The series that has appeared on so many systems is finally on the one and only Gamecube

User Rating: 8.4 | Bomberman Generation GC
There are two ways of looking at this Bomberman title. One way would be the classic mulitplayer. I look at this first because it is by far my favorite. Here you will find 5 modes of battle: Standard, Reversi, Coin, Dodge, and Revenge. Standard is much like the orginal bomberman. Each player starts in the respected corner, you start with no power-ups, and you must blow up the blocks to reach your opponent. Not much to this mode, but it is always truck-loads of fun. Reversi is fun, but becomes rather hectic at times. All the panels start as a nuetral green color, but once your explosion hits the panels, they are temporialy your color. This goes on until time runs out, at the end whoever has the most panels wins the match. In this mode you have the ability to respawn but at the loss of many of your pannels. Coin Battle, which seems to bring me the most entertainment, is exactly what it sounds like. You blow up barrels and coins skatter around the map. You must go around collecting more than your opponent. Of course, if you are hit, then you suffer a sustancial loss of your coins. The winner is the one with the most coins. Dodge Battle is another fun feature. In this mode you forfeit the ability to make bombs and rather than you planting them, they fall from the sky. You and your fellow players are forced to run around and dodge the bombs. It is nice because as each bomb drops it tells you which squares the blast will reach. This mode is surprising simple, but incredibly fun. The last battle mode, Revenge, I find to be the least fun. It is a rather interesting idea, but it seems to be poorly executed. Everyone starts out dead, but revenge is on. Revenge is the way for the dead to get back at the people who killed them. Once killed, you ride along the walls, throwing bombs down trying to kill your friends. The only catch is you can only throw three spaces ahead and your bombs have no power-ups. Now in Revenge mode you all start like that and you must bomb moles that come from the ground while collecting power ups. The winner is the one to reach the set point limit. All in all, there are numerous play modes that will provide hours of play each, provided that you can find a friend or three to play with you.

The other way to look at this game is by its single player mode, seeing as it is radically different from the multiplayer mode. This is where that aforementioned story applies. At the very start you are given the choice between 3 different parts of this world. Each with their own envirionment. In each part, you will be making your way through large 3D environments. There are free roaming monsters, as well as larger bosses that appear every few levels. Many of these bosses can provide a challenge, but can be defeated if you study their patterns. Each boss has their own weakness, as well as bag full of tricks.

There are all the classic moves in this game. You can plant the basic bomb, throw, kick, pickup, place, and charge to create a much larger bomb. There is also a nice feature where you can merge bombs. You will have to complete a minigame to win the item. For example you will have to sky dive and land on a log to win a water balloon. Later you find a merging station. At this point, you can combine your original fire bomb with your water balloon to create a water bomb. This bomb has the abilitiy to put out fires as well as cause damage to creatures and yourself. At places you will have to put out fires to access certain locations.

Another attempt to add more content to the single player mode is the Charabombs. This has the definate feel of Pokemon. You meet different creatures along your exploration and you can battle them. You do not control them in real time, but you choose a strategy before hand. After 3 rounds, whoever has more energy wins. You must win to get the new charabomb. Once equipped, these charabomb sgive you new abilities, including remote bombs and the ability to throw farther. Of course you can only equip one ability at a time.

Puzzles never get too complicated. In fact they are normally pretty simple. They start out as simple blowing up a pole so that it falls on a fence, and get up to moving boulders to navigate through icy mazes.

The single player is a nice change from the old school Bomberman titles where it was identical to multiplayer mode with wandering monsters. The extra attempt for content is rather welcomed. Although it still retains its simpleness, which is nice because that has always been the way of the Bomberman titles.