination to beat. Bomberman (no DS tag!) is an addicting "multiplayer" game that enforces both your mind and your verbal assault. Bomberman was released in Japan, North America, and Europe in the year 2005.

Gameplay

As you may assume, Bomberman is a puzzle game that features many different rules that make it different from other games. This isn't your typical Tetris remake, it's a whole new game by itself. Basically, you'll be placing bombs and explosives in places that'll destroy enemies and help you manuever through the "maze". There are several items and weapons that'll help you destory blocks in order to beat the game. You may sometimes feel that there are a plethora of weapons and "all powerful" items that make the game seem unreasonably easy. While this statement may hold true, the core of Bomberman doesn't rely on this, because of one word (or two words depending on how you approach it) MULTI-PLAYER. With the DS's capabilities, you can play with up to 7 of your friends, for a total of 8 players. Why? BECAUSE YOUR FRIENDS AREN'T TYPICAL "AI" COMPUTERS. They won't be stupid enough to walk right into a bomb or trap. This being said, the game provides more entertainment in the multiplayer section, as opposed to the former. And Bomberman has never excelled in single-player anyway. The reason you get this game should be because of the multiplayer mode.

Graphics

With puzzle games like these, especially those of a remake, you'll need nothing more than mediocre graphics to support the gameplay. Bomberman doesn't do anything special that makes it stand out, but it earned my award for "Most nostalgia from previous games in a series". This game has lots of different graphics comprised from all of the games in the series.

Sound

The sound is about the same as the GBA version, but with a few tunes added. They aren't addicting, but once in a while, you might want to listen to it. I prefer keeping it down while having friends over playing. Because then, you can torment and taunt them so that they get distracted and lose their mind.

Overall, Bomberman mixes a fairly good single player mode with an awesome multiplayer mode to make a great game that should have a position in your DS collection. It's hard to tell whether this or Meteos is a better puzzle game overall, but this one is definitely worth having, and I wouldn't be surprised if you loved Meteos as well, after buying this.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/28/05