This here game is the best version of my favorite multiplayer game I've played in years. Where to start?
First of all, this game lets up to eight players go head-to-head, online or offline. For local play, you can use up to four Wii remotes (held sideways) and four GC controllers, and a maximum of four players on the same console when playing online. Also, unlike Bomberman Live, you can play online against your friends, too.
There's plenty of rule customization in this game. Blast introduces a new Score battle type in addition to the Trophies. A player's score increases as they kick a**, and decreases as they screw up. This helps keep the hide-in-the-corner-'till-everyone's-dead players from winning by default (though it obviously doesn't make much of a difference when playing against one or two other players), along with the usual round, time, start point and skull settings, handicaps, ad nauseum. There's also a great deal of item distribution customization in this game. You can set how many of which items appear in any given stage from a selection of classic power-ups, largely the same as Live's, barring the omission of remote bombs, the return of squishy rubber bombs, and the debut of three new items which can be activated by shaking the remote (or alternating between the L and R shoulder buttons on the GC controller): the rocket, which shoots you into the air to avoid incoming blasts, the shield, which blocks them, and the bomb change, which lets you turn you into a bomb and ambush some suckers (obviously not very useful when there are few players).
As an aside, Revenge mode (in which you throw bombs from the sidelines to get back at whoever blew you up) is always set to Super, so when you kill someone with a revenge bomb, you'll take their place, even if there are only two players left.
In addition to the traditional classic and team battle modes, there are four brand new ones:
King: Scramble for the crown in the center of the arena. The player with the crown turns into a golden Bomberman. Blast the gaudy jackass to make 'im drop it. No one can die in this mode, but getting caught in a blast paralyzes you momentarily and makes you lose your most recently obtained item. Whoever has the crown when the time runs out wins.
Air Raid: There are no soft blocks, and no one can drop bombs. Instead, you must dodge the bombs that fall from the sky. It can get pretty hectic, and sometimes it's impossible to dodge if you're particularly unlucky. Fortunately, everyone's equipped with a shield in case this ever happens. Last bomber standing wins
Countdown: My personal favorite. Similar to normal mode, only when you're bombed, a timer appears above your head. When that timer reaches zero, you're dead. However, you can pass it onto another player by coming in contact with them. Ten seconds are added to your timer if you bomb someone whilst infected with clock, buying you more time to get rid of it.
Surprise: This mode selects the stages and rules at random, which change with each battle. The only thing you can specify is the number of wins for victory. It's should be noted that the maximum number of wins you can set is 99, even online. So if you want to have an eight-hour Bomberman marathon, knock yourself out.
The game features ten battle arenas that come in large and small sizes (only the larger maps are playable online(. The usual stuff is here, plus some neat new stages like UFO Mania, where UFOs occasionally pass by to abduct players (effectively protecting them from any terrestrial explosions) and Zombies, where creepy hands pop up from the ground, paralyzing anyone they touch. If you play on every stage offline at least once, you'll be able to play using your Miis, which is delightful and creepy in equal parts.
Also unique to the game are action poses, which you can use at any time during a match by pressing A, from cheerful bouncing to pirouettes to temper tantrums. They add a bit of personality to your character and give you an opportunity to make fun of the guy you just stuck between a bomb and a hard place. You can also add action messages, like Super Smash Bros. Brawl's taunt messages, which you can use during a match (when you perform your action pose) and afterwards. You can create up to four in-game, victory and defeat messages each. Cycling through them just requires you to hold B and hit A 'till you find the message you want to stick with.
Magus, highwind, Valkysas and I have been playing this game since the weekend, and it's been the most fun I've had with Bomberman since Bomberman Generation's multiplayer mode on GC. At 1000 points, you owe it to your face to download it and give it a whirl.
My friend code is 2621 5687 0120, for any interested parties. Get to blasting.
First of all, this game lets up to eight players go head-to-head, online or offline. For local play, you can use up to four Wii remotes (held sideways) and four GC controllers, and a maximum of four players on the same console when playing online. Also, unlike Bomberman Live, you can play online against your friends, too.
There's plenty of rule customization in this game. Blast introduces a new Score battle type in addition to the Trophies. A player's score increases as they kick a**, and decreases as they screw up. This helps keep the hide-in-the-corner-'till-everyone's-dead players from winning by default (though it obviously doesn't make much of a difference when playing against one or two other players), along with the usual round, time, start point and skull settings, handicaps, ad nauseum. There's also a great deal of item distribution customization in this game. You can set how many of which items appear in any given stage from a selection of classic power-ups, largely the same as Live's, barring the omission of remote bombs, the return of squishy rubber bombs, and the debut of three new items which can be activated by shaking the remote (or alternating between the L and R shoulder buttons on the GC controller): the rocket, which shoots you into the air to avoid incoming blasts, the shield, which blocks them, and the bomb change, which lets you turn you into a bomb and ambush some suckers (obviously not very useful when there are few players).
As an aside, Revenge mode (in which you throw bombs from the sidelines to get back at whoever blew you up) is always set to Super, so when you kill someone with a revenge bomb, you'll take their place, even if there are only two players left.
In addition to the traditional classic and team battle modes, there are four brand new ones:
King: Scramble for the crown in the center of the arena. The player with the crown turns into a golden Bomberman. Blast the gaudy jackass to make 'im drop it. No one can die in this mode, but getting caught in a blast paralyzes you momentarily and makes you lose your most recently obtained item. Whoever has the crown when the time runs out wins.
Air Raid: There are no soft blocks, and no one can drop bombs. Instead, you must dodge the bombs that fall from the sky. It can get pretty hectic, and sometimes it's impossible to dodge if you're particularly unlucky. Fortunately, everyone's equipped with a shield in case this ever happens. Last bomber standing wins
Countdown: My personal favorite. Similar to normal mode, only when you're bombed, a timer appears above your head. When that timer reaches zero, you're dead. However, you can pass it onto another player by coming in contact with them. Ten seconds are added to your timer if you bomb someone whilst infected with clock, buying you more time to get rid of it.
Surprise: This mode selects the stages and rules at random, which change with each battle. The only thing you can specify is the number of wins for victory. It's should be noted that the maximum number of wins you can set is 99, even online. So if you want to have an eight-hour Bomberman marathon, knock yourself out.
The game features ten battle arenas that come in large and small sizes (only the larger maps are playable online(. The usual stuff is here, plus some neat new stages like UFO Mania, where UFOs occasionally pass by to abduct players (effectively protecting them from any terrestrial explosions) and Zombies, where creepy hands pop up from the ground, paralyzing anyone they touch. If you play on every stage offline at least once, you'll be able to play using your Miis, which is delightful and creepy in equal parts.
Also unique to the game are action poses, which you can use at any time during a match by pressing A, from cheerful bouncing to pirouettes to temper tantrums. They add a bit of personality to your character and give you an opportunity to make fun of the guy you just stuck between a bomb and a hard place. You can also add action messages, like Super Smash Bros. Brawl's taunt messages, which you can use during a match (when you perform your action pose) and afterwards. You can create up to four in-game, victory and defeat messages each. Cycling through them just requires you to hold B and hit A 'till you find the message you want to stick with.
Magus, highwind, Valkysas and I have been playing this game since the weekend, and it's been the most fun I've had with Bomberman since Bomberman Generation's multiplayer mode on GC. At 1000 points, you owe it to your face to download it and give it a whirl.
My friend code is 2621 5687 0120, for any interested parties. Get to blasting.
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