Super Bomberman
First Super Bomberman game to keep the European title.
Super Bomberman, an action maze game from 1993, was developed by Produce! and published by Hudson Soft for the Super Nintendo. It belongs to the Bomberman series and marks the first installment to keep the Bomberman name in Europe, avoiding earlier regional titles like Dynablaster or Eric and the Floaters. This game launched the Super Bomberman sub-series, which later grew to include seven additional titles.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Produce!Ported to J2ME by Hudson Soft
- Publisher
- JP/NA
- Hudson Soft
- EU
- Sony Electronic Publishing Living Mobile GmbH (J2ME)
- Director
- Mikio Ueyama
- Producer
- Eiji Aoyama; Masaki Kobayashi
- Designer
- Kyon Kyon
- Programmer
- Makoto Sakai
- Artist
- Takayuki Hirai
- Composer
- Jun Chikuma; Tomoyuki Hamada
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The game takes place on a single non-scrolling screen showing a top-down view of a 13 by 11 grid of 143 squares. Characters can only move horizontally or vertically. Pressing a button drops a bomb at Bomberman's feet, which pulses for a few seconds before exploding, sending flames horizontally and vertically. Bomb blasts destroy soft walls and enemies; if a flame hits another bomb, it detonates early, causing chain reactions. Flames injure or kill any character they hit unless that character is invincible. Most levels begin with destructible soft walls; destroying them with bombs opens paths. Once a bomb is laid, it is usually impossible to walk past until it detonates, allowing players to trap enemies. Special items appear when walls or enemies are destroyed and grant abilities that change tactics. The normal game has six themed worlds, each with eight stages; the last stage of each world is a boss fight. Players clear all enemies from a stage, then exit through a door hidden under a destructible wall. World 5 is an arena with no destructible walls or exit doors; after one set of robot Bombermen is defeated, the next set enters, making it a continuous battle. The game supports one or two players cooperatively, though teammates can be blown up by each other's bombs. A password system saves progress: each stage gives a four-digit password entered on the Options screen.
Plot
The story takes place in Diamond City, north of Bomberman's home city Peace Town. The evil Carat Diamond and scientist Dr. Mook hold a Robot Tournament using specially designed combat robots. They create a fake Bomberman to kidnap the real Bomberman. Black Bomberman confronts the fake but is defeated and his castle taken. He escapes to White Bomberman and warns him. Enemy robots advance on Peace Town, and the two heroes join forces to defeat Diamond.
Development
Super Bomberman was originally bundled with a multitap device called the Super Multitap, which allowed more than two players to play simultaneously. The Super Multitap was long and grey with four controller ports in a row on one side; it plugged into either controller port on the SNES, allowing up to five controllers total. Super Bomberman and Super Bomberman 2 only used the first four controllers, but later Bomberman games allowed three to five controllers, with the fifth enabling a sound test. Hudson Soft later released the Super Multitap 2 separately, shaped like Bomberman's head with two ports on the front and one on each side. Eventually 54 Super NES games used the multitap, mostly sports games.
Reception
Famitsu reported that Super Bomberman sold 117,322 copies in its first week and 497,000 copies during its lifetime in Japan. A 1993 readers' poll by Super Famicom Magazine gave it a 24.02/30 score, ranking it 20th among Super Famicom titles. Electronic Gaming Monthly's four editors named it Game of the Month and gave it a Platinum Editor's Choice, stating its addictiveness is on par with Tetris and highlighting its multiplayer. Game Informer ranked it the 90th best game ever made in 2001, claiming its multiplayer caused missed deadlines at magazines and studios. IGN rated it 49th on their Top 100 SNES Games of All Time in 2011. Complex ranked it 37th on their Best Super Nintendo Games of All Time in 2018, calling it probably the best four-player game for the SNES.
More in Hudson Soft Games
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced