"Single-player's a bomb, but multiplayer's a bang!"

Bomberman. One of the oldest video game franchises still in existence. With new installments of the series being released to almost every console out there, it's apparent that someone hasn't lost their interest in the series. and it makes its debut on the DS in a game simply titled "Bomberman."

So what does Bomberman's new game offer? Basically, a single-player mode (called "Normal") and a multiplayer mode (called "Battle"). That's about it in terms of main options. The introduction has a bunch of 3-D polygonal Bombermen running around the screen, but that's the only time anything in this game is 3-D; the overwhelming majority of this game is 2-D sprite-based graphics similar to stuff you'd see on the Super Nintendo. And the music, while okay, doesn't really have anything special to offer either. In fact, after a while of playtime, the music can be sometimes annoying (especially in Normal mode). There are occasional exclamatory voices that happen when you do something, but there isn't anything mind-blowing.

Anyway, those are the minor details. On to an in-depth look at the single-player Normal mode...

The game has some odd story where Bomberman has to rescue his world from the forces of evil. That's not really important to learn about. I mean, it's your standard Bomberman; you're basically wandering through these stages blowing stuff up and avoiding enemy attacks and explosions. They have limited use of the touch screen; while the action takes place on just the top screen most of the time, the bottom screen inventories power-ups you collected, and you can use this screen to enhance your Bomberman. It's a cute addition, but this does tend to make things easier. If you end up dying and lose all your enhancements, you're perfectly capable of regaining your "ultimate" status with the items you collected beforehand. Add invincibility items, extra chances, and timer extensions, and you'll end up flying through this game with little trouble. Not that there's much you'll get out of it anyway...not even any unlockable cool stuff. Bummer.

But Bomberman never really had the strongest single-player aspect to it. Its strength is in its infamous multiplayer modes--the very thing that makes it such a favorite among classic and modern gamers alike. And thankfully, that's where this game excels. Eight people are able to play in the Battle mode just by downloading from one cart. There aren't any special features missing from this mode when you do it, but then there's no other way to do it either. anyway, they have assorted arenas that offer different rules of play, you can adjust handicaps, the number of wins required, and other extra stuff. Some rule sets have you using the microphone to do things such as raising a shield or detonating your bombs. Gimmicky, really; you'll probably spend a little time with these modes, but the other rule sets will be more favorable. You don't really have to yell anything to detonate stuff if you feel embarrassed; ust blow into the mic (of course, you can yell at the top of your lungs during that bomb-detonating mike game and cause someone else's bombs to go off, possibly screwing them over major). Many of the rule sets are enjoyable to play, and the option of letting it randomly select rules per match is good if you can't decide which one you want to do. And if you're alone, you are also able to play against CPU players with three different difficulty levels to choose from.

One thing to note, of course, is that Bomberman was released before the introduction of Nintendo's official Wi-Fi services. So no Wi-Fi in this Bomberman game, sadly. It's been said that another Bomberman game is in the works that will use this service. We'll have to wait and see.

For now, it's safe to say that this Bomberman is great for its multiplayer abilities. The single-player game is mainly lacking, and you may not spend as much time with it as you will the Battle mode. If you know a bunch of friends who own their own DS systems, this is a good game to get them involved. Otherwise, think before you buy.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 12/09/05