Here’s a mighty fun SNES classic that was a blast in multiplayer mode. Launched in 1994 by Hudson Soft, it’s still a retro gaming dream.
Super Bomberman 2
Our first introduction to this series was Super Bomberman (1993), which we rented from Blockbuster. And got totally addicted to.
There’s a single player story mode you work through, wiping out bad guys and defeating the game by arranging bombs to blow them up.
It’s strategic and you need a quick brain to get ahead—it’s good fun.
However, the main draw of this series remains with its multiplayer capacity. And in 1993, we were enthralled by taking on friends (or the computer AI) in battle mode.
When we picked up Super Bomberman 2 around 2006 off eBay, it became a regular staple at a house we were living in 2008.
Down in Fallowfield of Manchester, there was much merriment, mirth, and mighty explosions as four of us took the thing on at once.
Scenes like this were commonplace. You can play entirely against the computer AI, or go up against three friends.
You can nab power-ups as you go along, making you one super powerful Bomberman. With bombs that blast across the entire screen!
It’s surprisingly strategic, but given how frantic the matches are you can easily make a costly error. And then? Kaboom!
A multi-tap allows for four-player FUN, you see. And, my word, it is rather excellent. We picked one up from eBay around 2006.
We can’t remember why. But we sure do like the look of the thing.
So, yes, that nifty little geezer transformed the game into a marvel.
Kind of like with Goldeneye 007, it was just catapulted into a different dimension thanks to the brilliance of its multiplayer options.
Really, you could plug this thing in now and have an absolute blast. It’s a really fabulous game. Which we highly advise over some of the series’ more recent iterations.
Modern Super Bomberman Games
Launching in 2017, Super Bomberman R met with middling reviews. Complete with cheesy voice acting and a new aesthetic, it doesn’t quite have the same appeal.
In fact, the whole series has struggled for game quality after the 16-bit era.
This was very much a “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” type deal. The originals were so brilliant, all that was needed was a tweak to the single-player mode.
But, no, the problems began with Bomberman 64 on the (yes) Nintendo 64. With everything going 3D, it’s inevitable Hudson Soft had a go at all that. With middling results.
Launching in September 1997, there was much excitement for the game. Especially at the prospect of the four-player options the console was so good at.
But the game was just mediocre, with the developer struggling to get to grips with how to advance the series.
Even the multiplayer option was, shockingly, just a bit average.
Aware of this, some folks have gone off to create something resembling the old 16-bit heyday type shindig. The result was Game of Bombs.
We last played this in 2014, if we remember correctly, but remember it being good fun. It’s free to play online. You just go onto the official site.
So, if you’re missing your classic Bomberman fix, that’s arguably the greatest opportunity you have these days to go all out and explode. Hurray!