Bomberman
Bomberman is a series of video games created by Hudson Soft, now owned by Konami, and still has many games released to this day.
A cosplay of Bomberman, holding a skull item.
Bomberman is also the name of the character himself, who is the subject of the games. Most of these games revolve around him escaping a maze or solving a puzzle using bombs, defeating enemies, and reaching the end goal, whether a door or a solved puzzle.
Bomberman is also known for its multiplayer mode, in which anywhere from 2 to 64 players can fight to the death to determine the winner. One wins when they are the last one standing. Collectible items have multiple effects, from increasing maximum bombs at once, to increasing explosion range of bombs, to even applying a negative effect to the player, like causing them to spin rapidly or throw bombs endlessly, usually resulting in the players death.
Only a few games have strayed from the simple 2d formula, with good examples being the Nintendo 64 games, in which Bomberman was played in 3rd person, and used bombs to solve puzzles like unlocking waterways and opening gates.
List of Bomberman games
| Title | Year | Platforms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bomberman | 1983 | MSX, ZX Spectrum, Sharp MZ-700 | MSX-only release in Japan, release for both systems in Europe as Eric and the Floaters.[1] |
| 3-D Bomberman | 1984 | MSX | Uses first-person perspective. Japan-only release.[2] |
| Bomberman |  1985,  1987 |
NES | Game Boy Advance re-release in 2004. |
| Bomber Man Special | 1986 | MSX | Information:[3] |
| Dyna Blaster | 1990, 1991 |
TurboGrafx-16, Amiga, Atari ST, PC (DOS) | Released as Bomberman only for the TG-16 release, which was the first Bomberman release to support 5 players. First Bomberman game for the IBM-PC. |
| Atomic Punk | 1991 | Game Boy | Known as Bomber Boy in Japan, Dyna Blaster in Europe |
| Bomberman II | 1991, 1992 |
NES | |
| Bomberman '93 | 1992, 1993 |
TurboGrafx-16 | |
| Bomberman | 1993 | Sega Genesis | Factor 5/Hudson Soft. Unreleased.
This is the original Bomberman game for the Genesis. Factor 5 was asked to do a Genesis port of Bomberman and came up with this 8-player version that used multiple joystick port adaptors. |
| Bomberman '94 | 1993 | PC Engine, Sega Genesis | Japan-only release for PCE, released in 1994 for the Genesis as Mega Bomberman, 5-player multitap support. |
| Bomberman B-Daman | ? | SNES | Japan-only, part of the B-Daman series. Box art:[4] Archived 2006-11-20 at the Wayback Machine |
| Hi-Ten Bomberman | Unreleased | custom NEC computer | Made for high-definition, widescreen TVs, but never released. Only shown as a tech demo at the 1993 Hudson Soft Gaming Caravan event and said to be the basis for Saturn Bomberman.[5] Archived 2008-07-24 at the Wayback Machine |
| Super Bomberman | 1993 | SNES | 4-player multitap support. |
| Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman! | 1994 | Game Boy | Known as Bomberman GB in Japan. |
| Super Bomberman 2 | 1994 | SNES | |
| Panic Bomber | 1994, 1995 | Neo-Geo, Virtual Boy | Puzzle game resembling Tetris. VB version is a port of the Neo-Geo release. Info:[6] |
| Super Bomberman 3 | 1995 | SNES | 5-player multitap support, Japan and Europe release only. |
| Bomberman GB 2 | 1995 | Game Boy | Known as Bomberman GB in North America. |
| Super Bomberman 4 | 1996 | SNES | Japan-only release |
| Saturn Bomberman | 1996 | Sega Saturn | 10-player multitap support. First Bomberman game with official internet support. Regarded as one of the series' highpoints. |
| Atomic Bomberman | 1996 | PC (Windows) | 10-player support through IPX networking. First Bomberman title for Windows, developed by Interplay. |
| Bomberman GB 3 | 1996 | Game Boy | Japan-only release |
| Super Bomberman 5 | 1997 | SNES | Japan-only release |
| Bomberman Handheld LCD Game | 1997 | Specialized handheld | Japan exclusive, played on a special, white, egg shaped Bomberman handheld. |
| Saturn Bomberman Fight!! | 1997 | Sega Saturn | |
| Neo Bomberman | 1997 | Neo-Geo MVS | |
| Bomberman 64 | 1997 | N64 | 4-player support, first Bomberman game with 3D graphics. |
| Bomberman Hero | 1998 | N64 | Focus on single-player adventure game. |
| Pocket Bomberman | 1998 | Game Boy, Game Boy Color | GBC release only in the US |
| Bomberman 64: The Second Attack | 2000 | N64 | First appearance of Pommy, one of the Charaboms. |
| Bomberman World | 1998 | PlayStation | |
| Bomberman Quest | 1999 | Game Boy Color | Role-playing game. Info:[7] |
| Bomberman Land | 2000 | PlayStation | Japan-only release |
| Bomberman Max | 2000 | Game Boy Color | Released in two variants, Red Challenger and Blue Champion editions. |
| Bomberman Party Edition | 2000 | PlayStation | A PlayStation port of the game. |
| Bomberman 64 | 2001 (Japan only) | N64 | 4-player support (not related to the 1997 title of the same name) |
| Bomberman Tournament | 2001 | Game Boy Advance | 4-player support |
| Bomberman Online | 2001 | Sega Dreamcast | 4-player local, 8-player online support. |
| Bomberman Jetters | 2002 | Nintendo GameCube, PlayStation 2 | PS2 release was Japan-only.[8] Archived 2009-01-14 at the Wayback Machine[9] Archived 2008-06-11 at the Wayback Machine Based on the Bomberman Jetters anime series. |
| Bomberman Max 2 | 2002 | Game Boy Advance | Released in two variants, Blue Advance and Red Advance. |
| Bomberman Generation | 2002 | GameCube | One of the first games to employ cel-shaded graphics. |
| Bomberman Jetters | 2002 | Game Boy Advance | Japan-only release. Inspired an anime series, Bomberman Jetters. |
| Bomberman | 2003 | Mobile phones | Info:[10] Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine |
| Online Bomberman | 2003 | PC | 6-player support, released only in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. |
| Bomberman Collection | 2003 | PC | Compilation of Bomberman (TG-16), Bomberman '93 and Bomberman World for Windows.[11] |
| Bomberman Land 2 | 2003 | GameCube, PlayStation 2 | Japan-only release |
| Bomberman | 2004 | N-Gage | |
| Bomberman Special | 2004 | Mobile phones | Info:[12] |
| Super Bomberman | ? | Mobile phones | |
| Bomberman DS | 2005 | Nintendo DS | 8-player support over wireless play, but no internet Wi-Fi support. |
| Bomberman Land 3 | 2005 | PlayStation 2 | Japan-only release |
| Hudson Best Collection Vol. 1 - Bomberman Collection | 2005 | Game Boy Advance | Compilation title of the first two NES Bomberman games. Japan-only release. |
| Bomberman: Act Zero | 2006 | Xbox 360 | Realistic re-envisioning of the character. |
| Bomberman: Bakufuu Sentai Bombermen | 2006 | PlayStation Portable | Japan-only release |
| Bomberman (PSP) | September 2006 | PlayStation Portable | 4-player support over wireless play. North America. |
| Bomberman Land Touch! | November 2006 | Nintendo DS | 8-player support over wireless play, 4-player internet Wi-Fi. |
| Bomberman Land (Wii) | 2007 | Wii | Series of minigames designed to take advantage of the Wii controller. |
| Bomberman Live | 2007 | Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade) | 8-player online support. |
| Bomberman Story DS | March 2007 | Nintendo DS | |
| Bomberman Land (PSP) | March 2007 | PlayStation Portable | |
| Bomberman | December 2007 | 5th Generation iPod Video, 6th Generation iPod Classic, 3rd Generation iPod Nano | |
| Gachapin☆Bomberman Archived 2007-12-13 at the Wayback Machine | 2007 | i-mode | A Bomberman game using Gachapin characters |
| Bomberman Land Touch! 2 | January 2008 | Nintendo DS | |
| Bomberman Touch - The Legend of the Mystic Bomb | May 2008 | iPhone / iPod Touch | |
| Bomberman 2 (Nintendo DS) | December 2008 | Nintendo DS | Not to be confused with the Nintendo Entertainment System title by the same name. This game did not have a North American release. |
| Bomberman Blast | 2008 | Wii, WiiWare | One of the first games announced for WiiWare. Will also be released as an expanded retail game. |
Spinoffs
| Title | Year | Platforms | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Robowarrior | 1987 | Famicom | Released in Japan under the title Bomber King. Bomberman-Like Progressive Adventure Game. |
| Blaster Master Boy/Jr. | 1991 | Game Boy | Bomber King: Scenario 2. Slightly altered and released by Sunsoft in America and PAL regions under the Blaster Master license. |
| Bomberman Wars | 1998 | PlayStation, Sega Saturn | Japan-only release. Strategy RPG. |
| Bomberman Fantasy Race | 1999 | PlayStation | Racing game |
| Bomberman Party Edition | 2000 | PlayStation | Enhanced remake of the NES version of Bomberman. It also has Battle Game. |
| Bomberman Kart | 2001 | PlayStation 2 | Released only in Japan and PAL regions. Kart racing game. |
| BoBomberman | 2004 | Game Boy Advance | Minigame based on the NES version of Bomberman, but using characters from the Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo series. Unlocked in the Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo GBA game, Bakutou Hajike Taisen. |
| Bomberman Hardball | 2005 | PlayStation 2 | Released only in Japan and PAL regions. Sports and party game. |
| Bomberman: Panic Bomber | 2005 | PlayStation Portable | Puzzle game, similar to Puyo Puyo and Tetris. |
Coin-ops
| Title | Year | Platform | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| BomberMan/Dyna Blaster/Atomic Punk | 1991 | Arcade | |
| BomberMan World/New Atomic Punk | 1992 | Arcade | |
| Panic Bomber | 1994 | NeoGeo | |
| Neo Bomberman | 1997 | NeoGeo |