Super Bomberman (SNES, 1993)
Graphics-7.5 Sound-8 Control-8 Challenge-7.5 Story-4
Level Design-7/8 Frustration-7.5 Fun-6.5/7*/8** Originality-5
Overall Score-8
*Co-op
**Battle mode
+
2-player co-op story mode, 4-player vs. battle mode (can select how many players to have (2-4), any player slot can be switched for a CPU player)
Randomized breakable block layouts in battle mode
12 different battle mode levels (new level gimmicks - start near each other, random bombs fall from the sky, random jump pads (can't jump over breakable blocks), tunnels, start near each other+tons of power ups out in the open, lawnmowers that push bombs downward+reviving blocks, dark zone except for two moving searchlights - doesn't make sense how bomb blasts don't light anything up though, everyone starts at full blast power+no breakable blocks, everyone starts at super speed)
Pretty good art direction overall (somewhat generic compared to '93 though)
Pretty impressive music overall
Some good bosses (world 4 boss and the final boss have two phases, face a rival bombermen gang one at a time in world 5)
Remote control and walk through breakable blocks+your own bombs power ups (the latter two are story mode only and combined does lower the difficulty considerably but is kind of a rare combo to get)
Bomb kick power up, +1 HP power up (story mode only, doesn't stack?), Bomb vest power up (temporary invincibility from blasts, story mode only) - Bomberman '93
Many sprites on screen with little to no slowdown
Can gain one more level of speed in story mode
Some new power ups (time increase - story mode only, max bomb power, max lives (fire extinguisher, story mode only), throw bombs (punching glove, thrown bombs also loop if thrown outside of the battle arena like in SMB2, stuns opponents briefly) - only used against the final boss in story mode, super bomb - blow through multiple breakable walls (story mode only), walk through bombs in story mode - replaces bomb kick)
Can find more than one power up per level in story mode (up to 3)
The variety within each world is a bit better than in previous games
CPU player difficulty options (10 levels)
Randomized level layouts in story mode after using a continue
Some permanent upgrades (extra bombs and bomb blast radius)
+/-
Linear structure
Unlimited continues
Only extra bomb and blast radius upgrades are kept after dying in story mode and you lose one level of speed per life lost - you do respawn without the level restarting here though which is generally good but can become a problem if you don't find more speed shoes later on. After using a continue you start with +1 movement and the level resets but if you were at a boss fight you start at the level before it
Killathon (have to kill all enemies to open the exit in a level)
Password save only (short) - puts you in the previous level if you used a password to a boss fight
A player gets stunned briefly if a bomb is dropped or thrown on them
Bombing the exit in a level makes it spawn 1-3 more enemies - this also happens if a bombing enemy does it
Potentially more forgiving skull/negative power up (temporary effect, does one of seven things: makes your blasts tiny and you can only lay one bomb at a time, makes you super fast, makes you super slow, makes you unable to lay bombs, makes you lay bombs randomly, makes you invisible, makes you auto-lay bombs in quick succession)
Players by the skull power up will infect other players by touching them
Some point items
No combo kill bonuses?
Level timers in story mode (only an issue during the world 5 boss fight)
Hearts (extra HP) are more rare
Re-uses several level gimmicks from BM '93
No clogs/slow down power up (BM '93 story mode)
No gimmick info for a level when browsing them in battle mode (BM '93)
Re-uses some gimmicks (conveyor belts, warp holes, reviving blocks)
Remote control bombs only appear in some battle mode levels
-
Very long invincibility time when spawning in a new level and after dying - means you can kill a bunch of enemies/hit a boss several times before there's any threat
Single screen levels only (no scrolling) and only 6 worlds in story mode
Difficulty spike at the world 5 boss (meet 8? bombermen in a row)
No boss briefing before each world (BM '93)
The level exits blink before having beaten all enemies in a level here, somewhat slow default speed in story mode and speed power ups become rare after a few worlds
Kind of repetitive story mode (several enemies look different but act the same, lacks the BM '93 gimmicks+the new battle mode gimmicks but has one or two new ones, you keep finding power ups that you already have/have a full stock of, low power up frequency overall)
The game is missing several of the more interesting enemies from BM '93 and Bomberman Arcade and re-hashes a couple from '93
The world 4 music is a bit annoying
Somewhat muffled explosion sfx
No intro cutscene
Some trial & error (have to find the exit in each level (at least the game shows where the power up is after beating all enemies?), boss patterns - need to figure out bomb throwing on your own)
Unforgiving hit detection vs. the final boss
Have to lose a continue to see your password
No stopwatch power up (freezes enemies, BM '93)
No bomb line power up (place a line of bombs ahead of you after placing a bomb - how many depends on how many extra bombs you have; BM '93 etc.)
Can't toggle any power ups in battle mode
Battle mode doesn't have certain power ups (walk through blocks/through bombs, +1HP, vest, super bomb, time, heart)
Can't skip to the next match when there are only CPU players left in battle mode
Battle mode is missing some gimmicks from BM '93 (no bomb-tiles, spinning gates)
Bugs:
-One of player 1's laid bombs sometimes stops counting down in battle mode (sometimes fixed by a player touches it again (at which point the timer resets) but sometimes it starts counting again randomly instead) - sucks if you only have one bomb to lay,
Level Design-7/8 Frustration-7.5 Fun-6.5/7*/8** Originality-5
Overall Score-8
*Co-op
**Battle mode
+
2-player co-op story mode, 4-player vs. battle mode (can select how many players to have (2-4), any player slot can be switched for a CPU player)
Randomized breakable block layouts in battle mode
12 different battle mode levels (new level gimmicks - start near each other, random bombs fall from the sky, random jump pads (can't jump over breakable blocks), tunnels, start near each other+tons of power ups out in the open, lawnmowers that push bombs downward+reviving blocks, dark zone except for two moving searchlights - doesn't make sense how bomb blasts don't light anything up though, everyone starts at full blast power+no breakable blocks, everyone starts at super speed)
Pretty good art direction overall (somewhat generic compared to '93 though)
Pretty impressive music overall
Some good bosses (world 4 boss and the final boss have two phases, face a rival bombermen gang one at a time in world 5)
Remote control and walk through breakable blocks+your own bombs power ups (the latter two are story mode only and combined does lower the difficulty considerably but is kind of a rare combo to get)
Bomb kick power up, +1 HP power up (story mode only, doesn't stack?), Bomb vest power up (temporary invincibility from blasts, story mode only) - Bomberman '93
Many sprites on screen with little to no slowdown
Can gain one more level of speed in story mode
Some new power ups (time increase - story mode only, max bomb power, max lives (fire extinguisher, story mode only), throw bombs (punching glove, thrown bombs also loop if thrown outside of the battle arena like in SMB2, stuns opponents briefly) - only used against the final boss in story mode, super bomb - blow through multiple breakable walls (story mode only), walk through bombs in story mode - replaces bomb kick)
Can find more than one power up per level in story mode (up to 3)
The variety within each world is a bit better than in previous games
CPU player difficulty options (10 levels)
Randomized level layouts in story mode after using a continue
Some permanent upgrades (extra bombs and bomb blast radius)
+/-
Linear structure
Unlimited continues
Only extra bomb and blast radius upgrades are kept after dying in story mode and you lose one level of speed per life lost - you do respawn without the level restarting here though which is generally good but can become a problem if you don't find more speed shoes later on. After using a continue you start with +1 movement and the level resets but if you were at a boss fight you start at the level before it
Killathon (have to kill all enemies to open the exit in a level)
Password save only (short) - puts you in the previous level if you used a password to a boss fight
A player gets stunned briefly if a bomb is dropped or thrown on them
Bombing the exit in a level makes it spawn 1-3 more enemies - this also happens if a bombing enemy does it
Potentially more forgiving skull/negative power up (temporary effect, does one of seven things: makes your blasts tiny and you can only lay one bomb at a time, makes you super fast, makes you super slow, makes you unable to lay bombs, makes you lay bombs randomly, makes you invisible, makes you auto-lay bombs in quick succession)
Players by the skull power up will infect other players by touching them
Some point items
No combo kill bonuses?
Level timers in story mode (only an issue during the world 5 boss fight)
Hearts (extra HP) are more rare
Re-uses several level gimmicks from BM '93
No clogs/slow down power up (BM '93 story mode)
No gimmick info for a level when browsing them in battle mode (BM '93)
Re-uses some gimmicks (conveyor belts, warp holes, reviving blocks)
Remote control bombs only appear in some battle mode levels
-
Very long invincibility time when spawning in a new level and after dying - means you can kill a bunch of enemies/hit a boss several times before there's any threat
Single screen levels only (no scrolling) and only 6 worlds in story mode
Difficulty spike at the world 5 boss (meet 8? bombermen in a row)
No boss briefing before each world (BM '93)
The level exits blink before having beaten all enemies in a level here, somewhat slow default speed in story mode and speed power ups become rare after a few worlds
Kind of repetitive story mode (several enemies look different but act the same, lacks the BM '93 gimmicks+the new battle mode gimmicks but has one or two new ones, you keep finding power ups that you already have/have a full stock of, low power up frequency overall)
The game is missing several of the more interesting enemies from BM '93 and Bomberman Arcade and re-hashes a couple from '93
The world 4 music is a bit annoying
Somewhat muffled explosion sfx
No intro cutscene
Some trial & error (have to find the exit in each level (at least the game shows where the power up is after beating all enemies?), boss patterns - need to figure out bomb throwing on your own)
Unforgiving hit detection vs. the final boss
Have to lose a continue to see your password
No stopwatch power up (freezes enemies, BM '93)
No bomb line power up (place a line of bombs ahead of you after placing a bomb - how many depends on how many extra bombs you have; BM '93 etc.)
Can't toggle any power ups in battle mode
Battle mode doesn't have certain power ups (walk through blocks/through bombs, +1HP, vest, super bomb, time, heart)
Can't skip to the next match when there are only CPU players left in battle mode
Battle mode is missing some gimmicks from BM '93 (no bomb-tiles, spinning gates)
Bugs:
-One of player 1's laid bombs sometimes stops counting down in battle mode (sometimes fixed by a player touches it again (at which point the timer resets) but sometimes it starts counting again randomly instead) - sucks if you only have one bomb to lay,