''Bomberman GB'' is a series of video games for the

Game Boy The is an 8-bit fourth generation handheld game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on April 21, 1989, in North America later the same year, and in Europe in late 1990. It was designed by the same ...

created by

Hudson Soft was a Japanese video game company that released numerous games for video game consoles, home computers and mobile phones, mainly from the 1980s to the 2000s. It was headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo ...

. The first entry in the series was ''Bomberman GB'', released as ''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!'' in North America and Europe, later succeeded by ''Bomberman GB 2'', under the name ''Bomberman GB'' internationally, and ''Bomberman GB 3'', which was only released in Japan.

Bomberman GB

is the first game in the ''Bomberman GB'' series, developed and published by

in Japan, and published by

Nintendo is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational video game company headquartered in Kyoto, Japan. It develops video games and video game consoles. Nintendo was founded in 1889 as by craftsman Fusajiro Yamauchi and originally produce ...

in North America and Europe under the name ''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!''. It was released on August 10, 1994 in Japan and later in November 1994 in North America, and on June 29, 1995 in Europe. In ''Bomberman GB'', White Bomberman is out riding on his motorcycle, when he is suddenly ambushed by Black Bomberman and his gang, who rough him up and steal all of his power-up items. Now White Bomberman must chase them down to get them back! In ''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!'', Wario one day stumbles upon Bomberman's world, and, being the greedy sort he is, decides to loot it for his own gain. Bomberman is the only one that stands between Wario and the complete decimation of his world. Every stage is viewed from an overhead perspective. The objective of the game is to blow up enemies to move on to the next stage. Gray walls can be blown up as well. Certain gray walls contain power-ups (which increase the power of explosions, or the number of bombs that can be set) and locate enemies. In ''Wario Blast'', the player can play as either Wario or Bomberman, but this only changes the enemies from Black Bombermen to Wario clones, and back. The game was enhanced for play on the

SNES The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES), commonly shortened to Super NES or Super Nintendo, is a 16-bit home video game console developed by Nintendo that was released in 1990 in Japan and South Korea, 1991 in North America, 1992 in Euro ...

through the

Super Game Boy The is a peripheral that allows Game Boy cartridges to be played on a Super Nintendo Entertainment System console. Released in June 1994, it retailed for $59.99 in the United States and £49.99 in the United Kingdom. In South Korea, it is call ...

. The enhanced game offered color graphics, custom explosion sounds, a multiplayer mode which allowed for simultaneous gameplay between up to four opponents, and in ''Wario Blast'' a special Wario & Bomberman frame around the TV screen. The game uses a password system to save progress, where the passwords for Wario are the same as for Bomberman, but written backwards.

Reception

GamePro Gamepro.com is an international multiplatform video game magazine media company that covers the video game industry, video game hardware and video game software in countries such as Germany and France. The publication, GamePro, was originally la ...

'' criticized the game's graphics and difficult controls, but judged the game overall enjoyable due to its classic Bomberman elements, summarizing that "A legendary concept gets a great Nintendo treatment." ''

Nintendo Power ''Nintendo Power'' was a video game news and strategy magazine from Nintendo of America, first published in July/August 1988 as Nintendo's official print magazine for North America. The magazine's publication was initially done monthly by Ninten ...

'' commented that the game was "great multi-player action." with "good use of Super Game Boy colors and music." and that the game had "larger areas than in previous Bomberman games." The reviews commented on the graphics stating it was "difficult to recognize your character" and that more characters would have helped. ''

Games World ''Games World'' was a British entertainment programme that aired on Sky One originally from 1 March 1993 to 10 March 1995 with Bob Mills as host, and then revived from 9 March 1998 to 1999 with Andy Collins as host. Format The main body of t ...

'' magazine gave the game an 86% score.

Dave Perry Dave Perry (born 21 May 1966) was co-commentator on the UK computer and video games television shows '' GamesMaster'' and ''Games World''. Perry was most famous for walking off ''Gamesmaster''. He was responsible for launching many games mag ...

said they "love ''Bomberman'' in this office" and the Game Boy port "is the perfect portable interpretation of" the game.

Bomberman GB 2

is the second game in the ''Bomberman GB'' series, developed and published by

in Japan, published by

in North America and by Virgin Interactive in Europe. The game was released in Japan in 1995. Both North America and Europe released the game in 1998 as ''Bomberman GB'', due to the previous game being released under the title ''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!''. A Bomberman named Indy Bomber sets out on a long journey to uncover a legendary treasure called the Ring of Wishes. He discovers a scripture and begins reading it, but soon falls into a trap in the floor and ends up in a cave. Now he must find his way out of the cave and find the Ring of Wishes! The main objective of the game is to defeat the enemies that lurk in the cave and find the exit when done. There are two modes that can be selected before each new stage; Mode A, which requires the player to simply destroy all the enemies, and Mode B, which requires the player to defeat the enemies in a certain order. When an area is cleared, the player earns a new ability to help them in later levels. The game supports up to four players through use of the Game Link Cable and Super Multitap if used on a Super Game Boy.

Bomberman GB 3

is the third and last game in the ''Bomberman GB'' series, developed and published by

. The game was released only in Japan on December 20, 1996. Bomber Nebula's 11th planet, Owen, faces a sudden earthquake. Deep underground, the terrible Evil Bomber has been trapped for ages. He eventually breaks free and steals the Bomber Capsules, the energy that Bomberman relies on. Now he must take back the Capsules and defeat Evil Bomber! The game's main objective is to defeat the enemies with bombs and unlock the exit to proceed to the next area. Each stage is divided into six areas, the last being a boss battle. The fifth area of each stage is to get crystals; if the player collects enough, a 1UP will be awarded along with two Bell Items that will spawn near the exit. These items will offer help to the player against the boss. A White Bomber will appear to drop items and a Black Bomber will appear to damage one HP to the boss. After defeating a boss, they leave behind Bomber Capsules which can be used in Cutie Bomber's shop. There are 8 abilities to purchase, 4 of which are motorcycles. After purchasing one, the player can select them before each level, each granting additional HP and other abilities.

Other releases

''Bomberman Collection'' is a Japanese only compilation released on July 21, 1996, developed and published by

. The game included the following titles: ''Bomber Boy'' (Released as ''

Atomic Punk ''Atomic Punk'', released in Japan as and in Europe as ''Dynablaster'', is a video game released for the Game Boy in 1990 by Hudson Soft, as part of the ''Bomberman'' series. It was the first game of the series to be released on the Game Boy. ...

'' in North America and as ''Dynablaster'' in PAL regions), ''Bomberman GB'' (released as ''Wario Blast: Featuring Bomberman!'' internationally) and ''Bomberman GB 2'' (released as ''Bomberman GB'' internationally). ''Bomberman Selection'' is a Korean only compilation released for the

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

on April 30, 2003, developed by

and published by

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but ...

. It included all of the titles from ''Bomberman Collection'', minus ''Bomberman GB 2'', and does not offer compatibility with the Super Game Boy.

Notes

References

External links

Bomberman GB - Hudson Game Navi
at Hudson Soft (Japanese) on Wayback Machine
Bomberman GB 2 - Hudson Game Navi
at Hudson Soft (Japanese) on Wayback Machine

at Hudson Soft (Japanese) on Wayback Machine

at Hudson Soft (Japanese) on Wayback Machine *

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NinDB
{{Wario 1994 video games 1995 video games 1996 video games Bomberman Action video games Crossover video games Game Boy games Game Boy-only games Hudson Soft games Maze games Single-player video games Video games developed in Japan Virtual Console games Wario video games