Bomberman Blitz

System: DSiWare
Developer: Hudson Soft
Publisher: Hudson Soft
Genre: Action
Players: 1-8 (local) 1-4 (online)
Points: 500

Ah, Bomberman games. It just wouldn't be a download service, console, toaster or potted plant without one. Rest assured, if the Atari Lynx hadn't gracefully retired out of goodwill, it would have had so many of them. Much like the WiiWare's release of Bomberman Blast last year, Bomberman Blitz for DSiWare does away with any adventure filler to focus on the core battle mode experience.

If you've never played a game in this series, then welcome to Earth, alien creature. There's actually an extensive 'Bomberman for Beginners' tutorial system available; it even covers the absolute basics such as how to move. Pro tip: it's with the D-pad. While the sprites have been touched up a tad - to give Bomberman really long legs for some reason – this release has pretty much been ripped right from the previous retail Bomberman games on DS. It's a nice package considering the price, with 10 stages, a slew of battle options and both local and online multiplayer.

Stages include the traditional green field to those filled with traps and novelties such as conveyor belts, spiked pits and slippery floors. Unlike the cartridge releases that supported DS Download Play for local multiplayer (so only one person in the group needed a copy), Bomberman Blitz requires everyone to have the game on their DSi. A bit of a bummer, as finding seven other people with it will be pretty rare. You may be compelled to throw Pokéballs at them until they fall over backwards and don't get back up again. You would be a terrible person.


But then there's the online multiplayer. Limited to four player battles, you can take on anyone in Australia or around the world. Friend Codes are also in if you just want to verse your buddies. If you choose to host a match, you'll be able to set the battle conditions including the number of rounds, stage, time limit and starting position. Other options such as 'Revenge' (where players that have been wiped out can throw bombs from the sidelines to hinder those still playing) and 'Skull' (poison items) can also be toggled on or off. Better yet, the game can save a favourite set of rules so they'll automatically be put into place every time you host a match. A precious time saver.

Speaking of items, the non-poisonous variety is pretty much what you'd expect. Extra bombs, speed boosters, more firepower, the ability to kick and throw bombs around. The kangaroos haven't made it in, unfortunately. Poor kangaroos. Slightly making up for their absence is the inclusion of goofy sound effects. Seeing as the game really only needs one button to lay bombs, others can be assigned to a selection of annoying noises to be an arsehole with. Did another player just trap themself and commit suicide? Time for the laughing sound effect! But yes, these can thankfully be turned off so you won't be subjected to other people spamming them non-stop.

There's nothing special about the graphics; they're very 16-bit. That's not a complaint, I'm just... you know, pointing out what you've probably already figured out from looking at the screenshots. This is why reviews are so important, they pad things out with redundant information. You can't see the music though, so let me tell you about that. The main battle theme lacks punch. Chucking in one of the Super Bomberman songs would have been better than this slightly-too-jolly-for-its-own-good tune. Other than that, there's a nice variety of explosions and a curious menu selection sound effect that should be familiar to fans of SEGA's Columns.


While the local multiplayer probably won't get much of a workout, the online gameplay is superb. There's also full bot support, so one player can go up against seven CPU characters with various difficulty settings. Bomberman is a really nice game to have on DSiWare, as it's always there. The short and sweet nature of the game makes it perfect to get in a quick match whenever - now without the worries of having to bring the cartridge.


Score: 7/10 - "Good buy"
Seriously, Bomberman's legs are so lanky in this game. Walking towards the screen, the animation makes it seem like he's on the catwalk. I hope he's not considering a career change from... wait, what is Bomberman's job?

Review by Lance McGill (Infernal Monkey)