Preview: Bomberman Generation
Posted 19 Nov 2002 at 06:53 by Nathan
In Bomberman Generations gamers take control of the little cel-shaded character know as Bomberman. The game is being developed using the cel-shading technique. In Bomberman gamers navigate Bomberman throughout a huge world blowing up trees, rocks, and anything else that blocks your path. There are a total of five different worlds with sixteen different areas to explore. Fight enormous boss battles and also play your friends in a four-player battle mode. And mock your friends who have Xbox's and PS2's cause Sega has made Bomberman an exclusive to the Gamecube.
Although the game is cel-shaded, do not stray away from this title. Bomberman fits perfect into this cartoony form and is without a doubt one of the best party games. Bomberman must save the world from the hands of evil. Supposedly someone very evil got a hold of a powerful element and is now capable of taking over the world but not with Bomberman standing in the way. Bomberman may seem to many as a childish game but some of the puzzles are going to be quite difficult. Puzzles vary from knocking down trees so you can pass over a river or even damming river to alter the flow of water. Bomberman is equipped with bombs of course and these serve purpose to blow new paths, help fight creatures, and solving puzzles. Now blowing up stuff you think may sound boring but throughout your adventure you will get power-ups such as roller-skates and super bombs. Later in the game it will be possible to fuse different elements into your bombs such as water, fire, wind, or light to create a different kind of explosion that may help you solve puzzles. You can also enlarge you bombs to make an even bigger explosion that is essential for you to beat the game. Huge boulders can be shattered using this technique. Although I am not for sure how "enlarge" your bombs I am pretty sure you fuse bombs together to do it.
The bosses in Bomberman vary from charging elephants to crazy creatures that possess chains on the top of their head to whip at Bomberman to keep him in a safe distance. Although the elephant doesn't seem like he would be a very hard boss to defeat, he does make you think how to. Of course the bosses get much more difficult as the gamer gets farther in his adventure. Fighting bosses can be a bit of a pain because Bomberman runs in an up-down view much like the older Zelda game and you must use the Gamecube's L and R buttons to shift you camera around because the creatures at Hudson haven't installed a automatic camera yet. Hopefully they will install it before the release of Bomberman, which is supposed to be sometime in May of 2002 for America.
The multiplayer battle mode can consist of four players battling at once. One area that was shown by Hudson was a field of grass. You could hide bombs under the grass and no one could see that they were hidden there until they walk over one. But if you use a destructive bomb with a fuse it will burn the grass showing where the bomb is at shattering the element of surprise on your enemy. You can find a power-up in battle mode known as "Super Bomb" which enables the explosion to go in a sphere shape unlike other bombs that blow up in a 2D form. You cannot hide behind anything because the "Super Bomb" will just shatter everything in its path including the enemy. You really have to put on the gas when you see your opponent set out a "Super Bomb" because they have a very high attack range. Of course battle mode is not the only thing Hudson put in Bomberman, there are modes where you get in a hovercraft and shoot cannonballs out these burrowing creatures that burrow in and out of the ground. You have a certain amount of time to do it in and ever how many you hit the computer adds up your points and then it is your friend's turn.
Sadly the game is going to be released to soon to run on the Gamecube's online system that Nintendo announced May 13th. The Dreamcast version was able to go online and it pitted you playing battle mode against people from all over the world. Maybe Hudson will bring us another addition of Bomberman later in the future and that one will have some online capabilities. But without online capabilities the game is still going to be a blast.
Hudson has created a world that shines in color. Everything is high in color and the game has hardly, if any dull colors in it. Of course it uses the cel-shading that Nintendo is using on Legend of Zelda but cel-shading should not run you away from this title. The game is absolutely fitted for cel-shading, this game really proves to gamers that cel-shading can be a good thing as long as it is used in the right genres. Textures are nicely colored and the game just puts you in a happy mood with all of it's colors. It is surely one of the most colorful games out for every system up to date and hopefully it won't just be colorful. Hopefully it will have some deep gameplay mechanics.
Outlook:
Although I haven't played Bomberman Online for the Dreamcast I have heard many great things about it. The graphics are perfectly matched with what you would think the game would be and the cel-shading makes it even greater. This is not a game that I am planning on going out and buying but I guarantee I will be one of the first ones to rent it at my local Blockbuster. Bomberman Generations earns a solid 7/10 on my anticipation list. Look for Bomberman Generations in Europe hopefully sometime in mid 2002. Keep checking Cube-Europe for the latest news on Bomberman and anything else.