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Product summary
This game brings Bomberman to the PSP with plenty of enjoyable, challenging single-player levels, as well as the fun and frantic multiplayer battles the series is known for.
Specifications: ESRB: Everyone; Genre: Action; Number of players: 1-4 Players See full specs
Price range: $25.99
Gamespot editors' review
- Reviewed on: 09/15/2006
- Released on: 09/12/2006
There are certain games that push the limits of hardware and design convention in an attempt to create the next new sensation. Then, there are games like Bomberman, which has remained essentially unchanged for more than 20 years. Any complaints that Hudson's trademark franchise has become stagnant are invalidated by the simple fact that the basic Bomberman gameplay is still tons of fun after all these years. The most recent Bomberman game, for the PlayStation Portable, is proof positive that there's no need to mess with a proven formula.
There is a story to Bomberman, but you wouldn't know it by playing the game. Instead, Bomberman lets you play through 10 different-themed worlds, each with 10 stages. The levels vary noticeably in size and layout, but the setup is the same as it has always been in the Bomberman games.
You're dropped into a level that is filled with various "soft" blocks and "hard" blocks. The soft blocks can be destroyed by placing a bomb nearby, and by blowing up these blocks you'll collect useful power-ups. These power-ups are handy for clearing out more blocks and destroying all of the enemies in each level. There are power-ups that increase the range of your bomb blasts, the number of bombs you can drop at one time, and the speed of your character. There are also items that give you special abilities, such as the ability to walk through soft blocks or to kick placed bombs. With more than 15 items to collect, there are plenty of ways to increase and alter your firepower.
In a slight departure from Bomberman tradition, when you pick up items in the game, they don't immediately take effect. Instead, they go into your item stock, which is an inventory that you can access at any time to pick and choose the right power-ups for your current situation. During battle there's a navigation bar on the left side of the screen. You can use the L and R buttons to scroll through all the items you've collected and use the square button to activate items. It's a good system that lets you tailor your firepower to any given situation, but it can be cumbersome to scroll through a long list of a dozen or more items when you're trying to find a specific power-up in the midst of battle. However, the item stock system is used only in the single-player story mode, and when you're playing in battle mode, all the items you pick up take effect immediately.
The goal of each stage is to destroy all the enemies and find the hidden exit before time runs out. Most of the levels in the game give you three minutes in which to kill all the enemies and make your escape. However, there are items you can get to extend that time. If you fail to complete the stage within the time limit in the story mode, enemies will begin pouring out of the exit. In battle mode, blocks will begin falling from above, and if you don't kill your enemies quickly, you'll end up getting crushed. In the single-player game you have to face a variety of enemies, such as big, lumbering golems that take several bombs to kill, fast-moving yellow things that are difficult to trap, and bomb-laying, well, bombs. There are also bosses to contend with, such as a giant crab or a dragon.
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