Doesn't try anything new, but with a dish as sweet as Bomberman, who wouldn't want seconds?
Bomberman 2 however was were the series really got started however. It placed the framework in a multiplayer that was fun, fresh and addictive, the five installments for the Super Nintendo only upped the ante with new powerups and four player play through a Teamplay adapter.
Since the SNES days, Bomberman's multiplayer has made it one of the most popular games of all time and not even the awful Baku Bomberman series and Act Zero could change that.
As a formal apology for Act Zero, Hudson has released the ultimate Bomberman game on Xbox Live Arcade. All the powerups (except for the animals which caused serious balance problems) as well as new ones, customizable bombermen, four player local multiplayer and eight player multiplayer over Xbox Live.
If you like Bomberman you have everything you need to know but should still be warned that the level amount and design leaves something to be desired. All of the maps only have gimmicks, and not the ones that were awesome in past games of the series either. There are no pipes that force you to see the whole map, there is no ice that actually has an effect on gameplay and there is no stage that makes all bombs reach across the entire map. What you get are teleporters, cracks in ice and a pool of powerups.
That said, the modes are all there with a new one thrown in for good measure. You have the basic deathmatch mode as well as the paint bomb mode and a Zombie mode that has players respawn. Dig a little deeper and there are some modifications such as the ability to customize powerups, turn on or off sudden death as well as the incredibly entertaining revenge and super revenge modes. Sadly you can't adjust starting bombs and fire length like you could in Bomberman Online, teams are surprisingly omitted as well.
So, with all of these omissions, why is the score so high? Hudson promises to fill in the gaps as well as provide new modes and powerups with downloadable content. This will likely cost a few bucks, but if it continues to add to the ultimate multiplayer experience, I'll gladly put down an extra $5.