GBAtemp game of the week- #35

[FAST6191]

GBAtemp book game club time once more. The series concept is to suggest a game or a handful each edition and then others get to play and discuss it.
The suggestions are made using a whole bunch of criteria but we do wish to note that we do not intend this to be a simple top ? games list as those are otherwise readily available (a trip down to your chosen search engine should net you several examples in general, by genre, by release date and so forth). Of course we like quality games but should something else like it sporting a nice mechanic or play style make it worth a look then it can appear in this series.
Although not explicitly limited to them the selections will usually draw from the consoles we traditionally covered around here and although each of those is drawing to a close if they had not already long had new game releases cease each has a growing library of rom hacks, homebrew and otherwise on top of the extensive commercial release library which should allow this series to continue for quite a while. Much like reasoning behind the dismissal of quality (or worse review scores) there are times where we attempt to mix things up by adding in additional criteria (something available for next to nothing right now, something available only in a small run, only available in Europe....) for selection or by doing something like a compare and contrast for several games of a similar genre or posing a certain game challenge.

#35- Bomberman 2 (NDS)

With Hudson soft set to be absorbed completely into Konami we decided to shine a light on a Japan and Europe exclusive bomberman title in Bomberman 2 DS (Custom Battler Bomberman in Japan). Much like many early classic games there was something of a quality/focus slide in recent years for console bomberman (especially the ones to leave Japan) arguably reaching a peak with the widely panned Bomberman act zero although the handhelds and likes of XBLA and PSN did their part and kept the dream alive. The first Bomberman on the DS was released well within the first year of the DS (and very shortly after the launch in North America and Europe) and was noted as a top notch entry into the bomberman series and an early must have on the DS. Bomberman 2 never made it to North America and is somewhat different from the rest of the series (for one the bomberman characters are quite tall now and it has a distinctly more sci fi theme than earlier games along with a surprisingly functional RPG elements) but at the same time it brings it right back to what made the saturn, PCE and 16 bit editions of bomberman such classics with a tight single player and an incredibly customisable multiplayer (classic PCE style right through to some very interesting modes are available). Although it can not be said to have fallen by the wayside unlike some of the handheld GBA titles it might not be one of the bomberman titles immediately thought of when people think of DS bomberman which we do not agree with.

Gameplay trailer

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GBAtemp release thread[/p]

Gah these tall bombermans do not know what they are on about or did Hudson soft miss a(nother) step here in not releasing it in North America? Discuss it in the thread below.[/p]

gbagotw should get you other links in this series

 

[RupeeClock]

This game didn't get the attention it deserved, I freaking LOVED playing this with the rumble pak plugged in (EZ Flash 3in1)
Starts slow, but the customisation takes the game very far!

With a slew of bad games that tarnished the franchise in recent years, namely a lot of party minigame crap, this was simply the best in ages and will always be my favourite Bomberman title.

 

[DarkCoffe64]

I did have this game, finished it, but I din't really like it. Maybe because I had no one to play with.
But, still, the game isn't bad. Although, there's one thing that I don't like... The tall bomberman characters design.
Why change them like this? I liked them better when they where smaller. Luckily, Hudson din't stick with this design...
And, yeah, the customization was really good. That's one part that I liked about the game.

 

[DS1]

I loved this, it's by far the only Bomberman game I've ever finished, and I went back to collect all the parts, too! I was unaware that they actually released it outside of Japan.

 

[Ultymoo]

This was one of the best Bombermans I've played in years. The customization system is what made it for me, being able to pimp Bomberman out to nigh unstoppable levels is too much fun.