Bombs Away
The single player mode kicks off with a surprising amount of production value. White and his other colorful Bombermen crash land their plane on an amusement park island in desperate need of assistance. This coincidence proves fortunate, because White, with some help from local resident Mini Bomber, is the only one who can piece the island back together. In doing so they will help the resident amnesiacs regain their memory and open up different parts of the island along the way.
From a gameplay perspective, this process involves moving from point to point on a world map as you talk to residents, acquire items, and play a few minigames as you proceed. On paper it sounds like a relatively simple way to cruise through the Land’s wide collection of minigames, but the execution isn’t quite up to par. The actual gameplay portions are a chore to access, and once you get there half of them aren’t even worth the time you spent trying to find them. For example, most locations are locked until you acquire a certain numbered set piece. Obtaining this set piece involves visiting an unmarked location, talking to whoever is there, and, assuming it’s the right person, participating in an exchange of trial and error banter until you respond correct enough to claim a numbered piece as your reward. With this piece, you can hopefully find the matching location, which allows you to play a minigame. Beating that minigame gives you piece to open up a new area of the map, and from there its rinse and repeat.
Panic Bomber
To put it blatantly, the interfaced is screwed and the pacing is terrible. The over world should serve as a spoon to allow you to access the creamy filling, not a broken down bus you have to drive in circles until you get lucky. Literally, the first time I played the game I didn’t do anything but plow through menus and text boxes for the first twenty minutes. It wasn’t completely awful, the writing is often inspired, but if I’m playing a Bomberman game where I’m not playing actual Bomberman, the substitute should consist of something most reasonable people would find worth their investment. It’s far from broken, but it isn’t necessarily fun either.
Thankfully, not all of the minigames are as void of life as the over world. Standard mingame fare like racing cars, button timing events, and whack a mole are all present and done with moderate success. More obscure games, like Ninjas and Toilet Paper, add a humorous flare to tired gameplay concepts. Regardless of how they’re played, each game is full of traditional Bomberman wackiness and tomfoolery. Some of them are actually quite difficult (if not tedious), but thankfully you can pick up an easy pass along the way, which makes for some fast wins.
The standard classic Bomberman game is presented as an add-on, but in the end it may wind up taking more of your time than the single player adventure. Nearly fifty stage variations are on hand, and all the regular powerups make an appearance. Modes, rules, items, and options are completely customizable, allowing you to switch up the gameplay to your favorite incarnation. Though it’s undergone a slight facelift, it’s the 2D Bomberman we all know and love, so by default the gameplay here is nearly bulletproof. While there’s no ad-hoc mode for this (When, Hudson? WHEN!?), being able to play three of your friend with only one copy of the game is a welcomed feature.
Bomb, Man
And I’d like to say nice things about Bomberman Land, I really would. It’s a harmless and charming title with some goofy humor and ton of heart, but its single player experience is average at best. The interface is frustrating, repetitive, and nearly inaccessible to people willing to invest time in the title. While the battle mode is as stellar as always, part of me wonders when Hudson will stop aping other mascots, ditch the adventure spinoffs, and pull a true next gen Bomberman experience out of the ether. Until then it looks like we’ll have to settle for with yearly experiments like this
