Gaming Target - Game Boy: Bomberman Max 2: Red Advance

Written by Matt Swider on July 02, 2002

Review: Honey! I Shrunk the Bombermen!

Just last year, Game Boy Advance owners received their first taste of portable Bomberman thanks to the partnership between developer Hudson Soft and publisher Activision on Bomberman Tournament. While June marked the release of the second installment of the series on Game Boy Advance, the developer has decided to turn towards Majesco as its publisher and stray from the likes of Bomberman Tournament. Instead, the company has chosen to follow the saga of Game Boy Color game Bomberman Max in releasing a sequel two years after the original. Like the first, Bomberman Max 2 is delivered on two cartridges, colored Red and Blue. However, both games don't quite add up to what Bomberman Tournament had to present, especially in its offering of classic battle mode mania. Regardless, the new prospect Hudson set out create it rewarding in its own little way.

The storyline begins with Bomberman and Max attempting to defeat the leader of the Hige Hige bandits, Mujoe. However both heroes are exposed to his device known as the mini-mini, which shrinks them to the size of a peanut. To reverse this catastrophe, both heroes set out to destroy the device and stop Mujoe before he's able to take control of Planet Bomber and the entire universe. Though this isn't the most engrossing story, the classic mishap reminds me of simpler gaming days and with it comes more straightforward gameplay mixed with Pokemon collecting fever that has crept itself into many games over the past couple years. Unlike the extensive level design of the quest mode from Bomberman Tournament, players just hop from stage to stage completing the tasks that are assigned.

Though both the Blue and Red versions include the same gameplay, there are a couple of subtle alterations between them. The blue version contains Bomberman as our hero, yet owners of red play as Max instead. Other main differences come in the form of level objectives, endings to the game, and unique charaboms to each version. With this said, gamers must utilize their game link cable to complete the game entirely, as each cartridge only contains 80 of the total 100 levels and only half of the 60 charabombs. In collecting small charabombs, players can use their abilities when trying to blast through different puzzles and complete certain goals in a stage. They may remind you of Pokemon, and while Bomberman Max 2 does use many of the same elements that Nintendo's title did, the traditional puzzle and bombing gameplay is still found within. With a given objective at hand, usually to reach a goal or wipe out a certain enemy type, players will only have to worry about blasting their way through blocks and detonating bombs beside enemy bandits. While this may seem like trivial fun, there are several more elements that ensure Bomberman contains gameplay that is more intense and crazy as your daily fare. As usual, upgrades like additional bombs, remote bombs, and explosion increasers are available throughout the game. Also, Bomberman's classic abilities are intact which include kicking bombs across the screen for further strategy. Regulars that have played Bomberman before and have become familiar with what he stands for shouldn't have any trouble getting situated into a normal bombing campaign.

Besides the main portion of the game, Bomberman Max 2 also offers a multiplayer segment. However, be warned that this is not the classic battle mode that we would all like it to be. Rather, Hudson attempted to create a sort of RPG type battle with the raised charaboms in the two-player portion of multiplayer. Like Pokemon, it's a simple turn based operation with moves, however players will be required to perform more than one move during each turn. With this unpredictable system, players are exposed to a different strategy, unlike Pokemon where you are allowed to chose moves after each hit. While the rest is much more simple than anything Nintendo offered even a couple years ago and this multiplayer mode doesn't live up to what Hudson has brought to us before by any means, it's still a welcome addition. In Bomberman Max 2, the four player options lets gamers come closer to what they want without fully giving them that classic Bomberman multiplayer madness. Here we are able to gather power-ups while trying to blast each other as usual, however it's all done from a 2D perspective. Though original, this doesn't live up to what was needed for the ultimate fun gamers look to Bomberman for.

The design of each stage reminds me a bit of the Army Men series with objects like huge bottles or remains of food present and to scale with Bomberman's miniature size. At the end of each level, players can either teleport to the next stage or backtrack to a previous one in order to collect missed charaboms or play a number of minigames that are available. Minigames include things like bowling, jump rope, and hopscotch, totaling about 20. While Bomberman has always been simple visually, this version of Bomberman pulls off some rendered graphics for a nice 3D feel. Equally, the audio department works its charm with the exploding sound effects. Though the music isn't as finely tuned as in past years and other sound effects are considerably light when comparing to previous Bomberman games, it does justice for the simple little game that could.