Bomberman
Video Description
Summary: Bomberman is a robot that produces bombs and wants to become human. Can Bomberman make it to the surface to finally be free?
This is the original Bomberman for the NES, which I’ve never played before. This is technically the third Bomberman game made, with the original being on the computer in 1983, and also known as Eric and the Floaters in Europe. Followed by 3-D Bomberman, which was also for the MSX computer system.
This game was played using the NES emulator, Mesen in RetroArch.
Story
There is no story in the game, until the ending, but the manual and the back of the box has a story that is quite interesting.
Bomberman is a robot that is designed to make bombs. He was made to work at the center of the Earth, and found it to be dreadful. He learned that any robot that escapes the facility and to the surface of Earth can become human. He started to make his way to the surface, avoiding the enemies that started to come after him. He made it to the surface, and became a human.
Gameplay
Control Bomberman in a maze like area where there are enemies and blocks that can be destroyed with a bomb blast. At the start, Bomberman can only lay down one bomb and the explosion radius is very small. The enemies on the first level are also quite easy. In order to win, Bomberman has to destroy all the enemies and find the door, which is hidden somewhere under a block. Each level also has a power-up to enhance his abilities, hidden within a block.
There are 50 levels in total, plus bonus stages, and the game gets harder as it goes along. You start with two lives and the time limit for the stage is 200 seconds, which is extremely tight early on, leaving you just enough time to kill the enemies and find the door and power-up. If you run out of time, a tons of extremely fast enemy come onto the stage. Furthermore if you bomb the exit door or a power-up, enemies will spawn. Completing a level will give you one extra life.
The bonus stages happen after every five stages and is filled with enemies and no destructible blocks. You are also invulnerable so kill as many enemies as possible to get points.
The power-ups are as follows:
- Flames – Increase the range of the blast by one square
- Bombs – Increases the number of bombs you can put down
- Detonator – Detonate the oldest bomb with the press of a button
- Speed – Increases movement speed (only on stage 4)
- Bombpass – Walk through bombs
- Wallpass – Allows for the movement through destructible blocks
- Flamepass – Invulnerable to the bomb blast
- Mystery – Temporary invincibility to enemies and bomb blasts
There are also extremely rare bonus items that can be found on various stages (each stage has a different one that can be collected). Fulfill the condition and you only have eight seconds to collect it. (From The Cutting Room Floor)
- Bonus Target (10,000 points) – Reveal the exit and walk over it before killing any enemies
- Goddess Mask (20,000 points) – Circle the outer ring of the level after killing every enemy in the stage
- Cola Bottle (30,000 points) – Reveal the exit, walk over it, and continue to walk in any direction (do not let go of the D-Pad) for approximately 15 seconds before killing any enemies
- Famicom (500,000 points) – Kill every enemy, then create 248 chain reactions with your bombs
- Nakamoto-san (10,000,000 points) – Kill every enemy without destroying a single wall
- Dezeniman-san (20,000,000 points) – Destroy every wall and bomb the exit three times without killing any enemies
The game relies on a password system for progress. The passwords are also extremely long and inputting it wrong could actually lead to a corrupt stage or grant you different abilities than what you initially had. Furthermore, while there are 50 levels in the main game, the game goes up to 255 levels if you know the passwords.
Graphics
The graphics are barebones and simplistic. The background is green, the edges and tiles are grey, the bombs are black, Bomberman is white, and the enemies vary in color, such as orange, red, and blue.
Sound / Music
There is not much music in the game, and it’s mostly minimalistic. Despite its simplicity, it is actually pretty catchy, even though it’s repetitive and plays for the entire game. The tune does change though once you pickup a power-up. There is a little sound that plays when all the enemies are dead, and a jingle that plays when starting a new stage.
Game Info
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