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Aug 17 2005
Bomberman Panic Bomber Review
PSP Game Review | Puzzle
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| Summary: Absolutely essential
100
Puzzle gamers are a tough lot to please, and there's no shortage of innovative attempts. Bomberman Panic Bomber is that breed of classic style puzzle gaming. The focus isn't on flash and sound, as in Lumines, but for classic puzzle game lovers, this is a far better game. The game is beautifully presented, has gobs of cool features, usable unlockables and is incredibly fun.
Panic has a few menu options, and even though they're all in Japanese, the icons make their function clear. There is a multplayer battle mode, Customize menu, Options/Save, Computer Attack, Score Attack and Challenge Attack.
The multiplayer battle mode is where you can setup your 2-4 player matches against others. This would be an incredibly fun game to hold multiplayer tournaments with. Each gamer will need a copy of the game, but the thrill of piling on your opponent's bricks and bombs and hearing them squirm is unmatched.
The gameplay is deadly simple. Match up 3 or more similarly coloured bomber heads to clear pieces. Each piece that falls contains three heads in an L configuration and can be rotated left or right. Occasionaly, other pieces come to your aide, such as mega-bombs, which clear a large portion of the screen, or red bombs, which blast away other bombs/bricks. But there are also black bombs, bricks, skull blocks and metal blocks that show up to make things harder for you.
In the beginning you'll be playing mostly against the computer. This mode lets you go against levels of increasingly harder computer controlled opponents called 'bombers'. In order to beat a bomber, you have to work your way through 5 levels. Each level increases in difficulty by starting each level off with more gunk on the screen. You start by going up against Akabon (Red Bomber). Once you beat that scoundrel, you unlock 3 others, beat those and who knows what will happen. With each new bomber comes a new colour added to the list of possible pieces that come falling down.
There are a few other modes such as Score Attack, where you go on for as long as you can while the speed increases. Then there's the Challenge Attack mode, the point of which is to complete the given challenge. First you'll be simply clearing a few bombers, but then you'll be faced with the challenge of clearing numerous sets with only a few pieces. Both of these modes can either give you a break, or they may be where you spend most of your time. Either way, having this many modes ensures that you'll come back for more.
The difficulty in the game is actually quite balanced, although the AI leans a bit towards the easy side in the first few matches. Most of you will find Akabon and the first few bombers to be quite easy, but then the challenge ramps up and by the last few bombers, the AI and gunk-filled screens will have you rotating and making matches like crazy.
Whereas other games give you pointless pictures, videos and other trinkets as unlockables, Panic's goodies are far more exciting. When you beat certain levels in various mode, you unlock new sound effects which you can use in your matches, new backgrounds, foregrounds (called Frames) and most exciting of all, you can actually replace the bomber heads with things like Sushi pieces, fruit and other things. The Customize screen allows you to pick your background, Frame, player pieces and sounds, giving you a totally unique playing environment. It may sound trivial, but after you've played for awhile with the default setup, being able to customize things to this extent will really breath new life into the game. And you'll really have to work to get some of the unlockables.
If you've played any Bomberman games, you'll appreciate the fun and quirky, machine-styled music. There's a healthy variety on store and some of the tracks are pure bliss, such as the 8bit NES sounding one that greets you in your first match. The graphics are also all about the fun factor. You won't find any serious Lumines space themes, the focus is purely on bomb-blasting action and getting you hyped up.
Bomberman Panic Bomber is our favorite Puzzle game for the PSP. The numerous playing modes, gobs of unlockable goodies and multiplayer make for a spastically good time. If you call yourself a puzzle gamer, then you should already own this!
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Comments
08/17/05
7 
xfr0g
| New York USA
That was a pretty good review, although is this game just a puzzle game? I'm a HUGE bomberman fan from way back on the nintendo 8-bit and the idea of a bomberman game with no full on bombing mayhem is absoluetly brutal! It serves as nothing but a big tease! say it ain't so Cap!
+
08/17/05
13
captain
| 
| Ontario Canada
Yes, it's "just" a puzzle game. No old-school bomberman style antics here.
+
08/17/05
wayners999
| New York USA
when's the US release? i'm a huge puzzle game fan.
+
08/17/05
13
pspbuddy
| UK
looks boring and dull,and looksthe same as a puzzle bubble game
+
08/17/05
13
captain
|
| Ontario Canada
There may not be a US release. There's really nothing to stop you from getting this even if you don't know a smidgen of Japanese. Everything is either visually clear or obvious.
+
08/17/05
11
0J0
| Indiana USA
"Whereas other games give you pointless pictures, videos and other trinkets as unlockables, Panic's goodies are far more exciting."
I hope by "other games" you don't mean Lumines, which seems to be the only comparable Puzzle game currently available for the PSP. I think the unlockables in Lumines are awesome and do a great job of providing incentive for continued play.
+
08/17/05
19
ilian123
| Bosnia | SOCOM: IM: il1an@yahoo
from all the great games that are availlable for the psp i cant imagine who would buy this old school game.. i mean if u compare this to lumines or gta...
+
08/17/05
13
captain
|
| Ontario Canada
No, like I said and like you quote, I'm talking about games that give you nothing more than pictures and videos that don't add anything to the gameplay.
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08/17/05
11
0J0
| Indiana USA
Alright. Just making sure.
Do you really think the game deserves a 100 out of 100? Are there no flaws, no minor points which cause irritation?
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08/17/05
7
xfr0g
| New York USA
well, for lack of better games(groann!!) I think it will be worth a spin. I saw a version of Puyo Puyo for PSP at the local game store(they sell imports too) has anyone played that one? How does it compare to this one?
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08/17/05
Megaman
| Rhode Island USA
Has anyone played Bomberman 95? That was an AWESOME game!!! "Your are a stupid man's idiot."
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08/18/05
19
Agent808
| Hawaii USA
 i miss classic superbomberman 2.
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08/18/05
16
mrsmiley
| California USA
Just the fact that you can do 4 player action sells this game for me. Lumines DESPERATELY needed this! Everyone I know owns lumines, and yet we can only play 1v1. LAME. Anyone know when it comes to America? (Unless it already has, in which case I'm an ass.)
+
do we really want another stupid puzzle game, i'm getting sick of the psp now
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