If you have friends, it can be a blast, other wise, stay away
GAMEPLAY
The game is just like the old bomberman games. Walk around in a maze, drop bombs, pick up powerups and drop more bombs. The Single player doesn't even consist of multiplayer games with bots, it actually makes you fight lame enemies that are no fun over too many levels. I played maybe five levels in before quitting, I try not to be a bad gamer and not give a game a chance, I made that mistake once before and have been trying not to make it again, but it seemed the gameplay had no chance of being better.
Multiplayer though, even with just bots is fun for a while. With 8 players and teams or without... it is an utter blast. People screaming and ghosts getting revenge. Its fun in its simplest form. On the plus side you only need ONE cartridge to play multiplayer with everyone, great value.
GRAPHICS
Blocky 3D intro looks good, and the sprites in game are colorful, but their is just not enough graphics. You play over the same levels over and over with the same sprites. If the graphics were mind blowingly great I could understand, but they are no where near average even.
SOUND
I really admit I muted this game quite quickly. The music wasn't bad, its that there was only one short repeating track in the entire gameplay section of the game. Their are some voices for when you powerup and stuff, but other than that there is a lot of the same explosion sound. Average sound for a DS game I guess.
VALUE
I guess the single player game is supposed to be really long, because after five levels I was still fighting the same enemies as in level one, but I doubt even the most devoted bomberman fans can enjoy every last level of the single player. Dual screened levels do add some variety, but not enough. Multiplayer may be fun for a couple of hours over a few days, but after that the lack of variety gives in.
TILT
I usually rate tilt by how the games story immersed me into the world of the game. I don't remember the story, but I think their was something about a castle. Anywho the game was so devoid of fun it doesn't matter. I give tilt a six because the multiplayer is a ton of fun for a while.
Overall, if you have 8 friends with DSs and can organize them to buy one bomberman cartridge and have a party day, the game will more than be worht it. Other wise, stay far away from this game.
The game should have a warning on it. "Bomberman DS: 1-8 Players. friends not included"