Developer: Hudson Soft Publisher: NEC Release: 1991 Genre: Action
Bomberman has enjoyed a long successful run in the game industry and Konami has done a decent job keeping him in the spotlight. But his first entry on the NES was rough. You would never know the little bomber guy would go on to become so iconic based on that game. Hudson Soft agreed and created a new adventure for the fledgling Turbo Grafx that in many ways serves as the foundation for the series going forward. While it is not exceptional you can see the makings of something special.
Bomberman for the TG-16 features a different story that establishes the lore for the series going forward. After the creation of the original Bomberman Dr. Mitsumori develops Black Bomberman using the original as a blueprint. Unfortunately a programming error causes Black Bomberman to go berserk and kidnap the Dr.’s daughter Lisa, taking her to a mechanical castle. Bomberman, using his ability to think for himself, takes off in pursuit.
On the NES Bomberman was a sterile experience. The game used the same green background with grey tiles for all fifty of its stages. The monotony was overwhelming and one of the reasons single player campaigns have a bad reputation within the series. For its 16-bit debut Bomberman now visits eight worlds. The visual variety does wonders at making the game more engaging for as simple as it is. Although it does not go as far as featuring world specific enemies and traps it is much appreciated. I do wish the music rose to the same level as it quickly becomes droning background noise. Truthfully the music would not truly become excellent in this series until Bomberman 64 in my opinion.
The general gameplay is almost exactly the same. Bomberman still drops bombs to destroy the environment and enemies. The pace is slightly faster than its plodding NES predecessor although that is not saying much. There is a cadence to the action in this series that does not speed up until the later games from this period. There are more scrolling maps and new in this version are vertically scrolling stages. Whereas the NES game has fifty stages the Turbo Grafx edition has sixty-four. However these take place across eight worlds with varying themes. There are only eight stages per world with new enemies and the last ending in a boss battle. It sounds minor but it goes a long way toward alleviating the tedium of his most famous adventure. The foundation established here would go on to create the excellent 16-bit outings that would follow.
Bomberman has never truly been a difficult series. Once you survive long enough to nab a few power-ups it is almost impossible to die outside of your own hubris. The stacking upgrades turn you in to a veritable powerhouse in short order, able to drop multiple remote controlled bombs, walk through certain walls and even survive your own blasts for a duration. The introduction of passwords makes taking this lengthy adventure easier as well. The introduction of boss battles was an opportunity to add some challenge. But here they play out like an extended battle against standard enemies rather than fight against a larger, more aggressive foe seeking you out. Once again, this was a baby step toward future greatness.
The riotous multiplayer that has become the series’ legacy has its auspicious beginnings here. Five players can compete for bombing supremacy in a single arena. You can tell the developers were still learning considering how limited this mode is. There is only one map and two power-ups. But the spark was lit and they would never go back. Sadly I never had the chance to try this game’s competitive mode back then. One, because I was one of only two Turbo Grafx-16 owners in my neighborhood. And two because of the requirements for basic multiplayer on the system. The need to buy a turbo tap and additional controllers for even simple two-player gaming will forever goes down in history as one of the worst decisions in the gaming industry. The potential audience for this game was already limited by the platform in the US. That hurt its potential further.
In Closing
Bomberman is a decent upgrade over the sterile NES original. The single player is well rounded although still not particularly engaging and the multiplayer gives it some life beyond that. But in short order it would be surpassed. Every great series has to start somewhere and while Bomberman is solid it is a hard sell versus its superior sequels.
