Bomberman is a strategic, maze-based computer and video game franchise originally developed by Hudson Soft.
Gameplay
The general goal throughout the series is to complete the levels by strategically placing
bombs to kill enemies and destroy obstacles. Although most games in the
Bomberman series use the same type of
maze-based levels established by the original game, some are
Zelda-like adventure games,
Mario-like
platformers,
Tetris-like
puzzle games, and
kart racers. It is considered to be a
classic franchise by many video game players.
The term
Bomberman also refers to the actual "species" of the series's
protagonist and titular character. A "Bomberman" is a little robotic man with a flat computer screen face (they have eyes, but no visible mouth,) long arms and legs, and a circular helmet. Although the series first began with Bombermen being robots, this has not been used again in the more recent games, and it is now thought that Bombermen are in fact organic. (However, it should be noted that Dr. Ein has been identified as being Bomberman's creator, which could mean that are actually robotic after all.)
Legacy
Hudson Soft's
1983 ZX Spectrum and
MSX title
Eric and the Floaters (
Bomberman for the Japanese MSX release), later adapted to the
NES in
1985 as
Bomberman is the first in the series and considered the origin of the
Bomberman concept.
Following that, ports and retoolings of the game have been released on virtually all major video game systems, including the Arcade, NES, Super NES, N64, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and others. Because of its simplistic gameplay, the Bomberman series has been widely copied through knock-offs and copycat titles. There are dozens of unofficial ports of the game for graphing calculators; it is a favorite among TI-89 gamers.
Versions of Bomberman released by Ubisoft for home computer systems in Europe were re-titled Dynablaster.
Powerups
The
Bomberman games usually include many powerups that are found beneath destructible blocks. These include:
Player powerups
- Skates - Increases Bomberman's walking speed.
- Boot/Bomb Kick - Allows Bomberman to kick dropped bombs out of the way. Cancels out Bomb Pass.
- Clog/Sandals - Decreases Bomberman's walking speed.
- Mitts/Power Glove - Bomberman can pick up and throw bombs over walls and obstacles for short distances. If one were to throw a bomb onto an opponent, it will be stunned for a few seconds and a number of its powerups will be dropped, allowing another Bomberman to take them.
- Super Power Glove - Same as Power Glove, but allows Bomberman to hold it to create a dangerous bomb
- Boxing Glove - Bomberman can punch bombs that are in front of him over walls for short distances.
- Block/Wall Pass - Allows Bomberman to walk through destructible walls. A Bomberman in a wall which is being blasted apart by a bomb will be killed.
- Extra Bombs - Bomberman is allowed to drop an additional bomb without waiting for its predecessor to explode. Multiple Extra Bomb powerups can be collected.
- Mine - Transforms Bomberman's bombs into mines which are invisible to any Bomberman, it won't explode until any player, including the one who placed it, steps over it. It will appear for a brief moment before exploding. The blast can kill any player.
- Blast Radius Increase - The area covered by an exploding bomb increases.
- Bomb Pass - Allows Bomberman to walk through bombs; also cancels out Bomb Kick.
- Detonator/Remote Control - Allows Bomberman to explode his bomb at will.
- Spiky bomb - While every bomb in the game only destroys one block at the time, the spiky bomb icon will make the player's bomb able to break any number of destructible walls within the current fire range of the player.
- Line Bomb - Allows Bomberman to drop all of his available bombs in a row in the direction he is facing.
- Egg - Contains a variety of animals which Bomberman can ride on. Different games have different animals, each with unique abilities, some of which cannot be replicated by other powerups. In recent games, these eggs have been replaced by the Charaboms.
- Fire power - Increases the fire power in the bombs range.
- Cherry Bomb - A red bomb more dangerous when powered up.
- Weirod - A hot rod quicker when this found
Life powerups
- Fire Suit/FlameProof Jacket - Lets Bomberman be invincible from everything for approximately 10 seconds. The receiver of this powerup will "blink" rapidly.
- Heart - Allows Bomberman to take an extra hit (from a bomb blast or an enemy) before dying.
- 1-up- Increases the life count by one, so that the player can continue the game even though his Bomberman died. (Only in Single Player mode)
Infection powerups
- Skull - Infects Bomberman with a random disease. Effects include being unable to drop bombs, swapping player positions with another random player, continuously dropping all available bombs one has, slowing movement speed drastically, continuously moving in the direction one is facing, a temporarily inverted control scheme, or death. Skulls act differently in different Bomberman games. For example, sometimes the skull disease can be passed to another player by touching them and is lost when collecting a powerup, whereas in other games the disease is spread to whomever the player touches.
- Combine/Merger (found only in Saturn Bomberman) - Allows Bomberman to merge with any player he touches, causing him to grow slightly and gaining any powerups the other player had. If only two players are left in the arena (with the rest being killed or merged) and the player with Merger powerup touches the other player, the Merger is cancelled, causing all merged players to be released. While the powerup is in effect the player flashes red in colour. It lasts a limited amount of time and 2 players with the Merger powerup cannot merge together.
- Ebola (Found only in Atomic Bomberman) - Infects the player with up to 3 random diseases.
- Evil (Found only in Bomberman 64) - Initiates a stage-wide and temporary hazard. Hazards include: a size-changing disease for everyone, an obscuring disco light, an object-tossing tornado, a random player position swap that occurs periodically, maximum-strength bombs for everyone, and forcing everyone to pick up and throw anything they come across, including powerups.
- Devil (Found only in Saturn Bomberman) - Infects all players with a random disease, including the player who picked up the powerup. A bat is displayed over the player who collected the powerup, which lasts a limited amount of time.
Characters
Though usually light on story, there have been several recurring characters that often appear in the Story Mode of the various games.
Although he is also referred to as "White Bomb", "White Bomber", or "Shirobon" occasionally, the hero of the series is usually simply called "Bomberman". In the standard games, he is the star and is always controlled by the player in the single player modes. He is portrayed as the heroic type, often saving his home planet from disaster. In the earlier titles he battles his rival, a black version of himself called "Kurobon", and would later become friends and allies. In later games, such as Bomberman Max and Bomberman Tournament, he is shown to be part of an interplanetary police force.
In the "Bomberman Jetters" anime, he is often very clumsy and is quite dense. He wrecks things by accident, in sharp contrast to his older brother Mighty. His little accidents tend to make a critical situation worse, much to Shaut's frustration. Bomberman has a huge variety of expressions (despite his lack of a mouth,) making him one of the most expressive of video game characters.
Also known as "Kurobon", Black Bomberman (AKA Black Bomb or Black Bomber) looks identical to Bomberman, only colored black. In many of his first appearances, he was shown to be the main rival to Bomberman. His activities have included robbing banks (Bomberman 2), kidnapping (PC Engine Bomberman) and disabling cities (Bomberman '93). However, with the Super Bomberman series on the SNES, he was changed to being a gradual friend of Bomberman. In many games since then he is controlled by the second player in the two-player story modes. Hudson has given him a cool and collected personality in the later games.
A female bomber who is distinguished from her male counterparts by her pink skirt, yellow handkerchief/
neckerchief, and the large heart attached to her helmet, she is also known as "Beauty Bomber". In her first appearance, Super Bomberman 2, she was an enemy and one of the Five Bad Bombers. She reprised her role as villainess in Bomberman Tournament. However, she has also been portrayed as a close friend to Bomberman in several games. In Super Bomberman 3 it was revealed that without her helmet she looks very much like a human girl. She has made a short cameo in the
Bomberman Jetters anime.
On a side note, she was inexplicably referred to as "Ms. Flashy" in the Virtual Boy game "Panic Bomber."
Also one of the Five Bad Bombers, Magnet Bomber's true personality has yet to be revealed as he is always the first of the group to be defeated. Magnet Bomber sports a scarf-like cape and has a magnet shape attached to his helmet that has the apparent ability of magnetism, shown in several images. "Magnet" refers to Magnet Bomber's bombs (and possible ability), which are attracted to Shiro and can put him in sticky situations.
Golem Bomber is intriguing because his original name in Super Bomberman 2 and 3 was Fire Bomber. This name was later given to another villain in BomberMan Wars and Bomberman World (on Saturn and PSX) and when he appeared again in BomberMan Story on Gameboy Advance it was with this new name. Also his robotic features are more notable than in other bombers; this is most evident in his face (no eyes, just electricity crossing it), but can be seen in his limbs (the joints) and his finger joints too. Golem Bomber is the only member of the Five Bad Bombers who doesn't wear something around his neck. Golem Bomber's helmet has a flame emblem on the forehead. "Golem" refers to Golem Bomber's extreme strength (while Fire supposedly used to refer to the power of his bombs).
Brain Bomber is probably the most wicked Bomberman in the group, although Plasma Bomber is the leader. Brain Bomber somehow became leader of the Five Bad Bombers through the duration of Bomberman Story/Bomberman Tournament, and it is unknown if he is going to stay in this position or not, as the team has yet to make another appearance. Brain Bomber wears a cloak and has the symbol of a crown on his helmet (similar to Golem Bomber's in some games), his arms and legs are not covered (like Pretty Bomber's and Kurobon's); he is shorter than the other characters and sometimes floats above the group. "Brain" refers to the fact that Brain Bomber is the engineer of the group, as shown in Super Bomberman 2 and Bomberman Story/Bomberman Tournament.
Plasma Bomber is normally the leader of the Five Bad Bombers, who are (to a lesser extent than that of
Bagular their supposed creator) Shirobon's archenemies. Plasma Bomber seemed to want to become friends with Shirobon at the end of Super Bomberman 2 (by his gesture of alighting from his war machine and wanting to shake hands with Shirobon), but he was killed by a bolt emitted from his own war machine within which had been hiding their alien mastermind. Afterwards, revived by Bagular, he seems to have forgotten or regretted this action. Plasma Bomber wears a handkerchief/neckerchief around his neck and has a lightning bolt attached to his helmet which seems to be able to create electric currents. "
Plasma" refers to the fourth state of matter, plasma.
A huge bomber who is the strength of the Crush Bombers and his signature weapon is a
mace hand. He appears in
Bomberman Generation only.
Another Beauty Bomber who glaots about her looks and uses three light show/real lasers to attack and defend, she is the symbol of love and beauty of the Crush Bombers. She appears in
Bomberman Generation only.
The speed and wings of the Crush Bombers. He appears in
Bomberman Generation only.
A huge terriorst bomber who is loaded with weapons and is the fire power of the Crush Bombers. He appears in
Bomberman Generation only.
The cape wearing leader of the Crush Bombers and as expected, the strongest. He appears as the semi final Boss of
Bomberman Generation only.
A flame weilding Bomber who was the first Bomber Shitennou seen in action and defeated White Bomber with his own two hands but was over powered then destroyed by White Bomber's new flame based bomb star.
A female water weilding Bomber Shitennou who has a crush on White Bomber but was brought down by him.
A super strong Bomber Shitennou who was asked to join the Jetters but refused and was destroyed by White Bomber.
The Electric weilding final Bomber Shitennou who was destroyed by Max's world famous attack, Hyper Plasma Bomb.
The main villain in many of the games. He looks like a blue and white, large, elderly Bomberman with a bushy white beard, and (in some games) appears to be bigger than Bomberman. Bagular's
monocle and cape are also distinguishing features. He apparently first appeared as the main villain of Bomberman 94 (in which game he attempted to run a comet-disguised ship into Planet Bomber after throwing it into chaos), and went on to appear in Super Bomberman 3, 4, Bomberman Hero, Bomberman Wars, Bomberman World (PSX), and Neo Bomberman, among other games. He appears in the
Bomberman Jetters anime as the mastermind behind the Hige-Hige Gang (though in the GameCube title he is known as "Dr. Mechard"). In the English manual for Super Bomberman 3 Bagular is known as "Bugler" and in the PlayStation game known as Bomberman World "Burglar", which is another possible translation of his Japanese name, as is "Bagura", though his official translation could be "Bugglar" since that name was shown in the credits of Bomberman Fantasy Race in both English and Japanese versions.
A pawn of Bagular, Mujoe is usually in charge of commanding the Hige-Hige Gang's troops in the Bomberman Jetters anime. He also summons the final boss in Bomberman Generations and is seen as the main antagonist of the game. He resembles a pro wrestler, in that he has blonde hair, a blonde mustache/beard and a strange-looking spandex suit. He also wears shades and a large green cape.
The basic members of the Hige-Hige gang(hints the name). they are very weak so are sometimes seen doing Mujoe's dirty deeds.
Bomberman's trusted ally who likes to do things his own way. He is, however, a villan throughout the Bomberman Jetters anime. Max wears a black suit/droid-like armor with a helmet that resembles
Ultraman. In Jetters, however, he is purely android. Max appears in the later Bomberman games. Max is the main character in Bomberman Max for GBC and Bomberman Max Advanced Red for the GBA, and uses his own set of plasma bombs (which are no different from Bomberman's). Max's disappearance is an important part of the plot of Bomberman Story/Bomberman Tournament, which reveals some of Max's backstory. He has also made an appearance in the game
Bomberman Generation. When Bomberman is in a boss fight and is low on health, he'll appear and aid Bomberman by taking a chunk of the boss' health (exactly one full heart) if Bomberman has collected enough lightning cards. He is also a playable character in the game
Bomberman Jetters. He is similar to Bomberman, but is unable to use charaboms. He can use the
Hyper Plasma Bomb to blow away enemies but this is not effective against bosses.
In his first appearance,
Bomberman 64, he was the subordinate of Altair. He has blue armor that slightly resembles a jet. He wears a large visor completely covering his face. With a personality similar to Black Bomber, he seems more intelligent than the other subordinates(Artemis and Orion). After Bomberman's "friend", Sirius, betrays him, Regulus joins him for the secret final battle. In the sequel Bomberman 64: The Second Attack, Regulus changes from blue to black color and calls himself Bulzeeb. He is also revealed to be the 7th Astral Knight. After Bomberman defeated him in a rematch he reveals that unlike the other 6 Astral Knights, he managed to resist being brainwashed by the God of Chaos. He then promises that they will eventually have another rematch. At the end of the game, he is found defeated by the final boss, and gives Bomberman his remaining energy. He disappears in a sphere caused by a sneak attack of Rukifellth. Bulzeeb is resurrected and grateful later on, but still wants to finish his rivalry with Bomberman one day. In the ending, when he is referred to as Bulzeeb, he corrects them and says that his true name is Regulus, and he is the 7th Elemental Knight. Reassuring his respect for Bomberman, he leaves with the Shadow Stone. He has not appeared in any game since. The name "Regulus" like the other bosses in Bomberman 64 is derived from star constallations while "Bulzeeb" is probably derived from
Beelzebub which in Christian demonology is another name for Lucifer or Satan, and in Jewish demonology is a fly-like demon.
Strangely, in Bomberman 64 he didn't have any shadow-based powers, but he`s in a snow area (which doesn`t necessarily mean that he has snow-ice powers).
Orion(Hout in Japan) is one of the subordinates of the Emperor Altair. His base of operations is an active volcano. He is one of the few bombers in the game that will actively seek to knock Bomberman unconscious, pick up his stunned body, and toss him off the edge. This is dangerous for Bomberman since he has a shield ability which will knock him out if he walks inside the barrier radius. After he defeats him, he does not die, but rather leaves like Regulus. Instead of flying away, though, Orion blows himself up and uses the blast to get away from the fight. (One may believe he blows up but if you look closely you will see him flying up in the air as he starts screaming.) Orion comes back during the boss battle controlling the mobile-suit Hades, which he modified from a mining robot, but presumeably dies when Hades is defeated and sinks into molten lava with it.
Artemis(Kapera in Japan) is the only bomber under Altair's leadership that actually dies the first time she is defeated. Upon being beaten, Artemis shorts out and blows up. Artemis uses a tri-shot flame technique which is effective at a distance, but useless if Bomberman rushes her.
From the beginning, Altair is acknowledged as the main villain, and he keeps that title until the true ending is unlocked. Altair is dressed in purple and black armor. He has a small droid that shoots a laser beam capable of vaporizing any matter it hits. Altair uses the droid as a distraction in the "final" battle and fuses with it once the first stage of the fight is over. After fusion he gains more power and the ability to shoot a slashing energy wave at Bomberman.
At the beginning of Bomberman 64 Sirius confronts Bomberman telling him that Altair killed his family and he wishes to help Bomberman in return for revenge. Sirius tests Bomberman's skills in the second level of the first world. He is the only bomber that will pump up a bomb and toss it at Bomberman. He takes it easy on Bomberman and flies away as soon as he's had enough.
Sirius, however, is the true villain of the game. There are two different endings to Altair's fight. The first is the one where Altair no longer has enough power to fight. Regulus picks him and flies him out of the fortress. In the true ending, however, Sirius ambushes Regulus and knocks him into a bottomless pit. Sirius then takes the Omni Cube from Altair, destroying him in doing so, and then gloats to Bomberman that Sirius had been manipulating him into leading him to the Omni Cube by encouraging him and telling him fake stories.
In the final stage of the game, Bomberman fights Sirius in a two-part battle, receiving the aid of Regulus in the second part of the fight. After being defeated, Sirius explodes. If you play again a battle or stage that Sirius is in, he will present as a robot of himself that has green eyes and words.
Mighty is Bomberman's brother and bears a striking resemblance to Bomberman, he is the main character in Bomberman Jetters for GameBoy Advance. Mighty has a silver visor covering his right eye, wears a red cape and has slightly thicker eyebrows and has fingers, but those are the only major differences between him and Bomberman. The two also have a very close relationship. He has made few appearances in the games, and died during a mission. Mighty is an unlockable character in Bomberman Jetters; after collecting all cards of a certain color, he can be played in "Versus" mode.
A scientest who assists Bomberman in a lot of games and later on founded and assisted the Jetters. He has a crush on White Bomber and Mighty's Grand Mother, Momo.
A very swift and powerful Bomber who lives with her Grand Sons, White Bomber and Mighty.
Shout is the bad mouthed only female of the Jetters. After Fire Bomber's deafeat and demise Shout became the leader of the Jetters and as her first act of leadership she welcomed White Bomber who had left the Jetters back on the team. Shout picks on White Bomber but she seems to have a secret crush on him.
Nitros was a former Bomber Base guard until Bagular brainwashed him so that he would gather the gold disks that could revive Bagular. Nitros attacks using red bombs and special floor panels which can give him the power to use energy strikes. After one battle, Bomberman manages to free Nitros from Bagular's control. In
Bomberman Hero he appears on every level. Each level he becomes more powerful and acquires new weaponry like flying discs, fire spouts, and electronic shields.
A robot created by Dr.Ein. He is a uniqe robot that weilds gizmoes in his body to assist the Jetters.
A large creater who is the muscle of the Jetters.
A very cool guy who is on Mighty's team and is one of his greatest friends.
Charaboms resemble
Pokémon, and they often help Bomberman progress in the story. The most famous of these Charaboms is Pommy, who looks like a combination of
Kirby and
Pikachu. Pommy has been Bomberman's sidekick ever since Bomberman 64: The Second Attack. He is capable of shooting lightning and taking on many different forms, such as Pommy Dragon when merged with Pseradon (or, in the earlier games, fed the right food), he looks like an all red earless stubby tailed
Gigimon with wings, he also makes a short cameo in the
Bomberman Jetters anime. Pommy has appeared in every Bomberman game that involved Charaboms. There are a variety of other Charaboms, each classified by element (fire, earth, thunder/lightning, water, etc.). Charaboms fight using a skill set (attack, special, guard) in any order. The battle then plays out as in a Pokémon game, with effective attacks, less effective attacks, Defense, Offense, and HP. Charaboms can be merged (given that they are of different types) into stronger Charaboms with new abilities (combinations of the abilities of the two Charaboms that were merged) that can help Bomberman in the game.
In Bomberman Jetters, all of the charaboms can evolve three times, which increases the resemblance to Pokémon.
Louie is a green, kangaroo-like animal with rabbit ears who helps Bomberman by letting him ride on his back. Louie ISN'T a Charabom, but a member of his own species. His most recent game appearances were in Hero, Fantasy Race, Tournament, and the opening scene of Jetters.
A Bomber who wields extreme speed and power and wears a cloke and beares resemblence to Max and is also a mysterious character. He is partners with a girl named Misty.
Misty is a short tempered girl like Shout. She is partners with Bomber Zero.
See also
List of Bomberman games
External links
Computer and video game franchises | Video game mascots | Computer and video game protagonists | Bomberman
Bomberman | Bomberman | ボンバーマン
Related Topics:
"Bomberman"