Bomberman (also known as Dyna Blaster in European computer ports) is the first game of the series to be released on the PC Engine console, before Bomberman '93 and Bomberman '94. It is loosely based on the 1985 game, though the inclusion of differently-themed worlds, bosses and multiplayer would make it the basis for later games.
Story
In the future, Dr. Mitsumori developed the second Bomberman unit, Black Bomberman, based on the design of the original and his ability to think and reason for himself. However, there was a programming error. One day, Black Bomberman goes berserk and kidnaps the good doctor's daughter, Lisa, taking her to the top of a Mechanical Castle. Witnessing this crooked event, Bomberman wastes no time to save her by defeating Black Bomberman's army of monsters.
The English manual had a few details not present in the Japanese storyline. It specified that Bomberman was the first robot created by Dr. Mitsumori, and was strictly programmed for justice due to his potential. It also mentions that it takes place hundreds of years from the present.[1]
Gameplay
The goal of every stage is to defeat all the enemies, and then find the Exit, which is hidden beneath a random Soft Block. Bomberman begins with only one bomb and a one-tile blast radius. This instalment pretty much duplicates the formula of the original NES game; a lot of what you see here will be regurgitated information. However, it does introduce new enemies, boss battles, and stages with vertical scrolling.
Each stage contains one power-up item and a set number of enemies. If the item has not yet been found once all enemies have been destroyed, the soft block containing it will flash. The block hiding the Exit has no such luxury, however.
If you bomb the Exit or an item, 8 enemies will spawn from it (and the item will be destroyed - doors can shrug off explosives). Only an enemy from the current round will be spawned.
The player are given 4 minutes to complete each stage. If the timer reaches 0:00, all enemies on the stage will be removed and replaced with 12 Pontans. There are eight rounds with eight stages in each, making for 64 levels; the eighth stage of each round is dedicated to a boss battle, a fight against a foe with advanced tactics and multiple hit-points.
Rounds
There are eight rounds with eight stages each (vice versa in the TG-16 manual):[2]
- Round 1: The Wall
- Round 2: Rocky Mountains
- Round 3: River
- Round 4: Forest
- Round 5: Lava Cave
- Round 6: Inside of the Castle, Part I
- Round 7: Inside of the Castle, Part II
- Round 8: Inside of the Castle (Final Stage)
Multiplayer
Bomberman supports up to 5 players in multiplayer mode. It can't be played against NPCs, and features only one classic stage layout, which includes enemies such as Balloms and Dorias. The items are limited to Bomb Ups and Fire Ups. There is also a Skull mode, in which Skull items are found, with similar detrimental effects to those in other Bomberman multiplayer modes.
Ports and re-releases
Since the PC Engine was not successful in PAL territories, the game was ported to Amiga, Atari ST, and MS-DOS as Dyna Blaster in Europe. A three-player Commodore 64 version was planned but cancelled, presumably in favor of the Commodore Amiga release.[3]
In addition, the game was included in the 4 in 1 Super CD for TurboDuo as a hidden game. It was also included in the Bomberman Collection Vol. 1 for PC.
Credits
See here: Bomberman (TG-16) Credits
Trivia
- Most of the music in this and later PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 games is remixed and can be heard in the Super Bomberman and Panic Bomber series. This applies to two unused tracks which were reused as boss themes in Super Bomberman 3. The Atari ST version also features a different soundtrack.
- Despite the 1991 copyright on the Amiga title screen, that version was released in early April of 1992 according to Amiga Power issue 12.
- The design of Bomberman on the TurboGrafx-16 box art was reused for "Cyborg 0898-gou" in Bomberman (2014).
Gallery
References
- ↑ Bomberman TurboGrafx-16 instruction booklet, pg. 1
- ↑ Bomberman TurboGrafx-16 instruction booklet, pg. 6
- ↑ http://www.gamesthatwerent.com/gtw64/dynablaster/