Atomic Bomberman

by Interplay

Product Details

• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B00001QEP3
• Media: CD-ROM
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #37,121 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

GameSpot Review

I play console games. That's right. I've said it. Despite having been a PC reviewer for seven years, I do occasionally sneak over to a console machine just to take a peek at how the other half lives. And, usually, I'm not impressed. The one glaring exception would have to be HudsonSoft's release of Super Bomberman 2 for the Super Nintendo. Throughout the years, this one simple game has been the pinnacle of what all games should aspire to be - simple to learn, requiring very little in the way of flashy graphics or spectacular sound, and delivering great gameplay and multiplayer competition. I was overwhelmed with excitement when I first heard that a PC version was on its way. Sadly, though, the game just didn't live up to my expectations.

Like its console predecessors, Interplay's Atomic Bomberman is pleasingly simple. You control one of several different colored bombers from an overhead perspective. By clicking your button (the game can be fully customized so this can be any button that suits you) you drop lit bombs that explode after a few seconds. Using these bombs, you must destroy all of your opponents. That's it (well, there's a little more to it, but that's basically it). By collecting icons that are hidden within the walls you can arm your bomber with power-ups, such as additional bombs, more powerful bombs, acceleration, the ability to kick bombs (good for getting out of a tight pinch), and the ability to throw bombs. All in all, if you are a new player you can expect to spend at most five minutes learning how to play. But as you play you'll learn tricks and acquire skills that will improve your game.

So here's the tricky part. The game is actually so simple that most PC users would look at it and say "shareware" without ever taking the time to actually play it. Interplay's solution to this potential problem was to send in their design teams to add a load of new features and artwork that would enhance the game without losing its overall feel. Unfortunately, they were only partially successful. Some of the game's new features are great, such as the addition of hilarious death animations and a bunch of new maps. Others are horrible, like the new icon art and the megs and megs of "taunts" that play every time you pick up a power-up. And some are just plain inexplicable, like the inclusion of the golden bomber feature in the single-player mode, but not in the multiplayer mode for which it was designed. But even these changes don't really hurt the game - the real coup de grace comes in the poor network support.

That's right. The most important component of Atomic Bomberman - multiplayer - is also its weakest component. At best, play is jerky and at worst, players get randomly kicked out. There are also really bizarre problems, like adding players who aren't really in the game, and awarding wins to players who haven't earned them (and not registering those ghost wins on other players' computers). For a game that revolves around multiplayer competition, this just isn't acceptable.

On a positive note, Interplay has made some real jumps forward with the game by adding customizable characters, game rules, and more. But Atomic Bomberman is one of this year's biggest missed opportunities: PC owners had a chance to not only get introduced to HudsonSoft's classic, but to play a title superior to any that had come before it. Sadly, that isn't what happened. --Trent C. Ward
--Copyright ©1998 GameSpot Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of GameSpot is prohibited.

Product Description

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not perfect, but not terrible, March 6, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Atomic Bomberman (CD-ROM)

I love this game! Anyone who likes a good laugh, I reccomend this to. Sure, It's not as fun and popular as Age of empires and grand theft auto, but still, it's worth playing. Talk about cheap laughs.This game costs not a lot of money but will give u hours of fun.You can play one player against up to 9 opponents or go on the web and challange other people.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a BLAST of fun. Seriously., August 3, 2009

By 

DarkMike (Peru, MA - USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Atomic Bomberman (CD-ROM)

I ordered a shiny new case for the game about 3 months ago, and it was about 12 bucks. Not bad for a mint condition disc! However, the only bad thing about it was the case's center that snaps the disc in place broke. Not to worry though, the CD is snug into a new casing, while the old "display" case is intact, but with a completely broken center snapping piece, cause I broke the rest of it. >P

Overall, I've been waiting for this game for a REALLY long time, and I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a taste of retro gaming, instead of the usual next-gen stuff, but that's just my opinion anyway. The full installer, which is recommended if you want most of the awesome gameplay, even music, is only about 560MB's of space, but you'd still need 600MB give or take, it's really not that much compared to the heightened memory nowadays.

Prompt shipment was a plus as well, but I forgot the seller's username. Oh well.

Anyway, this is DarkMike signing out. See ya.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best games EVER!, December 31, 2011

By 

David Monroe "Derpity herp derp." (Houston, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Atomic Bomberman (CD-ROM)

I originally got hooked on the SNES version in 95 or so and loved it.

Then in 1998 I saw a boxed copy of this for only $10 at a local retailer. I bought it and loved it. I took it to work to show it off to my coworkers and someone stole it out of my desk!

So I bought another copy.

Years later I was targeted for a hate based robbery, it was taken along with almost all of my other video games, movies, music and anything else of value along with some thrown in vandalism.

I bought it off of here a few weeks ago I missed it so much. Yes, I liked it enough to buy it three times. It works great on Linux with WINE. Now days with Bluetooth and USB game controls you can easily plug this into a large screen TV to play with the full 10 players unlike when the game first came out where networking was required. It's a good thing to, it supports IPX networking and not many people know what to do with that these days (though I do).

It's a lot of fun, especially when you're playing real opponents instead of the computer. The game is very customizable, there are skin packs all over the web if you want to go that route, the config files are all plain ASCII and you can configure nearly everything. There's even a whole bunch of sounds included that aren't part of the default sound list if you care to customize that a bit.

All in all it's old and you're only going to find used, but I wouldn't pass it up.