Hudson Soft 1987

Action

NES

Single Player

 

Bomberman

Bomberman is a robot engaged in the production of bombs. Like his fellow robots, he had been put to work in an underground compound at the center of the Earth. Bomberman found it to be an unbearably dreadful existence. One day he learned that any robot escaping from the center of the Earth and make it to the surface will become a human. Bomberman jumped at the opportunity. Alerted to Bomberman's betrayal, large numbers of enemy characters were sent in pursuit. Bomberman can only rely on bombs of his own production for his defense. Will bomberman ever make it to the surface? Once there, will he really become human?

Bombs can be placed on any open spot and will begin their countdown to detonation. The blast will travel in all 4 directions, destroying any enemies and bricks in range. Bricks can be destroyed by bombs and may reveal hidden Power-Ups and Exitways. Destroying bricks also opens new paths to the other side of the stage. Unlike bricks, concrete blocks can't be destroyed by bombs. Because of this, they can be used as shelter from your own blasts, especially once Power-Ups increase its range. Exitways will take you to the next level, but only after defeating all enemies. You will want to find this as soon as possible to make your escape before the timer runs out. You will enter a bonus area every 5 stages. The goal is to defeat as many enemies as possible in the time given. Bomberman can't be hurt by anything here so don't hold back. Bomb explosions can detonate other bombs in its range. You can set them up to trigger like dominoes but you can also get caught in the blast if you aren't careful. There are 50 stages in total, excluding bonus areas. Once complete, you can continue playing with all of your collected Power-Ups.

When you start, Bomberman will be very slow and can only set one small-range bomb at a time. Every stage will have a Power-Up hidden somewhere under bricks that will make you much stronger: Bomb Up Increases the number of bombs you can set down (Up to 10) Fire Up Increases the blast radius of your bombs in all 4 directions by one tile (Up to 10) Speed Up Increases Bomberman's movement speed; only found in stage 4 Remote Control Bombs can be detonated at any time with the [B] button Bomb Pass Allows Bomberman to walk through placed bombs Wall Pass Allows Bomberman to walk though bombable walls Flame Pass Gives Bomberman immunity to his own bomb blasts Invincibility Can't be hurt by enemies or bombs for 30 seconds If the timer runs out, several enemies will flood into the stage. This sudden influx can easily swarm you and will spell certain death if encountered on early levels. If an Exitway or Power-Up is hit with a bomb, it will release a stream of enemies into the stage. This event is similar to when the timer runs out, so avoid at all costs.

Game Genie Codes

OXVGITSX	Invincible VS Bombs	Game Genie
SXPKAG	Unlimited Lives	Game Genie
AEZKLL	Start With 1 Life	Game Genie
PEZKLU	Start With 10 Lives	Game Genie
AXKKALAP	Start With Double Power Bombs	Game Genie
AUKKALAP	Start With Triple Power Bombs	Game Genie
EEKKALAP	Start With Maximum Power Bombs	Game Genie
NYXKUIEX	Longer Bomb Detonation Time	Game Genie
AYXKUIEZ	Shorter Bomb Detonation Time	Game Genie
XZEGNIVZ PAEKEIGN	Use up to 9 Bombs	Game Genie
OXEKVPSX AESKNKTA	Start With Permanent Remote Controller	Game Genie
GXEKLGSA	Always Keep Remote Controller	Game Genie
SZIGAT	Stop Timer	Game Genie
VYGKGK	Increase Timer	Game Genie
VPGKGG	Decrease Timer	Game Genie

 

Bomberman
Don't let the beginning dissuade you; Bomberman being very weak without power-ups is intentional. Once you collect a few, you’ll understand how the game is truly meant to be played. The power-ups provide significant improvements to Bomberman's capabilities, and they will eventually make him so powerful that it almost feels like you are playing with cheats. Some of them can be real game-changers, especially the Remote Controller, which allows you to detonate bombs on command. This makes losing a life much more devastating — you're back at square one, but now surrounded by tougher enemies.

Attacking in Bomberman is quite indirect. You’ll need to place a bomb and time (or detonate) the explosion for when an enemy enters its range. Strategically placing bombs while avoiding your own blasts can feel like solving a puzzle. Additionally, you can also destroy bricks, allowing you to reshape the stage to better deal with the enemies ahead. However, you’ll soon notice that every stage is structured the same way, with only the brick positions and enemy difficulty changing. Because the layout never changes, the basic strategy will always be the same, only changing with your power-ups.

With its origins as a simple computer game, it's somewhat short on ambition and feels more like a tech demo for what the series eventually evolved into. Unfortunately, it's also a strictly single player game, so unless you're curious about seeing where the franchise began, you may want to move on to Bomberman II.