"Bomberman at his finest."

This is Bomberman for the Nintendo DS. This is a faithful adaptation of the action/puzzler we know and love, featuring Hudson's little TV-head robot, Bomberman. Although the DS is 3D capable, this is thankfully a 2D Bomberman game, and it makes fine use of the two screens, touch capability, and minor use of the mic. Well, here's my review.

Graphics: 9/10 - Excellent

Everything is 2D. That being said, the sprites are colorful and cute, and the backgrounds are well done and also colorful. Okay, not all 2D. The opening into movie is a rather well done in 3D, but that's about it. Overall, very nice.

Sound: 7/10 - Good

The sounds are typical Bomberman fare. Booms and bangs are present, and they sound quite nice. The enemies themselves are mostly quiet, as are the bosses, but oh well. Bomberman has some sound bytes, which are pretty much all him exclaiming what item he found/used. Not bad.

Music: 6/10 - Average

The music during the single-player experience is bland and innoffensive, though it's also cute. (To a degree) The music during the boss battles is a bit dramatic. You have one track during the Battle mode, which is very frantic and fitting. Overall, could've been better.

Control: 9/10 - Excellent

Bomberman is controlled using just the face buttons on the DS in story mode, and he controls very well. The Touch Screen is used to display your items, which are touchable icons. When you get an item, it goes on the Touch Screen. When you want to use it, you touch it. Very clever. The microphone is used in multiplayer only. There's various modes that use it. In bomb mic mode, you shout or blow into the mic to drop a bomb, for example. Overall, it makes nice use of the DS's features, without over-using the Touch Screen.

Story: 4/10 - Weak

Uhm... The story? Something to do with crystals of some kind. Go through the land and collect them... Yeah.

Multiplayer: 10/10 - Perfect

Ah, how this games shines in the multiplayer department! The Battle Mode uses both screens as a playing field, with a tunnel that leads from one to the other. There's a smorgasbord of battle modes, a lot of them very fun. Best part? With one card, eight people can play. Yes, eight whole people. Thank you for download play, Nintendo!

Replayabilty: Depends

Replayabilty depends. The single-player mode gets stale in a hurry. If you've got other friends with DS systems, though, the multiplayer will keep this game in your DS for ages.

Overall: 8/10 - Great

This is an excellent revival of Bomberman that's not too gimmicky considering it's platform. If you like puzzle games, get it. If you like Bomberman, get it. If you want an awesome multiplayer title for DS, by all means, GET IT!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/05/05