In Japan, the Bomberman 64 games were called “Baku Bomberman”, so when this compilation of Bomberman games was released in Japan, it was simply called Bomberman 64. To distinguish them, fans have dubbed this as “Arcade” edition. This Bomberman game is a collection of four games.

Bomberman

The main mode is a traditional Bomberman campaign. Blow up all the enemies and find the up and down exits to choose the next stage to progress to. It’s as fun as ever, and also features the classic multiplayer with a few options (although not a massive number of stages). It’s a really good version of classic Bomberman.

Panic Bomber

Panic Bomber is a colour match minigame where you place blocks (consisting of different colour Bomberman heads) to clear lines, and has been released on various consoles, including the Super Famicom and Virtual Boy. This version just features a score attack mode, so no story or multiplayer.

SameGame

SameGame is a puzzle game which originally released in 1985 under the name Chain Shot!. It has no previous association with Bomberman, so its inclusion is a bit random. You click on sets of coloured Bomberman heads to remove them from play, with the main objective to clear as many as you possibly can.

Bomberman Park

Bomberman Park is sort of a port/epilogue to the PS1 game Bomberman Land. It’s set after Bomberman has saved the park, and he has simply returned to have some fun. You get to explore the park (with some areas locked behind needing medals) and take part in a load of minigames. The series has had multiple games throughout the years.

The minigames are all quite simple, but most are also enjoyable. There’s some duds, like sliding jigsaw puzzles and following a ball in a cup (or a bomb in a pipe for this version), but ones like sorting bombs or having to slice targets (and dodge bombs) are a lot of fun.

This was the last N64 game in Japan, and also the best Bomberman game on the system, with a well made classic Bomberman mode and a great selection of extra games.

Great

Remake or remaster?

There’s a finished fan translation that helps with the language issues, although an official English re-release would be nice.

Official Ways to get the game

There is no official way to play Bomberman 64: Arcade Edition.