Bomberman Series Playthrough
After years of collecting the games and putting it off, 2026 is the year I will finally be playing through as much of the Bomberman series as I can muster, thanks to the surprise release of Super Bomberman Collection. I will be playing them in mostly chronological order and updating this post with my thoughts as I work my way through. I obviously can't play every game, as there are a dozen or so computer and mobile games that are out of reach for me, but I want to make it through every Bomberman game with a single-player mode that I can. I will also be skipping the multiplayer-only and party games for now, but I'd like to try them all eventually. Here's my current list in the order I plan to play them, with notations where I won't be using original hardware.
- Super Bomberman 1-5 (SNES, 1993-1997) via Super Bomberman Collection on NS2
- Bomberman (FC 1985) via Super Bomberman Collection on NS2
- Atomic Punk (GB 1990)
- Bomberman (TG-16 1990) via emulation
- Bomberman II (FC 1991) via Super Bomberman Collection on NS2
- Bomberman '93 (PCE 1992) via Wii VC
- Bomberman '94 (PCE 1993) via Wii VC
- Wario Blast (GB 1994)
- Bomberman GB (GB 1995)
- Bomberman GB 3 (GB 1996)
- Saturn Bomberman (SS 1996) via emulation
- Atomic Bomberman (PC 1997) not sure if I can get this one running
- Pocket Bomberman (GBC 1997)
- Bomberman 64 (N64 1997)
- Bomberman World (PS 1998)
- Bomberman Hero (N64 1998)
- Bomberman Party Edition (PS 1998) via PSN
- Bomberman Quest (GBC 1998)
- Bomberman 64: The Second Attack (N64 1999)
- Bomberman/Max (GBC 1999)
- Bomberman 64 (N64 2001) via emulation
- Bomberman Tournament (GBA 2001) skipping, but will give thoughts from previous playthrough
- Bomberman/Max 2 (GBA 2002)
- Bomberman Generation (GCN 2002)
- Bomberman Jetters (GCN 2002)
- Bomberman (NG 2004)
- Bomberman DS (NDS 2005)
- Bomberman (PSP 2006)
- Bomberman: Act Zero (360 2006)
- Bomberman Story DS (NDS 2007) skipping, but will give thoughts from previous playthrough
- Bomberman 2 (NDS 2008)
Like I do with my yearly breakdowns, I will rate each game out of three stars, and provide a gameplay video link.
⭐ =Play If You're Curious
⭐⭐ = Generally Recommended
(YouTube links have been embedded into the games' titles)
Super Bomberman was the first game in the series I played, and a total obsession of mine as a kid. I always brought this game out when I had friends over, and spent countless hours over the years playing the battle mode. The music from this game lives rent free in my head thirty years later. Even though this was, like, the seventh game in the series, it is straightforward enough that in my head I treat it as the real starting point. Every other Bomberman game is a game I ultimately compare to this one. The story mode is a breezy, single-screen affair that is over in a couple hours. For those unfamiliar, the goal in classic Bomberman is to destroy every enemy on screen, then locate the exit to the stage, while picking up power-ups. Stages are timed, you have limited lives that cap out at 9, and you die in one hit. For this reason, rewinding in the Super Bomberman Collection does trivialize things; but I don't think it makes the game less fun.
As for the multiplayer, it supports four players and is a standard deathmatch across a dozen stages with unique gimmicks.
I did play this game growing up as well, though I likely picked it up a little late. Unlike the first game, this one does not have a co-op story mode, likely due to the scrolling stages. That said, the addition of scrolling as well as some light puzzles with switches to hit to unlock the exit made the story mode all the more captivating.
The multiplayer is the same as the first game, with fresh stages, including a stage where you can jump! Weird that in the whole game, it is only this single stage that allows it. Given that the next installment would expand jumping, I wonder if they were just testing it here. The game also has the option to give the winning player of a set extra power-ups in the next set. Which honestly seems kind of mean? Shouldn't they do the opposite?
Around the mid-2010s, I picked up Super Bomberman 3-5 on SFC. I have dabbled with the multiplayer in the years since, but have only just now played the story mode. The game expands on the concept of destroying switches in SB2, but removes the scrolling and brings back co-op. Instead of scrolling, some stages now have multiple screens to travel between. The game also allows you to revisit previous stages in order to regain power-ups. In addition to this, characters that debuted in Bomberman '94 make their second appearance: Buggler and the Louies. Buggler is a recurring villain in the Bomberman series, and has had an inconsistent localization over the years. He is known as Buggler from the localization of Super Bomberman R, but was localized as Bagulaa in Mega Bomberman and Bagular in Bomberman Hero. As for the Louies, they are clearly meant to be a response to the popularity of Yoshi; and it won't be the last time Hudson copies a popular Nintendo character for the series! The Louies will spawn in eggs, and each color gives you a different extra ability, like jumping over obstacles, as well as giving you an extra hit. One minor complaint I have is the reduction in size of the sprites, which puts the look of the game more in line with the PC Engine games than the SNES games. But I also grew up playing the SNES games a ton, so this is just a bit of bias.
As for the multiplayer, we now have five player support! SB3 also introduces the ability to spawn after death and wreak havoc on the remaining players. That and the addition of Louies make it even more chaotic than the previous games.
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