Platform: PlayStation

Developer: Hudson Soft

Publisher: Vatical Entertainment

Release Date (NA): 2000

Genre: Party games

Nerd Rating: 6 out of 10

Reviewed by NerdBerry

Not sure how many of y’all out there remember the original Bomberman games, but they were pretty fun. Their popularity was regionalized to Japan but they still saw a fair release in North America. And it’s not to say that they went unrecognized either, but the first couple Bomberman games went widely unrecognized by the USA until the release of Super Bomberman 2 for the Super Nintendo, which is a small piece of party-game art. Bomberman Party Edition for the Super Nintendo is a re-release of the original Bomberman game… and for some reason it’s a…… huh? Party edition?

Bomberman has a storied history, originally being released in 1983 in Japan for multiple home computer systems, it would see its first wide market home video game console release on the Famicom in 1985 and wouldn’t see an American release until 1989. Due to its mainstream success, there would be several Hudson Soft developed sequels. The Super Famicom alone saw 5 Bomberman games and the Nintendo 64 saw 3 releases (Bomberman 64, Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, and Bomberman Hero). The Sega Saturn saw Saturn Bomberman, which is famed for including 10-person multiplayer mode with 2 Saturns, 2 games, 2 multi-taps, 2 TVs, and 10 controllers. So it’s no wonder Hudson would want to cash in on the popularity with an exclusive PlayStation release.

While technically a re-release of the original 1983 Bomberman, it does include some unique features that separate it from being just a port of an older game. The single player mode includes the option for “modern” or “retro” game modes. The gameplay is the same and

The “retro” mode – Bomberman 1983

the graphics are improved upon in “modern” mode, but they are still not 32 bit PlayStation-good. While Bomberman featured only a single player mode, Bomberman Party Edition features a multiplayer mode, much in the fashion of the Super Bomberman series on the Super Nintendo.

Normal mode is the single player mode. In normal mode, the playing field is a large enclosure with destructible blocks, indestructible blocks, enemies, power-ups, and an exit door. The objective is to destroy all of the enemies and find the exit door before you run out of time. Power-ups and the exit door are hidden under the destructible blocks. Beware of enemies floating around, because you will be killed on contact. Some of the power-ups include the ability to drop multiple bombs, an increase in the range of your explosions, the ability to make a bomb explode by pressing a button, and a skull power-up (which is bad and you shouldn’t get it). By getting the skull, it will mess with your Bomberman dude, and causes some awful play! It can reverse your D-pad controls, it can make you run really fast (which is hard to control and you’ll often run right into an explosion killing yourself), or make you walk really slowly (which makes it near impossible to dodge explosions).

Party mode is a 5-player game using a playing field nearly identical to the “normal mode” playing field, except this playing field is square in shape instead of the rectangular shape you see in single player, which is horizontally wider and stretched beyond the screen. The objective of the game is to blow up the opponents, whether they are human or computer, and be the single remaining robot-dude.

“Modern” mode in single player

It is painful to play Bomberman Party Edition if you’re familiar with the other games in the series, because although the multiplayer mode is a PlayStation exclusive (thus, not in the original Bomberman game), the mechanics, animation, and graphics are entirely based on this “modern” view, which is pretty plain, bland, and surprisingly far below the Super Nintendo (or Nintendo 64) graphics.

In this multiplayer game, we are still forced to watch the incredibly stupid and retarded computer players run around and painfully accomplish nothing after we die. I made the mistake of setting the match-time to 3 minutes, I died within 20 seconds, then was stuck watching the remaining Bombermen run around like a lethargic fat dude walking out of a Golden Corral. The BEST setting is 2 minutes with moderately hard enemies. You don’t want easy enemies, or the games will end in a tie way too often (as they are too stupid to kill each other or try that hard). It doesn’t make sense either, they’re completely stupid, yet they know the EXACT length of your blast radius (even after you’ve picked up multiple power-ups) and will stand precisely 1 grid block (only inches, really) away from certain destruction. Unbelievable.

“Party” mode – cute outfits make it a PARTY!

Overall I’m pretty disappointed when I think about what Hudson COULD HAVE accomplished. They could have made a new game! They could have made a PlayStation Bomberman exclusive! This game is fine and all, and it plays very well without a hitch, but this is just lazy. How is it possible that this game came out in 2000? I know it’s a remake, but it’s just confusing. Bomberman Party Edition should have been marketed as a “classic” or “retro” release with bonus features, but they confusingly pushed it as a new game. Yea yea I know, by calling it an “edition” we are to assume it’s a re-release with additional features. Sort of like “collector’s edition” and all. But how is this a “party edition”?? You tell me.

With that being said, it’s an average game, and a less-than-average Bomberman game. Bomberman Party Edition is a simple addition to the franchise and a decent re-release of a Japanese Famicom classic, yet it mostly lacks that “it” factor to advance the series in any direction. Adding soccer balls as destructible bricks does not make it a “party” game (yes, this is a real feature). If this multi-player “party” mode is supposed to be a unique 32-bit exclusive, then they have failed miserably as this game takes two steps back in the series. The SNES Super Bomberman games have no less than 10 multiplayer stages while this game only has 8 simple, boring, and mostly featureless stages with little to no variety.

I always go back to Super Bomberman 2, as it is one of my favorite in the series with wonderfully colorful graphics, a wide variety of stages, and is easy to pick up and play. Bomberman Party Edition will leave you mostly satisfied when you play it with friends, but even so, it is likely the people in your group will get bored and look for other forms of entertainment. Bomberman Party Edition is uninspired and lazy. C’mon Hudson Soft. You’ve made better decisions.

Nerd Rating: 6 out of 10

Reviewed by NerdBerry