Super Bomberman R 2 Review

When it comes to arcade classics like Bomberman, the secret to longevity is keeping it simple. Though there have been dozens of iterations of Hudson Soft’s absorbing competitive puzzler, they’ve all largely adhered to the same principle: blowing things (and people) up in a candy-colored paradise. Just about every one of them has a new gimmick waiting around the corner, whether it’s the spacious areas of action-flavored Bomberman Generation or Bomberman Tournament’s Zelda-like Quest Mode. That’s how Super Bomberman R 2 manages to keep the hits coming: with some clever modes that put a new spin on things. Of course, Bomberman has always been at its best when played with others, so it’s no surprise that’s where this feature-rich sequel shines in contrast to its repetitive single-player story mode and largely empty open world.

True to the format of the top-down, 2D original, the fun of Super Bomberman R 2’s multiplayer modes comes from throwing down explosives to blow up destructible obstacles while avoiding your own blasts and those of everybody else. When you aren’t narrowly escaping an enemy’s explosion, you’re looking for ways to trick or trap them into walking into yours. As a result, you’re always forced to go on the offensive, constantly calculating where your next bomb is going to go, all the while keeping an eye on enemies who are doing the same.

There are tons of ways to play with friends via local or online multiplayer, including the 64-player Battle 64 mode that has you fighting through a knock-down, drag-out battle royale. (Fortunately there’s crossplay, so there’s no trouble filling games.) It doesn’t jam 64 people on one map – that would be chaos – but rather takes a smarter, more manageable, tournament-style approach. You start out in a traditional four-player Bomberman match, while the other 56 combatants duke it out elsewhere in 16 other rooms simultaneously, much like the Switch’s now-defunct Super Mario 35. A timer counts down from 60 seconds, and when it hits zero, play areas are removed one by one. That leaves the last few players scrambling to survive, with one player being crowned victor. You can travel through the other boards during the Movement Phase to stay away from elimination zones, so it’s smart to keep track of where everyone else is, too. It’s humbling to finish dead last your first few rounds, but like any good battle royale, the drive to improve kept me coming back over and over again.

Also new is Castle, an exciting and surprisingly strategic asymmetrical multiplayer mode that designates one Bomberman character as “king” and pits them against 15 other players. On the castle side, the king defends a number of treasure chests scattered throughout the stage by editing the map to their liking and setting traps and obstacles, and it’s fun to watch the attacking side try to get through it all. For example, gimmicks include parts like the Conveyor Belt, which can move players and bombs alike, and are meant to be part of enemy-stalling strategies. Weapons are simple but effective, with options like cannons that shoot bombs that can fly over walls, blades that you can plant to slash enemies in close proximity, lasers for long-range targets, and more. It may seem like a one-sided fight, but even when I was playing as one of the 15 attackers it can be difficult to suss out and capture all the treasure chests when you’re playing against a smart king. These matches are just as tense and unpredictable as Battle 64.

Another mode, Grand Prix, returns from Super Bomberman R: you and other players are divided into two teams to compete in four types of minigames. While they aren’t drastically different from one another, each serves up a unique challenge that adapts familiar multiplayer rules like Capture the Flag. For instance, one mode has you competing to steal five “Balloms” from the other team to bring them back to your base. Crystals is just a race to see which team can collect the most crystals in a certain amount of time. If you don’t feel like a lengthy Castle battle or want to spice things up beyond regular Bomberman matches, these quick Grand Prix rounds are a good alternative.

On top of that there’s a robust level editor (similar to what’s available to the king in Castle mode) that you can use to make your own traditional Bomberman stages. Conceptually, it has a lot in common with Super Mario Maker, including the ability to share and download levels with others online by way of nine-digit level codes. Alternatively, you can browse what’s available until you see a level you like. In practice, unfortunately, the controls are cumbersome, making painstakingly placing each map detail block after block feel like a chore. For those who do decide to invest in some serious building time, there are absolutely brutal maps that can be crafted, as evidenced by my sifting through the maps already online and finding some real challenges.

As with most online games these days, there’s a whole progression system to advance through, and moving up the ranks means earning currency to unlock fun character skins, player quotes, and more. Importantly, you’re racking up currency whether you’re playing online or offline modes, win or lose, and there are no real-money microtransactions at all – but it’d take a long, long time to earn everything.

There’s a dizzying amount of customization options to choose from, including costumes from Konami games like Metal Gear, Castlevania, and even Silent Hill. Yes, you can have an adorable Pyramid Head to run around as. There are even a few references to classic Japanese dating sim Tokimeki Memorial, with an entire Shiori Fujisaki skin available. Since many of the costumes are more like brand new characters with their own abilities, movement speeds, and different bomb damage zones, it’s worth racking up hours to earn your favorites. Others, like accessories and quotes as well as player badges, are just for you to spruce up your profile.

Those are the reasons you’d want to play Super Bomberman R 2. The six-hour, four-world story mode, on the other hand, is not one of them. To be fair, it’s a considerable improvement on its predecessor’s campaign, but that isn’t saying much. True, it’s twice as long and ditches linear arenas in favor of open-world exploration. However, these open areas are in no way comparable even to Bomberman 64’s rudimentary RPG campaign; this one is little more than a tutorial for multiplayer. Bite-sized cutscenes with Bomberman and his rainbow-flavored pals move the largely forgettable plot along, but they at least explain why you’re recruiting the cute little Ellons in each world to help solve puzzles and unlock new areas.

Unfortunately, there isn’t much to see in each themed world beyond obstacles to destroy, simple puzzles to solve, and Ellons waiting to be rescued. And though cutscenes are heavily stylized with vibrant colors and fun character designs, the disappointingly basic and bland in-game environments and character models don’t follow suit. Luckily, the music is as good as it’s ever been, which at least helps make up for the confoundingly bad voice acting.

The occasional boss encounters break up some of the monotony, but it’s back to drudgery after that. If your Bomberman is hit even once, whether by your own blast or an enemy’s, you lose all your collected Ellons following you in your current world. So whether you had two or five, you’ll have to go all the way back to your base to retrieve them. Sometimes it’s a trek to head back to your base after making all that progress. You’ll have to trudge through each monotonous maze once more, because some obstacles require a certain amount of Ellons for you to pass. All this backtracking only adds to the repetition, which means the story will likely wear thin long before you reach the end.

Occasionally, you’ll also see Castle mode within the story as well, which is an interesting twist. When you first start playing you’re required to create your own stage with the level editor to be used as your HQ. Bots will take the role of human players, and if they steal all your treasure, you’ll end up losing a life. So at least you’ll quickly get a lot of practice for multiplayer by completing the story.