Bomberman Story

The premise to this 'explosive' adventure is simply that Dr. Ein's boss, Wolfemann, has informed him that the nefarious Professor Xeal has stolen some very important information and the Justice Department are on the case to retrieve the documentation, along with data on something called 'The Shining Bomb'. In order to aid the chase, Cheerful White's services are enlisted and that is where the player steps in. Several months later, on the outskirts of the galaxy, Cheerful White is being introduced to Heath, leader of the Justice Department team on the Fifth Moon spaceship and told his help is required to find kidnapped individuals. To help flesh out the story even more, other characters are brought into the fold, such as Janduke, Ashel LeBlanc, Kaluza and Fab the Robot, all of whom come into play at various stages of the game, before Dr. Ein takes over and kicks things off. And so the adventure begins...

Bomberman games have never been about the visuals, and this seems to be no more apparent than in Bomberman Story, as the whole game is simplified and certainly not what you would expect from the DS considering what has been achieved with the platform lately on the graphics front. Everything is bright, breezy and colourful, with some wacky character design, but nothing in particular stands out and slaps you in the face. However, the clean, crisp sprites and varied locations on offer have a striking sense of charm that you cannot help but like. Fans of SNES and GBA RPGs will probably find they are quite taken by the game's style. In addition, there is no slowdown during traditional Bomberman battles, which is obviously a vital point! As for the music, it definitely harks back to the chirpy MIDI days of the SNES in a charming way, with plenty of light-hearted tunes that prove to be extremely inoffensive, yet remarkably forgettable in some instances. However, the more you get into the game, it is pleasing to find the main adventuring sections have some excellent music that is both peaceful and melodic in nature and the soundtrack ends up developing into something truly spectacular the more you play.

 

Following the introductory story sequence, Dr. Ein lets players try out Cheerful White's moves in a quick training session that is a blessing for those not sure what to expect from a Bomberman RPG. The touch-screen is used for menus only, with the d-pad and face buttons being the main source of controls. Players can freely move Bomberman around using the d-pad and drop a bomb using A. It is imperative to remember to move away once a bomb has been placed, as the blast radiates from the explosive epicentre, rather than in a four-way direction like in the battle mode. Each time an enemy is despatched, experience is gained, going towards the running total that eventually leads to your character levelling-up and growing stronger over time. Pressing A twice in quick succession and holding it leads to a bomb being dropped and then held above head height until A is let go, at which point it is thrown, whilst X works as a by-pass for this, merely flinging bombs straight away to allow distance kills. This throwing ability works wonders as hitting an enemy from distance stuns them, normally until the bomb has detonated, thus avoiding the threat of losing precious hearts.

 

When it comes to combat, there is not just the one standard bomb either, thankfully, with six different coloured ones, each producing a varied effect (such as the yellows that lure enemies closer before exploding, reds that explode into fire balls that shoot out in four directions, or blue ones that can pile four bombs on top of each other for a massive explosion). Combination moves can be used as well. Using the yellow 'Bait Bomb' as an example (these are the weaker variety of bombs), a clever tactic is to use the weak Bait Bomb to lure several enemies to one point, and then blast them together with a regular bomb from distance to bump up the amount of experience gained. Obviously there are plenty of recovery items available as well, plus chests that hold special bombs, plus enemies drop stuff all the time, meaning there is never a major shortage of items in your inventory. As well as simply adventuring, there are smatterings of mini-games throughout, such as an early one whereby you use the touch-screen to throw bombs at logs floating down a river in order to spin them round and form a bridge for Bomberman to cross. These little changes of pace really help keep enjoyment levels high and provide a much-needed break from the main game. Others include simple tasks like throwing the coloured bombs onto corresponding coloured moving plates or attempting to throw bombs into a basket whilst being spun round on a rotating platform and avoiding falling off. Some of these mini-games come into play when working your way through dungeons as well, as in order to go from floor to floor, Cheerful White will have to complete special tasks such as despatching a large amount of enemies or balancing out a set of scales using different weighted bombs.

 

For those thinking that the bombing element is all that remains of the Bomberman world, fear not as all the icons from past games are back, meaning that you can increase the radius of bomb blasts, gain the kick ability, so bombs can be booted long distances, as well as pick up speed boosts or even the annoying icons that slow you down. Hudson has transplanted everything you know and love from the franchise into a highly enjoyable action RPG format. Whilst wandering round the outside world or within the various dungeons on offer, blowing up blocks along the way will help let you accrue a wide selection of useful goodies for the journey. And because of the plentiful supply of health and statistic boosting items on offer, no doubt veteran gamers will be able to breeze through to the end without too much hassle at all. In addition to the aid items dotted around, the fact that there are save points on basically every new screen to encourage gamers to record their progress as often as possible will mean that should you ever face the unlikely situation of death, the game does not particularly punish the gamer too badly. On the whole, though, Bomberman Story turns out to be a real shocker, proving to be a damn fine game and one that not only Bomberman aficionados try out, but casual RPG fans as well.