I’m sure lots of us here have played a Bomberman or two over the years. The inclusion of '93 and '94 on the PCE Mini got me thinking about the series and how I felt the original Super Bomberman was the best game in the series for Battle Mode. But, I don’t really have any business saying that because it’s literally the only one i’ve played for a significant amount of time!
Super Bomberman 1 - Had it when i was a kid and hired the multi-tap many times! Before i knew anything about the game really, other than it was highly regarded in magazines, I was quite reluctant to buy it - at the time it was $105 AUD! But boy did I get my moneys worth in the end!
Super Bomberman 2 - Hired it I think, and played on emu briefly quite some time ago.
Super Bomberman 3, 4, 5 - Only played these on emu briefly, again quite some time ago.
Bomberman '93 - Got this for the Wii shop channel but ultimately didn’t play it much - the blurry emulation turned me off, and lack of Punch ability was the first time i really considered what it was about Super Bomberman 1 that made it so good for me.
Saturn Bomberman - I have this but i’ve only really played single player. Got it too late (all my friends have gone!) and don’t have the hardware for big multiplayer. I feel like very few people who claim the Saturn version is best, have actually played it in 8p+!
Bomberman Blast (Wii) - I got this after '93 let me down and played it a bit but don’t remember much about it. I think it was serviceable if a little slow?
But then, there are a tonne more Bomberman games! Here’s a great site with a stack of info on most of them: http://randomhoohaas.flyingomelette.com/bomb/game.html
Looking around, most people seem to prefer the PCE, Super or Saturn versions, or one of the much later games you could play online. But i’m interested to hear the real reasons why people prefer one game’s battle mode over another, from people who have sunk decent time into them! Even just between the 5 Super games, the available items vary quite a lot. Things are removed, added back, or return in different forms like the rideable creatures.
For me, as I mentioned before, the Punch ability which can pin down people and be tricky to avoid because of screen wrap was a key item that I really enjoyed having. Plus, i like the freedom the Remote Bomb item gives as well. Super Bomberman 2 replaced the Punch with the Glove, but it’s not quite the same. Saturn Bomberman doesn’t have Remote Bombs but has several other unique items. Super Bomberman 4 has a stupid amount of rideable creatures, some of which are functionally equivalent of just getting an item - It seems like it’d be too much to take in! '94 doesn’t seem to have the speed-up item in battle mode - to me that seems like a killer exclusion, but am i wrong?!
There’s a perfectly balanced and most fun item set there somewhere, but which game has it?
Is it best to have very few items like the earlier games or the kitchen sink like the later ones?
I think I want to track down a copy of Super 3 and 5, then really give them a proper go, and compare them with '94 when I get the PCE Mini.
Interested to hear everyone’s thoughts!