Gamers from around the world love
the Bomberman franchise. This series has been accessible on nearly every single
console that has been released. The reason for this love is the simple, yet
highly addicting, gameplay. Players take a bomb, break out of their “brick
prison,” obtain upgrades, and try to trap other players with their highly potent
bombs. To fully immerse players in the game even more, they can customize their
characters with different outfits that are hilarious to see while playing. It is
this personalization and addictive gameplay that helped make this franchise a
favorite among many.
Throughout the years, the developers
have been trying to expand the single-player mode to make it more engaging and
addicting. Even though there have been several new additions, sadly the
developers haven’t been able to capture the magic contained in “classic”
Bomberman gameplay. Hopping to change that, the developers have released the
first Bomberman game on the Nintendo Wii entitled Bomberman Land.
When first loading Bomberman Land,
gamers will have three game modes to participate in: Attraction, Story, and
Battle. Attraction mode is where players can play any of the mini games that
they have already unlocked in the Story mode with up to four players. In story
mode, the main goal is to become champion of Bomberman Land by getting the
highest ranking in the five different zones (ring, delta, diamond, star, and
energy). In order to advance between each zone, players must purchase different
licenses as well as winning ranked battles. While in this mode, players have the
option to wander around the island, shop for new outfits, play attractions
(mini-games), and train for the various events to go to the next zone.
Interesting mini-game..
One of the worst things about the
story mode is that it takes forever to actually get to play the game. When the
game is first loaded, players will be bombarded with numerous (non-skip-able and
slow) text boxes that tells the story. Players will then be moved from various
places, but will still be forced to read even more text boxes. What makes this
even worse is the story is extremely generic, so this reading these text boxes
proves to be pure torture for the players. Once players finally get to control
their characters they will find out that most of this game mode is about various
mini-games that are very generic and boring to play, there is no real
“Bomberman” action to be found.
Honestly the real meat of this game,
and the only reason many people will want to own it, is the Battle mode. Up to
four players can complete in “classic Bomberman” action. There are numerous
scenarios that players can choose from such as: normal, star, point, crown,
all-out, and Wii. The normal mode is the standard Bomberman game that players
know and love. Star mode is where players collect star panels. The person with
the most star panels wins. Point is where players collect points by defeating
their opponents – the most at the end wins. In crown, the first person to get
to, and touch the crown (that is hidden in the level) wins. All-Out is a random
battle and special rules are enforced. Wii mode is where players throw bombs
(using the Wii-mote) to the spot it points to, trying to take out the other
players. This mode is worth the cost of the package, especially if players do
not have any other classic Bomberman games available to play.
So much fun!
The unlockables for this game will
keep players occupied for a while. As always, players will be able to unlock a
wide variety of costumes for their characters to wear. It is always enjoyable to
see what new costumes have been unlocked for players to use to personalize their
own character. Also there are numerous mini-games for players to find and try to
beat. It is a shame that most of the mini-games are very generic and not that
fun to play.
The graphics for this game are
decent, but the Nintendo Wii is capable of more than what is offered. The only
emotion that players will get is through the characters eyes and mouths, and it
really isn’t even that good. Basically, the entire game is not that detailed and
doesn’t “pop” as much as it should. To add insult to injury the sound effects
and music to this game are horrid. The sound effects used are beyond annoying,
and the music will grate on player’s nerves as well. Players will want to mute
this game immediately if they value their ear drums.
Bomberman Land is rated for
everyone.
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Gameplay: 5.0
The classic Bomberman remains really fun to play, but the new
single-player adventure mode is not as fun as it can be. Players will find
themselves playing the classic mode then the adventure mode, and that should
worry the developers.
Graphics: 6.5
The developers can do much better than this. While the classic
Bomberman looks great, the rest of the game suffers from “could have looked
better” syndrome. The Wii is capable of much more then what this game provides.
Sound: 3.3
The sound effects and music are just horrible.
Difficulty: Easy
Gamers will not find any challenge here.
Concept: 5.1
The game really doesn’t offer anything new to the franchise, it has a
very “been there, done that” feeling to it.
Multiplayer 5.9
Up to four gamers can play together, although not having true online
mode really hurts.
Overall: 5.9
I love the classic Bomberman in this game; in fact that is about the
only thing I like about this game. The new content of this game is boring and
not worth the price of admittance. If you are dying for a Bomberman game for
your system, then check this game out; otherwise this game is best left as a
rental.
