0 to Z of Playstation 1 Games - Bomberman Party Edition

      

Bomberman Party Edition also known as just Bomberman in Europe and Japan, the game is a return to the series roots with a retro visual style, the game was developed by HudsonSoft/Metro who also published the game in Japan. The European version was published by Virgin Interactive, while the North American release was published by Vatical Entertainment.

The game initially released on the 10^th of December 1998 in Japan, with a European release coming the following year in July. The North American release of the game would not come for over a year with a September 2000 release.

In addition to these releases he game would also receive a re release in Japan on the 5^th of July 2001 as a post of the Hudson the best of collection. The game would later get a port to the PSP and PS3 in Japan on the 28^th of May 2008, and in North America the following year on the 10^th of December 2009 in North America as a part of the PSone Classic releases. The game would also receive a PS Vita release in 2012, this release was exclusive to Japan.

Bomberman Party Edition features and addition of vintage graphics for its single player mode as well as having the option for enhanced graphics if you prefer the more modern look of Bomberman. The game features a battle mode which features 8 courses each course having 3 levels to play through.

The single player mode of the game is very similar to the original Bomberman from 1983, the player controls Bomberman in a wide area full of destructible and non destructible blocks. The blocks that are destructible are destroyed by placing bombs on the grounds.

 

Some of these blocks when destroyed can drop power ups for the player, these picks up can have differing effects such as increasing Bomberman’s speed or the size of his bomb explosions, the number of bombs you are able to place and the ability to explore your own bombs, to walk through walls and even bombs. Some power ups are only temporary, allowing Bomberman to be immune from bombs or monsters/

Movement around the various arenas is done with the D-Pad with Bomberman only able to move in four directions either up and down or left and right, bomb placement is done using the circle button. In addition to Bomberman’s bomb placing he also has melee attacks with the Square button used to punch or push.

The point of each level is to destroy each monster and locate the exit of the level, the exit to the level is placed under a random block, after every few levels the player will be able to play a bonus level, in this level the player is invincible as an endless stream of monsters are unleashed, the point of this bonus level is to try and build up your score until a bonus life is awarded.

 

The game features a similar thematic structure to the games single player mode similar in design to Super Bomberman with levels having a number of different themes. The game features two modes of play, the first being a Normal Game, this mode has two sub mode options, these being modern or retro.

In the modern mode your will clear 10 stages then the graphics will change, After each 10 stages are complete the player will be treated to a clip of Bomberman. If you choose the Retro mode, this is a recreation using the original Bomberman’s graphics. This mode features a total of 50 stages, with each stage getting progressively harder.

The game features a variety of monsters for you to bomb, these enemies each have different movement speeds and general difficulty. For example the Balloon is one of the easiest to deal with, having a slow movement speed and generally being very east to defeat. While on the other hand the Foton is by far the most deadly with It being very fast and hard to kill, this enemy will also chase Bomberman around the area if it spots him.

 

Bomberman features Partners, these are creatures than can be found by uncovering eggs underneath destroyable blocks. The easiest difficulty in the game Beginners difficulty does not feature Partners, difficulties above this do. 

These partners include the Louie which are found in normal difficulty mode, while the likes of the Simeon, Coney and Dox are found on advanced difficulty. These partners can be very helpful with some having special powers, as well as pretty much working as an extra life if the player is hit the partner will die instead of the player losing one of their lives.

The second main mode is the Battle Mode, here you have the choice of between Battle Royale mode or a Custom Battle. This mode is the multiplayer mode for the game, this is for up to 5 players either one player and four CPU controlled players, or 5 human players If you have a multi-tap.

This mode has the player go up against either computer controlled opponents of other human controlled opponents in an all out death match which the Bomberman series is famous for. The Battle Royale sub mode is your traditional death match mode, the custom mode allows you to tinker with the various different features such as the number of items that can be found on the playing field.

The game received some good review scores with a couple reaching an impressive 90, a couple more in the low 80 and several more respectable review scores. The game overall did not fall below the above average range with the lowest review score received being a 60.

As usual though we will start with the best of them which comes from Intensepsx.com who rated the game at an impressive 90, the reviewer finding after a slew of attempts from Hudson to break into the world of 3D they have truly returned to their roots with this game.

The reviewer continued by saying. If the previous Bomberman games turned you away, but you’re still itching for some of that 2D, 5 player goodness then don’t hesitate to import Bomberman immediately. It might not be the most original game ever, but that’s the whole points. With the reviewer finding originality in the series has been shown it will only hurt the series.

The reviewer concluded by saying. As long as Hudson keeps giving us the classic-style Bomberman that we love, with more powerups and stages each time, I'll continue to buy and to love their games. In a nutshell and without a doubt, the simply-titled "Bomberman" is THE Bomberman game to get for the Playstation.

GamePro (US) are next up with another impressive 90 rated review, the reviewer praising the developers for finally having the sense to release the ultimate party game for the Playstation. They continued by saying. Bomberman's strength has always the multi-player matches, and the Party Edition delivers the goods with intense, thumb-busting head-to-head competition. While the review did have some issues with the long load times, they still found Bomberman Party Edition to be the quintessential multiplayer game no Playstation game should be without.

Next we head over to France and the publication Consoles Plus who rated the game at a good 82, the found the visuals to be to their liking and recommended that if you do not have any previous entries in the Bomberman series, do not hesitate in getting the game.

Absolute Playstation were just two points behind with a good 80 rated review, the review finding Bomberman Party Edition has stuck to the tried and true formula that made the first game so much fun. With a few new modes of play added, and lots more multiplayer levels for you and your friends to go head to head, you have one great party game.

Dropping down two points to a solid 78 we find the German publication Video games. The reviewer finding that unlike Beat’em Ups, any modernization is rather detrimental to the gameplay as the previous PS and N64 versions have shown. They continued by saying. If you are still looking for a hearty party game, you might well consider Bomberman next to Point Blank, Mario Party or Speed Freaks.

IGN are next up with a 76 rated review, the reviewer commenting that the Bomberman series is the king of multiplayer party games, and that Bomberman Party Edition is the best of the series that has seen the light of day on Playstation.

That being said they continued by saying. While it's a great party game and fun will be had when playing it, there's just no denying the fact that it's just not quite as good as either Saturn Bomberman on Sega Saturn or Super Bomberman 2 on SNES.

They concluded by saying. Given that just about nobody bought the Saturn and most people probably don't have their Super Nintendo's hooked up anymore, then this might be your only chance to get a classic Bomberman fix this side of your PC.

If that's the case, then check out this title, as you won't be letdown by its brilliant multiplayer action. However, if you still have access to those other Bomberman games mentioned, then there's really no reason to check this one out.

GameSpot were next up with another slight drop in review score down to a respectable 71. The reviewer finding that despite is unusually deficient single player mode, Bomberman Party Edition still manages to succeed where many previous attempts have failed, delivering an uproariously enjoyable multiplayer experience.

The reviewer concluded by saying. Thanks to its less than modern visuals, Bomberman Party Edition may not make the same overwhelming first impression that competing efforts achieve, but if you give it a minute or two, you'll likely find the addiction known as Bomberman has you in its grasp.

Back to Germany for the next review and the Publication Mega Fun who rated the game at a decent 70. The reviewer asked where has my good old Saturn Bomberman gone. They continued by saying. Instead of finally buying a successful Bomberman on Playstation, only a few boring levels were thrown together that did not tear me off my stool.

Sad graphics and unloving level design, In addition, important power-ups and goodies are sown so rare that one could cry a bit at the premature death and the associated powerless re-entry in the series. They continued by saying the only saving grace is the successful multiplayer mode, which does impress with its excellent level design which did placate me slightly. Concluded the review asked why the whole game was not built up from such a successful level.

All Game Guide are next up with their decent 70 rated review, the review found the gameplay for Bomberman Party Edition to be nothing new, with many of the characters and levels pretty much the same as other versions. They continued by saying.

However this incarnation does offer enough variety to please even the most hardcore gamer and will offer hours of enjoyment for new games. Concluding the reviewer said. Bomberman is one of the best multiplayer games ever and Bomberman Party Edition keeps that tradition alive.

NowGamer next up and a review score that drops into the above average range with a score of 61. The review was disappointed by this incarnation of Bomberman and had the following to say. At one time or another everybody will have crossed Bomberman’s path but putting on such a bad performance this time round makes us think the old guy should buy himself a pipe and put his feet up for a while. This, unfortunately, should be named Bummerman.

The final review comes from PSM magazine who rated the game at an above average of 61, the reviewer saying if this is the only way you can get Bomberman in your house, then go ahead and get Bomberman Party Edition, you will have some fun, just remember to get your eyes checked afterwards.

This is the part of 0 to Z where is visit four online retailers and see what the availability of the title is, and what price you would be looking at if you wanted to pick this title up, the sites that I will be using for this are Amazon.com, eStarland.com, retrogames.co.uk and Gamedude.com I know the last one is very location specific, but from a podcast I listen to, I’ve heard they have a huge stock of older games, Ebay has now been dropped unless the game is unavailable at other retailers.

So lets get down to business with Gamedude, where if you are looking to trade in your copy of the game your will be looking at a trade in value of $8 for your copy. If on the other hand you are in the market for a copy of the game from Gamedude, you will be looking at an outlay of $19.

 

Next up is Retrogames.co.uk where sadly we don’t find the game available or even listed, so we will quickly move on to eStarland.com. Here we find the North American version of the game listed, with one complete used copy of the game available. This copy is priced up at $19.50, also on offer at eStarland is a trade in for this game, with up to $9.50 paid for a complete copy of the game.

 

Lastly we have Amazon.com where we find a modest supply of the game on offer, with the first five copies on offer all being disc only copies of the game. We find two very good condition copies available for $18.49 and $22.74, these two copies however do not state the completeness of the copy.

The first confirmed complete copy of the game is the next copy listed, this copy is in good condition and is priced up at $23.94 once the shipping costs have been factored in. we also find a very good condition copy priced at $29.99, this is for the Black Label version and comes with free shipping as well.

If you are wanting a better condition used copy of the game, a like new copy can be picked up for $39.61 once the shipping costs have been added. There is also a handful of new copies of the game available as well, with the cheapest of these coming in at $42.74, with the next couple of copies priced slightly higher at $43.99 and $46.98 respectively.

We also find the usual overpriced copies, for this game we find both a used and new copy that are overpriced. The used copy coming in at $49.97, while the new copy of Bomberman Party Edition is priced up at a steep $69.99 with a shipping fee of $4.62 bringing the total to $74.61.

Written by

P J Gibbon