Super Bomberman
Encyclopedia
Super Bomberman is the first video game in the Bomberman series to appear on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System
. It is also the first four-player game to be released on the Super NES.
of 143 squares. The grid restricts the movement of characters so they can only move horizontally or vertically around the screen. Pressing the 'A' button will make your Bomberman drop a bomb
at his feet. This bomb will pulse for a few seconds (allowing you time to run away) and then explode, shooting flames horizontally and vertically. The game revolves around the idea of using these bomb blasts to destroy walls and enemies.
If a bomb explodes and the flame hits another bomb it will cause this second bomb to detonate early. This can cause large chain reaction
s.
If the flame from any bomb hits any character it will injure or kill them (unless they are currently invincible).
Most levels start with the grid being partially filled with destructible soft walls. If a bomb blast hits one of these soft walls, then it disintegrates, allowing characters to pass through the now empty space. Levels can quickly be cleared of soft walls, but it is usually useful to leave some, making it easier to trap enemies.
Once a bomb is laid, it is usually impossible to walk past until it has detonated. This leads to the tactic of trapping enemies with bombs and forcing them into bomb blasts.
Special items can be picked up by walking over icons on the screen. These items are normally revealed when destroying walls or killing enemies. There are many different items which give you different abilities; these change a players tactics and the way the game is played.
fight.
The player makes progress through the game by clearing all the enemies from the stage and then exiting via a door that is hidden under one of the destructible walls.
World 5 differs from the rest in that the player fights robot Bombermen in an arena. The arena has no destructible walls or exit doors. The end of each stage is not defined like the other worlds. Instead, once the arena has been cleared of one set of robot Bombermen, then the next set walk into the arena, thus making this world one continuous battle.
The normal game can be played by one or two players. In two-player mode the aim is to work cooperatively to defeat the enemies, although it is still possible to blow up one's teammate with one's own bombs.
The game utilized a password
system to save progress. Each stage provided a four-digit password that would allow the player to return to that stage by entering it on the Options screen. There was also a special password ("5656") which would make all Bombermen much smaller than normal. This had no effect on gameplay.
device is required.
The battle takes place on one of twelve themed stages. The aim is to blow up the other players while staying alive yourself. All bomb blasts are instantly fatal in Battle Mode.
If you are the last player remaining you win the round and receive a gold trophy
. The overall winner is the first person to win a set number of gold trophies (i.e. the first person to win a certain number of rounds). The number of trophies needed is configurable when starting the game and ranges from 1 to 5.
Each round has a time limit of two minutes. If nobody has won after two minutes then the round is declared a draw and no trophies are given. It is also possible for a draw to occur if all remaining players are blown up at the same time.
After a minute and a half the game displays a message to "Hurry Up!" and then starts dropping indestructible walls around the edge of the play field (starting top left and travelling clockwise), effectively reducing the area you can move around in. If you get hit by one of these dropping walls you are instantly killed.
Battle Mode can be extremely fast paced and hectic, reflected in the fast paced music score that accompanies it. The Speed Round, which is Stage 12, is considered to be the most competitive as it requires great amounts of skill to control the fast-paced players and bomb detonation.
Super Bomberman was originally bundled with a multitap
device to allow more than 2 players to play simultaneously. The Super Multitap was long and grey with four controller
ports in a row on one side. It plugged into either of the controller ports on the SNES deck. This meant a total of 5 controllers could be plugged in with the fifth controller plugged into 2nd port on the SNES. Although Super Bomberman, as well as Super Bomberman 2
, only allowed the use of the first 4 controllers to play the game, other Bomberman games: 3
, 4
and 5
allowed to use three to five controllers and the 5th controller would allow a sound test to be accessed by pressing the R shoulder button on the option screen.
Hudson
later released a second multitap (the Super Multitap 2) on its own for people that had purchased Super Bomberman unbundled, or one of the other multitap enabled games. This second version was designed in the shape of a Bomberman's head and had the two controller ports on the front and one on each side. It was also designed to be used with future games. Eventually there were 54 Super NES games that utilised the multitap. However, they were predominately sports games.http://gamersgraveyard.com/repository/snes/peripherals/supermultitap.html
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
. It is also the first four-player game to be released on the Super NES.
Gameplay
The basic gameplay involved in Super Bomberman is relatively simple. The game takes place on a single non-scrolling screen. The screen shows the top down view of a gridGrid plan
The grid plan, grid street plan or gridiron plan is a type of city plan in which streets run at right angles to each other, forming a grid...
of 143 squares. The grid restricts the movement of characters so they can only move horizontally or vertically around the screen. Pressing the 'A' button will make your Bomberman drop a bomb
Bomb
A bomb is any of a range of explosive weapons that only rely on the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy...
at his feet. This bomb will pulse for a few seconds (allowing you time to run away) and then explode, shooting flames horizontally and vertically. The game revolves around the idea of using these bomb blasts to destroy walls and enemies.
If a bomb explodes and the flame hits another bomb it will cause this second bomb to detonate early. This can cause large chain reaction
Chain reaction
A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events....
s.
If the flame from any bomb hits any character it will injure or kill them (unless they are currently invincible).
Most levels start with the grid being partially filled with destructible soft walls. If a bomb blast hits one of these soft walls, then it disintegrates, allowing characters to pass through the now empty space. Levels can quickly be cleared of soft walls, but it is usually useful to leave some, making it easier to trap enemies.
Once a bomb is laid, it is usually impossible to walk past until it has detonated. This leads to the tactic of trapping enemies with bombs and forcing them into bomb blasts.
Special items can be picked up by walking over icons on the screen. These items are normally revealed when destroying walls or killing enemies. There are many different items which give you different abilities; these change a players tactics and the way the game is played.
Normal Game
Normal Game consists of six themed worlds each with its own set of enemies. Each world has eight stages with the last stage being a bossBoss (video games)
A boss is an enemy-based challenge which is found in video games. A fight with a boss character is commonly referred to as a boss battle or boss fight...
fight.
The player makes progress through the game by clearing all the enemies from the stage and then exiting via a door that is hidden under one of the destructible walls.
World 5 differs from the rest in that the player fights robot Bombermen in an arena. The arena has no destructible walls or exit doors. The end of each stage is not defined like the other worlds. Instead, once the arena has been cleared of one set of robot Bombermen, then the next set walk into the arena, thus making this world one continuous battle.
The normal game can be played by one or two players. In two-player mode the aim is to work cooperatively to defeat the enemies, although it is still possible to blow up one's teammate with one's own bombs.
The game utilized a password
Password
A password is a secret word or string of characters that is used for authentication, to prove identity or gain access to a resource . The password should be kept secret from those not allowed access....
system to save progress. Each stage provided a four-digit password that would allow the player to return to that stage by entering it on the Options screen. There was also a special password ("5656") which would make all Bombermen much smaller than normal. This had no effect on gameplay.
Story
Far to the north of Bomberman's hometown, Peace Town, lies the modern metropolis Diamond City. There, the evil Carat Diamond and his cohort, scientist Dr. Mook, are holding a Robot Tournament with robots specially designed for their combat and offensive capabilities. Hoping to steal Bomberman's advanced combat capabilities, Diamond has created a fake Bomberman to go to Peace Town and kidnap the real Bomberman. Aware of Diamond's plot, Black Bomberman heads out alone to face the fake Bomberman. But Black Bomberman is defeated and his castle is taken. Somehow Black Bomberman escapes and seeks refuge with White Bomberman, and warns him of Diamond's evil plan. Soon, wave upon wave of enemy robots begin their advance toward Peace Town. Now our two heroes must join forces to overthrow the evil Diamond II.Battle Mode
Battle Mode is played by one to four players, either human or computer controlled. Because the standard SNES control deck only has two controller ports, in order to play with more than two human players, a multitapMultitap
A multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be used in play...
device is required.
The battle takes place on one of twelve themed stages. The aim is to blow up the other players while staying alive yourself. All bomb blasts are instantly fatal in Battle Mode.
If you are the last player remaining you win the round and receive a gold trophy
Trophy
A trophy is a reward for a specific achievement, and serves as recognition or evidence of merit. Trophies are most often awarded for sporting events, from youth sports to professional level athletics...
. The overall winner is the first person to win a set number of gold trophies (i.e. the first person to win a certain number of rounds). The number of trophies needed is configurable when starting the game and ranges from 1 to 5.
Each round has a time limit of two minutes. If nobody has won after two minutes then the round is declared a draw and no trophies are given. It is also possible for a draw to occur if all remaining players are blown up at the same time.
After a minute and a half the game displays a message to "Hurry Up!" and then starts dropping indestructible walls around the edge of the play field (starting top left and travelling clockwise), effectively reducing the area you can move around in. If you get hit by one of these dropping walls you are instantly killed.
Battle Mode can be extremely fast paced and hectic, reflected in the fast paced music score that accompanies it. The Speed Round, which is Stage 12, is considered to be the most competitive as it requires great amounts of skill to control the fast-paced players and bomb detonation.
Item pickups
Special items appear for ammo supply as players destroy walls, enemies, or opponent Bombermen. During a Normal Game, the effects of all items except fire power, number of bombs, and speed will be lost when the player loses a life. During a Battle Game, the effects of all the items last for one battle only. Only items such as Ice Cream, Pancakes, Apples (Etc) Give points and other items such as a clock add to your time.Super Multitap
Multitap
A multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be used in play...
device to allow more than 2 players to play simultaneously. The Super Multitap was long and grey with four controller
Game controller
A game controller is a device used with games or entertainment systems used to control a playable character or object, or otherwise provide input in a computer game. A controller is typically connected to a game console or computer by means of a wire, cord or nowadays, by means of wireless connection...
ports in a row on one side. It plugged into either of the controller ports on the SNES deck. This meant a total of 5 controllers could be plugged in with the fifth controller plugged into 2nd port on the SNES. Although Super Bomberman, as well as Super Bomberman 2
Super Bomberman 2
Super Bomberman 2 is the second of five video games in the Bomberman series developed by Hudson Soft to be released for the Super Nintendo. In North America it was released on December 12, 1994 and in Europe on February 23, 1995. The original release in Japan on April 28, 1994 for the Super Famicom...
, only allowed the use of the first 4 controllers to play the game, other Bomberman games: 3
Super Bomberman 3
Super Bomberman 3 is a game released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1995. It is the third game in the Bomberman series for the SNES.-Description:...
, 4
Super Bomberman 4
is a multiplayer action-party video game, developed by Produce and published by Hudson Soft for the Super Famicom, released on April 26, 1996. It is the fourth installment of the Super Bomberman franchise for the console....
and 5
Super Bomberman 5
Super Bomberman 5, released by Hudson Soft in early 1997, was the final Bomberman game to grace the Super Famicom. The game was released in two variations: a standard cartridge and a gold cartridge, which was sold exclusively through CoroCoro Comic...
allowed to use three to five controllers and the 5th controller would allow a sound test to be accessed by pressing the R shoulder button on the option screen.
Hudson
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
later released a second multitap (the Super Multitap 2) on its own for people that had purchased Super Bomberman unbundled, or one of the other multitap enabled games. This second version was designed in the shape of a Bomberman's head and had the two controller ports on the front and one on each side. It was also designed to be used with future games. Eventually there were 54 Super NES games that utilised the multitap. However, they were predominately sports games.http://gamersgraveyard.com/repository/snes/peripherals/supermultitap.html
See also
- List of Bomberman games
- MultitapMultitapA multitap is a video game console peripheral that increases the number of controller ports available to the player, allowing additional controllers to be used in play...
- Super Bomberman 2, the second SNES Bomberman gameSuper Bomberman 2Super Bomberman 2 is the second of five video games in the Bomberman series developed by Hudson Soft to be released for the Super Nintendo. In North America it was released on December 12, 1994 and in Europe on February 23, 1995. The original release in Japan on April 28, 1994 for the Super Famicom...