Bomberman Blitz (Hands-On) (Nintendo DS) Preview

The last few Bomberman outings on DS have certainly been picking up in terms of quality, with the likes of Bomberman Story and Bomberman Land Touch! not only including new styles of play that add great longevity for solo players, but throwing in the traditional multiplayer fun that made the series so popular back in the days of the Super Nintendo 16-bit system. A straight-up multiplayer effort, with extensive online features, was recently put out on the WiiWare download service and regularly features in the most-downloaded list, therefore Hudson must have thought it might appeal to gamers even more if they could take such a title on the road via the DS platform. How right they were.

In this debut DSiWare version, Bomberman Blitz, the classic multiplayer experience returns, with players taking control of the little explosive guy himself, helping him run around mazes, dropping bombs in his wake and attempting to exterminate opponents whilst also collecting power-up items from demolished walls that were previously standing in their way. Thanks to the two screens of the DS, the various maps players can choose from actually stretch across the whole of the machine to give a far wider playing field than ever before, with access between screens coming in the form of special pipes that span the invisible space where the DS hinge actually is in reality.

The beauty of Blitz is that now players can pit themselves against seven other players, be they human or computer-controlled, selecting either local wireless or online Wi-Fi when facing off against other living combatants. Customisation plays a major role in Blitz this time round, with not only a wide selection of battle arenas there to choose from, but also the ability to include power-down items (such as slower movement, or less bombing power) or have the revenge mechanic on (where early deaths place you around the arena edge, able to lob bombs into the mix for the sheer fun of bugging other players!). Hudson has even gone as far as trying to make this appeal to a whole new audience by including a tutorial mode that takes you step-by-step through how the game works. Could this turn out to be the finest pure version of Bomberman ever? It certainly does look like Hudson is providing fans with a fantastic treat, whatever the case...