Bomberman Generation

Infobox VG| title = Bomberman Generation


developer = Hudson Soft
publisher = flagicon|US Majesco Games
flagicon|JPN Hudson Soft
flagicon|EU Vivendi Universal
designer =
engine =
released = vgrelease|United States of America|USA|2002-06-03
vgrelease|Japan|JPN|2002-06-27
2003-09-11
vgrelease|Europe|EU|2002-12-06
genre = Action-adventure
modes = Single player, multiplayer
ratings = ESRB: Everyone
ELSPA: 11+
CERO: all ages
platforms = Nintendo GameCube
media = 1 × GameCube Optical Disc
requirements =
input =

"Bomberman Generation" is a video game released for the Nintendo GameCube on June 4, 2002. It was later followed up by "Bomberman Jetters".

tory

According to the game's opening scene, stories of the origin of the universe's power have circulated for years, but it was not until recently that the source of the power has been found. Six crystals, named the "Bomb Elements," are said to contain unfathomable, though unknown, powers. So Professor Ein sends a space freighter to retrieve them and return to Planet Bomber for analysis.

However, en route to Planet Bomber, the freighter is attacked by a hired gun and is destroyed. The Bomb Elements fall out but are sucked in by the gravitational pull of the nearby planet Tentacalls. Professor Ein receives word that the Hige Hige Bandits, led by Bomberman's arch-enemy Mujoe, are making large scale moves towards Tentacalls, and it turns out that they were the ones responsible for the freighter attack. Not only that, but the Bandits have allied themselves with Bomberman's rivals, the Crush Bombers, who are also on the move to get the Elements for Mujoe.

Professor Ein orders Bomberman to Tentacalls to defeat the Crush Bombers and the Hige Hige Bandits, and to get the Bomb Elements before they do, for if even one element falls into their hands, then the universe would be as Mujoe pleases. Thus begins Bomberman's latest chapter to restore peace and order to the galaxy.

Crush Bombers

*Megaton BomberA huge bomber who is the strength of the Crush Bombers, his signature weapon is a Spiked Morning Star. His personality is best described as the big, strong, slow doofus character. The ball is held by a claw at the end of his arm and the chain is fed through the palm of his hand. His signature move is the "Megaton Crush," where he pounds the ground, sending shockwaves through the arena, stuuning Bomberman and making him let go of any a bomb he may be holding at the time.

*Beauty BomberAnother Pretty Bomber who gloats about her looks, as her personality makes her out to be a materialistic princess. Her main method of attack is hitting bombs with her hips, causing them to bounce along the ground at Bomberman. If weakened enough, she will use her stage light lasers to either track in on Bomberman's position and shoot lasers at him, or using the lights as a protective barrier that absorbs damaging bomb blasts.

*Eagle BomberEagle Bomber is the speed of the Crush Bombers. His own personality shows him as arrogant and brash. With jetpacks and a pair of sharp wings on his back, he uses his own body as a preferred weapon. His main attack usually consists of flying in a spinning motion and in a lazy, haphazard manner in which to catch Bomberman off-guard. His main explosive attack consists of him flying up and carpet-bombing the entire arena, the positioning of said explosives being hard to maneuver through. He will also spin like a top and, if he catches Bomberman, will pick him up, fly into the air, and pile-drive him onto the ground.

*Assault BomberA huge bomber who is loaded with a plethora of weapons. His personality shows him as psychotic and malevolent. Assault Bomber is more of a mech than a "Bomber" as he attacks mainly using his machine gun mounted on his arm, though his has an attack that consists of him chasing Bomberman around the room dropping a payload of red explosive spheres (thereby, his "bombing" attack). He can also separate his upper body from his lower body and hover around.

*Bomber EliteThe cape wearing leader of the Crush Bombers -- and as expected, the strongest. He has psychokinetic powers and can teleport. He also has more honor than the rest of the Crush Bombers, and seems to be the most playful, telling Bomberman he'll 'play' with him because he's bored. For the first part of the battle, he is toying with Bomberman, rather than taking him seriously. But once Bomberman proves himself worthy by getting Bomber Elite down to one heart, he "gets serious" and blasts spheres of energy that grow as they rotate in the area. After being defeated, he extends his hand towards Bomberman, praising him for defeating him. The reason for this is unclear. But it saddens Bomberman, and even makes him cry. Unlike the other Crush Bombers, however, Bomber Elite does not explode after dying. He simply falls to the ground, and transforms into liquid-like sparkles that evaporate into the air.

He is sometimes mistaken to be a she, due to a feminine voice; however in cut-scenes, Professor Ein clearly describes Bomber Elite as a male.

Gameplay

"Bomberman Generation" consists of six worlds consisting of about five levels levels each. The levels involve puzzles, mini games, Pokémon-like battles using Charaboms who get befriended by Bomberman once defeated, and Charabom or bomb merge areas where a merge item and a bomb get fused or a Charabom and another Charabom get fused resulting in a stronger bomb or Charabom. Pommy (Pomyu) from "" and a few of his variations make appearances as Charaboms. The worlds have unique bosses each with a different strategy of defeating them. All of the worlds have puzzles that the player has to solve with bombs or Charaboms. Bomberman can acquire various power-ups which can increase his speed and his bomb power.

"Bomberman Generation" was one of the first titles to employ the style of cel-shading for the GameCube, a style utilized again in "Bomberman Jetters" and "".

The multiplayer mode resembles that of the classic games in that the players can no longer utilize full three-dimensional movement. The battles can consist of up to four human or computer characters. There are five different modes from which to choose.

* Standard Battle: This mode consists of classic Bomberman multiplayer where four players attempt to defeat one another by using bombs. Whoever is the last man standing wins. In the last minute of the battle, blocks drop along the edges of the arena, making it smaller and smaller until someone wins or time runs out, which ends in a tie. This mode has a variety of levels from which to choose, and the player can decide how often the power-ups appear.

* Reversi Battle: Bomb explosions flip the green floor panels to the color of whichever Bomber dropped the bomb. However, opponents can flip the panels previously flipped by other players. Whoever has the most amount of panels matching their corresponding Bomber when time is up is the winner.

* Coin Battle: By blowing up treasure barrels, players attempt to find the most coins before time runs out. Being killed causes the player to lose half of his or her coins. As the match progresses, Hige Hige Bandits appear to steal the coins, but blowing them up releases the coins and additional power-ups.

* Dodge Battle: Bombers cannot drop bombs; rather, bombs fall from the sky, and everyone must avoid the explosions. Bombers are equipped solely with Bomb Kicks, Punches, and Speed-Ups to avoid the blasts. The blast area of each bomb is shown on the arena floor. As the match progresses, a variety of different bombs will fall.

* Revenge Battle: All Bombers are in Revenge Bomber mode, and get points depending on how many moles they can stun or blow up. The bombs only go as far as the cursor allows, and merely stunning the moles with a bomb does not give the player as many points as making one explode.

Reception

"Bomberman Generation" has an average (But mostly positive) review ratio of 78% on Game Rankings, including such web sites as IGN (8.1/10), GameSpot (8.0/10), and GameSpy (76/100), and including magazines such as "Electronic Gaming Monthly" (8.33/10) and "Nintendo Power" (4.7/5). [http://www.gamerankings.com/htmlpages4/533285.asp]

It also won Nintendo Power's "Most Underrated Game of 2002" award.

External links

* [http://www.hudson.co.jp/gamenavi/gamedb/softinfo/bomb_g/ Hudson Soft page]
*moby game|id=/bomberman-generation