Yeah, remember how I said I’d get a post up last Thursday? Well, I’ve only just gotten around to writing it and posting it. Minecraft and Dragon Age Origins have been stealing my time lately, as well as other things, and as a result, I’ve not been playing as many old games as I used to. But this one I was reminded of over the Christmas period by a friend, as well as by Xbox Live. The game series, when it’s not gone 3D, has been a firm favourite of mine ever since I was a little kid, and holds the distinction of being the only game series that my mum can beat me at.
The game series is Bomberman. It’s been around longer than I have, and is still thriving today. It’s also been on multiple games systems, and whilst the 3D renditions aren’t particularly great, the 2D versions are still as awesome and addictive as ever. If you’ve not played them, shame on you. You should go and acquire a 2D version, 3 friends, and go and play it with them. The premise is simple, you’re stuck in a grid maze, and you have to blow everyone up but yourself. Bombs reach a certain distance, some blocks are destructible, and you have to blow them up to reach others, and then trap them and blow them up.
Oddly enough, like so.
You get power-ups along the way, such as more bombs, bigger explosions, extra life, and suchlike. My personal favourite is the remote bomb, as it allows me to set up cunning traps for my opponents and then taunt them before detonating and blowing them into a million pieces. Unlike most multiplayer games, which either require luck, or a case of faster reactions and shooting first, Bomberman requires actual skill to play, as you need to outthink and outmanoeuvre your opponents, as well as avoiding being killed either by yourself or by your enemies. This is probably why my mother wins so much against me, because I’ve been conditioned by years of FPS games, to just charge in, firing wildly and hoping for the best, and then respawning when it inevitably cocks up. I can’t do this on Bomberman, as taking risks for me usually results in a large explosion to the face, which isn’t really how you win in this game.
The simplistic nature of Bomberman is what makes it addictive and easy to play. You use the D-pad, yes that archaic method of controlling stuff, and one button. Two if you’re using remote bombs or the bomb throw option. You don’t need to train for hours to play it, and best of all, no muppet is going to have a go at you for using a particular weapon, because all the weaponry is the same. I’m looking at you, Call of Duty series, where you’re frowned upon for using anything more than a pistol to get headshots every time. Happily though, no muppets appear to play this game, so there’s no wanting to beat someone every time they have a go at you for every little thing you do, from jumping to using actual weaponry. The time limit also adds to the thing, as the last minute or thirty seconds, the arena starts becoming smaller, forcing you to think on your feet or else be crushed by falling, unbombable blocks.
Singleplayer is similar to multiplayer, except the levels have a different layout, and you get different enemies. But you still have to kill them to progress through the level, and sometimes you have to press a switch or two along the way. Some games in the series have a feature, where if you blow the exit up, the enemies respawn, making it very frustrating at times, but still forcing you to think things through and be more tactical than most games, unless you really like killing everything over and over again. In which case, you may not need Bomberman, you may need professional help from the men in white coats.
Riding... some creature... you have to blow up three of the blue orbs on sticks to get to the end. Easy, no?
In conclusion, and yes, I know it’s a short review, but better than no review at all, Bomberman is a good game series. It’s simple, fun, can be played in any state, supports 4 players, sometimes more, and can be picked up if you’ve never played it before in about five minutes. It is never truly possible to be the best at this, as someone can always be that most human of qualities, and be unpredictable and thus, negate any effort you’ve put in to learn the game. But that’s what makes it fun. You don’t have to play for weeks, months on end just to have a chance. You can just play with mates, and see who is the best that particular time. Some players may have an off day, others won’t. It changes all the time, which is why this game is brilliant. Anyone can win at it. Even my mother, who rarely plays multiplayer video games, and usually has to call me in to help with the platforming bits at times in the Harry Potter games, can and does beat me easily on this. Like I said earlier, if you’ve not played this, go and find it and play it. If you have played it, go and play it again with friends and just enjoy yourselves gaming on it without interruptions from kids who have yet to hit puberty calling you racist names and suchlike. And enjoy yourself.
I’m allowing comments, time to see if the spambots go mental.
