There are a lot of video game characters that have set a name for themselves today. Popular characters like Mario, Link, Donkey Kong, Pikachu, Cloud Strife, Master Chief, Mega Man, Solid Snake, and all sorts of video game heroes have captured the hearts of millions after great gaming experiences with each character. There’s been one little guy who’s been overlooked for quite sometime now, and he’s a lot older than people would e expect – he goes by the name of Bomberman. But with all due respect, the Bomberman series has never truly been AAA. It just started being fair during the 16-bit days, and the generation after that just had horrible Bomberman games in 3D. Then with the early life of the GameCube, Bomberman Generations came out and simply astonished all who played it. The game had good graphics, some of the most engaging multiplayer ever played, and the single player was actually fun. After that Bomberman began to regain his respect again as Hudson tries to continue making a name for their mascot with the follow-up to Generations, Bomberman Jetters. The object in all Bomberman games is to stop all evil that interrupts the peace Planet Bomber. The main hero is the White Bomber, and with the help of the Charaboms and his bomb weaponry, he sets out to thwart all evil that plan on sending Planet Bomber and the rest of the universe into oblivion. The single player in Bomberman Jetters is very generic and repetitive. The only good things there are to say is that the levels are now actually beatable. To players of Bomberman 64, the single player’s difficulty would probably equal to that of Ninja Gaiden except more with puzzles than actual combat. While the course design in Bomberman Jetters is linear and well thought out, the actual gameplay remains bland and standoffish, leaving gamers who have experienced Bomberman Generations nothing really The A button allows White Bomber to drop bombs on the ground and within a few seconds, the bomb will explode. As boring and obvious as it sounds, there’s still some learning to do. On top of that, White Bomber can carry the bomb and within a few moments the bomb will be pumped into a giant a bomb that has more explosive power. After exploding a few surroundings in the area like rocks or stars, White Bomber will find power-ups that allow him to have new abilities or power up his arsenal of bombs. Some include the Bomb-Kick that allows White Bomber to kick bombs that are already on the ground or Bomb that allows White Bomber to carry another bomb in his pouch. There’s a huge variety of bomb power-ups for White Bomber and Max to collect, but each effect wears off until the next level. Charaboms were added to the Bomberman series in the 16-bit era but have disappeared until the GBA Bomberman games we see today. Charaboms are animals that help out White Bomber in times of need. An example would be Sharken – a Charabom that can swim anywhere. Similar to Pokémon or Dragon Warrior Monsters, they can be leveled up – but they can’t fight. Fruit in the area of play levels up the Charaboms in experience, but the maximum levels go from 3-5. Something included in Jetters that’s not found in Generations is the ability to switch from White Bomber to Max at anytime during gameplay using the Y button. The problem with this is that there’s really no need for it, and the only time you’ll have to do it is when there’s an obstacle that only Max can break with his Plasma Bomb. Again, it’s a rare occasion if you actually find an obstacle that only Max can solve, so he really serves no use. The only actual advantage Max has over White Bomber is his Plasma Bomb, and that makes him a better man for combat than White Bomber. On the other side of things, White Bomber is the only one who can make use of Charaboms. Bomberman fans don’t really care about the single player because, to this day, no Bomberman game had a pleasurable single player experience – with the exception of Bomberman Generations. Bomberman has always been about the multiplayer, and Jetters is no exception. The game has standard Vs. Mode, which can be played with credits or time – and with that, there’s a lot more modes the game has to offer. Jetters features 1 through 9 mode – where each Bomber has to step on buttons 1-9 within the time limit to win, a deathmatch mode – where all your bombs are at full capacity and when you’re dead; you’re dead, a collection mode – in which you must gather as many charaboms as you can and put them into the basket without letting them or yourself die, and a lot more minigames to be played once the competition ends. You can choose to be a bomber, a monkey, Grand Bomber, or Max. Bomberman Jetters makes use of cel-shaded graphics, and since the visual style has recently been overused – i.e. Zelda, Dark Cloud 2, Viewtiful Joe – there’s nothing that has really set its visuals apart from other games. In terms of that, Bomberman Generations was the first of the GameCube’s software to actually be fully cel-shaded, so Jetters definitely serves nothing new. Aside from that, White Bomber has a new look to capture more of an early-age anime feel. While it definitely gives the game new charm, the characters look really bad and it can be preferred that Hudson had kept them the way they were. Even the Charaboms look like a Pokémon rip-off, and still nothing has been mentioned about how they yell out their own name. The game’s few cinema scenes are pure anime, but that’s the only new feature Jetters has to show off. Along with the beautiful anime cutscenes comes horrible voice acting. It’s definitely not the first game to come out of Japan with horrible voices, but Jetters’ characters sound absolutely dreadful. White Bomber’s voice is almost as annoying Tales in the new wave of Sonic games that have been coming out. This presentation definitely shows that Hudson is trying to reach out to younger audiences. It’s not all bad though; Bomberman Jetters’ soundtrack is pleasing to the ear. Still – with all that said, Bomberman Jetters doesn’t offer very much in the sound department. Overall, the game’s good qualities in the multiplayer pretty much override any bad element the game has to offer. It’s still fun on both sides, and the game can be a real joy to play. But players who have already experienced Bomberman Generations should skip on Jetters because there really is nothing new. Either way, the game is at a low price of $19.99, so you’re getting more than what you’re paying for; yet at the same time, Bomberman Generations is the same price and is the better of the two, so there’s a choice for you to make if you intend on picking up a bomb at the store.
Over the past decade, Hudson has released over twenty Bomberman games on almost every platform during its time. The games begin as purely multiplayer experience, but as soon as Bomberman set foot on the N64, story mode w... Read Full Review
There are so many things that went wrong with Bomberman Jetters, its hard to pick a place to start. And this is a real shame considering the origional bomberman was so good. The game is more of a 3d adventure game th... Read Full Review
